July 13, 2014: The World Cup Final is held at Estadio do Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro, the most famous building on the continent of South America.
Hosts Brazil are not in it. In a game even more stunning than their loss to Uruguay at that stadium in the 1950 Final, Germany beat them in the Semifinal, 7-1. To make matters worse for the home country, the other Semifinal was won by their arch-rivals, Argentina, who beat the Netherlands on penalties in the Semifinal.
The Final was broadcast in America in English on ABC, and in Spanish on Univision. The opponents were Argentina and Germany, and the game is billed as Lionel Messi, "the GOAT" (as in, "the greatest of all time") vs. the classic football pantomime villains, "Ze Germans." Neither billing is particularly accurate.
Argentina were managed by Alejandro Sabella, a former star midfielder for Buenos Aires of River Plate and Estudiantes de La Plata, who managed Estudiantes to the South American club championship, the Copa Libertadores, in 2009.
In addition to Messi, who served as Captain, their starting lineup featured Sergio Romero, goalkeeper for Sampdoria in Genoa, Italy; Pablo Zabaleta and Martín Demichelis, right back and centreback, respectively, for English team Manchester City; Javier Mascherano, a centreback for Spanish giants FC Barcelona, who had previously starred in his homeland for River Plate and in England for Liverpool; Ezequiel Lavezzi, a forward for French team Paris Saint-Germain; and Gonzalo Higuaín, a forward for Napoli of Naples, Italy, who had starred for River Plate and Spanish giants Real Madrid.
This team was so good that Sergio Agüero, whose goal won the 2012 Premier League title for Man City, could only come off the bench; while Real Madrid midfielder Ángel Di María didn't get into the game at all.
Germany were managed by Joachim "Jogi" Löw, a midfielder for SC Freiburg, whose biggest title as a manager thus far had been the 2002 Austrian Bundesliga title, with Tirol Innsbruck. He had, however, managed Germany to 2nd place at Euro 2008 and 3rd at the 2010 World Cup.
As usual, Die Mannschaft were dominated by players from Bayern Munich: Goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, right back and Captain Philipp Lahm, centreback Jérôme Boateng, midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger, midfielder Toni Kroos, midfielder Mario Götze, forward Thomas Müller,
Centreback Mats Hummels, then with Borussia Dortmund, and forward Miroslav Klose, then with Lazio of Rome, Italy, had previously played for Bayern. Defender Benedikt Höwedes played for Schalke 04.
Three members of the German team played for North London team Arsenal FC, whom I support. But only midfielder Mesut Özil started. Centreback Per Mertesacker only got in at the end of the game, and forward Lukas Podolski did not play at all.
The game kicked off at 4:00 PM, local time, and also Argentina time -- 9:00 in most of Europe, including Germany, and 3:00 U.S. Eastern. Attendance in a stadium that once had a capacity, including standing room, of 200,000, was an all-seated 74,738. The weather was good, and the grass dry.
Each team missed a couple of shots in the 1st half-hour. Early on, Higuaín mis-hit a ball that he should have put in the net. In the 30th minute, Higuaín did put the ball in the net, but the goal was correctly ruled out for offside. Later Romero made a save. I am serious, and you can call the man who took the shot André Schürrle. He was a forward for West London team Chelsea FC. Messi had a shot blocked by Boateng. Just before the half, Höwedes hit the post, and was offside, anyway.
Argentina began the second half with Agüero replacing Lavezzi. Higuaín shot wide. Messi then had a one-on-one with the Neuer, but also shot wide. In the 56th minute, Neuer took down Higuaín in the penalty area, but no penalty was given, or even a card. Just before the hour, Klose had a shot that was caught by Romero. Messi had another miss in the 75th. Regular time ended, 0-0.
Early in extra time, Schürrle's close-range shot was stopped by Romero. Five minutes later, a lob by Rodrigo Palacio went just wide. In the 113th minute, Schürrle raced past 2 defenders on the left before crossing into the penalty area, where Götze controlled the ball on his chest, and then volleyed left-footed into the net. Germany were deservedly ahead.
Müller had a chance to double Germany's lead shortly afterward, but his shot went wide. With time running out, Messi, as if ordained by God, or "the football gods," or Fate, or FIFA, had a chance to be the hero, but he fired over the crossbar. That proved to be the last action of the game as the final whistle was blown, confirming Germany's 1–0 victory. It was their 4th win, matching Italy, trailing only Brazil with 5.
In 125 minutes, counting stoppage time, "greatest of all time" Messi neither scored a goal nor assisted on one. People who believed him to be the "GOAT" would have to wait.
Kroos was born in Greifswald, East Germany in 1990, 2 months after the Berlin Wall came down, and 9 months before reunification. He was the only player born, raised, and trained to play soccer in East Germany who ever played on a World Cup-winning team.
UPDATE: An article for ESPN.com, published after the 2026 World Cup, ranking all 23 tournaments, rated this one 15th.
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July 13, 2014 was a Sunday. These Major League Baseball games were played:
* The New York Yankees lost to the Baltimore Orioles, 3-1 at Camden Yards in Baltimore, in a game shortened to 5 innings due to rain. Kevin Gausman, who usually pitches well against the Yankees, outpitched Chase Whitley. Chris Davis hit a home run for the O's. The Yankee run came on a homer by Brett Gardner. Derek Jeter, in his final season, went 1-for-2. Alex Rodriguez was suspended for the season.
* The New York Mets beat the Miami Marlins, 9-1 at Citi Field. Jacob deGrom was the winning pitcher.
* The Washington Nationals beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 10-3 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. Ryan Zimmerman and former Phillie Jayson Werth hit home runs for the Nats.
* The Tampa Bay Rays beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 3-0 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. David Price pitched 8 innings of 5-hit shutout ball, and Jake McGee pitched a perfect 9th.
* The Cleveland Indians beat the Chicago White Sox, 3-2 at Progressive Field in Cleveland.
* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 6-3 at Great American Ball Park in Cleveland.
* The Atlanta Braves beat the Chicago Cubs, 10-7 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.
* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 11-2 at Miller Park (now American Family Field) in Milwaukee.
* The Kansas City Royals beat the Detroit Tigers, 5-2 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.
* The Boston Red Sox beat the Houston Astros, 11-0 at Minute Maid Park (now Daikin Park) in Houston. This was when the Red Sox were defending World Champions, and the Astros were new to the American League and horrible, building up the draft picks that would, along with cheating, allow them to succeed the Red Sox as the AL's unfairly dominant team.
Clay Buchholz pitched a 3-hit shutout, striking out 12 and walking none. Astro starter Brad Peacock didn't get out of the 1st inning. The Red Sox got only 1 home run, from Brock Holt, who went 5-for-6. David Ortiz went 0-for-4, but drew 2 walks, and had RBIs on a bases-loaded walk and a groundout.
* The Los Angeles Angels beat the Texas Rangers, 10-7 at Globe Life Park in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.
* The Minnesota Twins beat the Colorado Rockies, 13-5 at Coors Field in Denver.
* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the San Diego Padres, 1-0 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Hyun Jim Ryu pitched 6 innings, allowing 2 hits and no walks, striking out 10. Three relievers completed a 4-hit, 2-walk, 12-strikeout shutout. The only run scored in the 6th, when Yasiel Puig singled Dee Strange-Gordon home.
* The San Francisco Giants beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 8-4 at AT&T Park (now Oracle Park) in San Francisco.
* And the Oakland Athletics beat the Seattle Mariners, 4-1 at Safeco Field (now T-Mobile Park) in Seattle.
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