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.

Tough break for Brazil as popular forward Neymar has been ruled out of the World Cup after fracturing a vertebra in his back in the win over Colombia. The host nation will now have to face Germany next in Belo Horizonte without their superstar.

They scored right away with Clint Dempsey delivering a beautiful goal in the first 29 seconds, and then spent most of the match hanging on for dear life. In a way the early goal put them in a tough spot, as they seemed to forget how to pass the ball crisply and control possession.

Most of the game was a mess, and when Ghana equalized late, it looked like utter disaster. But then John Brooks saved them with an amazing header off a corner kick late, and jubilation set in. I suppose the three young ladies pictured below are partying like crazy tonight.

#TeamUSA 😍🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/xudhLGNLVX

— ⚽️ (@TrueSoccerProbz) June 16, 2014

This first game is critical for Team USA, as this is a difficult group and they need to get a win versus Ghana. Check out this preview.

We all love the World Cup, but the officiating is usually terrible. The Brazilian who goes by the simple name of “Fred” was awarded for one of the most disgraceful flops I’ve ever seen by Japanese ref Yuishi Nichimura. This horrible episode marred the beginning of the world’s greatest tournament and frankly provided plenty of fodder for every soccer hater out there.

Of course, similar flopping occurs in the NBA with guys like Dwyane Wade, but in soccer goals are precious, and allowing a penalty kick for this shameful display is a joke. Of course one way to handle things would be to have video review of any penalty in the box, but then it might be harder for FIFA or others to fix matches, which also happens regularly in soccer.

It’s a terrible start to the tournament.