Coach Joachim Leow was vindicated on Sunday as the German football machines were crowned champions of the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.
No doubt, the best team of the tournament won the trophy; but a more appealing truth is that the Germans deserved this term's trophy more than any other country, judging by their effective team work and level of success in the last three FIFA World Cup outings - where they were runner ups once and two times bronze winners.With barely eight minutes remaining in extra-time, Andre Schurrle's industrial cross was laid on to Mario Goetze, who buried the ball past Argentine goalkeeper Romero to give Germany the win they craved for since 1990.
Germany began their campaign by demolishing Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal team by 4-0. Shortly after, they were held to a 2-2 draw in the second leg of the group stage game, against Ghana; but redeemed their prestige by cruising past USA with a lone goal. Leow's men went on to face another African side, Algeria, but came out victorious, with thanks to late strikes from Schurrle and Mesut Ozil. Next, they faced Didier Deschamps' France side - but Matt Hummels eighth minute header proved sufficient for the Germans. And then, Die Mannschaft destabilised the host nation, Brazil, by ruthlessly thrashing the Selecao by 7-1.
Eventually, Lionel Messi, like Ronaldo, couldn't stop the Germans from achieving their long term dream.
Germany, under the heavily criticised Joachim Leow, are the 2014 FIFA World Cup winners.
AWARDS:
Lionel Messi - FIFA Golden Ball
Manuel Neuer - FIFA Golden Glove
James Rodriguez - FIFA Golden Boot