It sure looked like the match was heading to penalty kicks, but a brilliant late goal by Mario Götze sealed the 1-0 win over Argentina to give Germany its fourth World Cup championship, matching the Italians with four wins.
It was an interesting and entertaining tournament, though a complete disaster for Brazil. Watching Argentina lose in the final may have lessened the sting a tad, but overall this will be a painful memory for Brazilian fans.
Meanwhile, European teams have now won three World Cups in a row, with Russia on the horizon.
The big names found a way to get to Brazil. With Cristiano Ronaldo scoring a hat trick, Portugal booked its ticket to the 2014 World Cup with a win over Sweden. Meanwhile France was able to defeat Ukraine after being two goals down in their first match.
Mexico also advanced, though this was a foregone conclusion after they dismantled New Zealand in their first match. This ended an amazing journey for Mexico which needed a late goal from arch-rival Team USA to even get them in this position.
It may have been just a friendly, but this was a nice win.
Yes, it was only a friendly, and yes, this was Germany’s B or C team, and yes, the U.S. nearly bungled a 4-1 lead, but you can’t deny that beating Germany anytime, anywhere is something you have every right to feel good about. On a day when U.S. Soccer was celebrating its 100th anniversary, Jurgen Klinsmann’s team had one of the more impressive performances of his tenure, not just beating Germany but displaying some of the entertaining, dangerous playing style that Klinsmann promised when he took over in 2011. Clint Dempsey (two gorgeous goals) and Jozy Altidore (a terrific opening strike) played with the verve they have shown over the last two seasons in European club soccer, and a U.S. team that was bulldozed 4-2 by Belgium on Wednesday will now carry some much-needed confidence into three upcoming World Cup qualifiers. If the Americans can attack this way and play better defense on Friday in Jamaica, they’ll take three points and avenge Klinsmann’s worst loss, a 2-1 qualifying defeat last September.
