As a follower of the German national team (who watches qualifying for World Cup and Euro Cup), I’ve waited a long time for this moment to arrive. Twelve long years ago, when Germany lost in the World Cup Final, 2-0 against Brazil, I was 15 years old. After experiencing that disheartening defeat, I certainly took no joy whatsoever in watching the white-friendly Argentina squad sulking around the pitch, watching the German players shedding tears of joy and celebrating with teammates, coaches, their white wives, and their adorable children…
Argentina played great, and if not for some poor/unlucky finishing from Messi, Higuain, and Palacio, they could’ve easily prevailed. Of course, Argentina’s team defense (especially Mascherano) was some of the best I’ve ever seen over the past 3-4 games. Despite having 4 starters with obvious Mestizo/Amerindian heritage, this was no “caste” matchup.
For Deutschland, every single player (aside from Ozil, who was his perma-invisible self), both starter and substitute, ran themselves ragged for this victory.
For the forwards, Andre Schürrle, the back-up with seemingly-infiltrate endurance, was the best player on the pitch. He logged a few blistering shots on goal where there was little/nothing to be had, got back on defense when needed, and had the beautiful pass to engineer Götze’s fantastic goal. I believe it will be Schürrle, not Müller (who is a more natural winger), who will replace the living legend, Miroslav Klose as the team’s lone striker. Klose and Müller had no space to work against a smothering defense, but you can’t question their effort and their ability to get back to help on defense. Aside from his goal against Ghana and his wonderful winner today, Götze had a relatively poor tournament. It was great to see the kid redeem himself with one dazzling goal…
In the midfield, Schweinsteiger didn’t create much offensively, but controlled the ball, won headers, stole the ball, played great defense, and kept grinding the way that only he can...
Kroos wasn’t anything special on corners/set pieces (for once) and missed a great chance to throttle the ball home, but had some nice steals defensively. Ozil’s move to the midfield after Kramer’s injury made him even more irrelevant. After the return of the injured Marco Reus, we’ll see if the do-nothing Turk keeps his roster spot.
On defense, Hummels played as if his injury was really bothering him, but was good enough. Höwedes had a nice game against some talented offensive players, but missed a great chance for a header (although Müller was offsides anyway). Boateng had the best game I’ve ever seen play, making two clearances on close chances for Argentina. “Der Kaptiän,” Lahm, had some pace-laden runs down the right side and was flawless on defense. Naturally, Neuer was good in goal on the few chances that materialized.
Hell, even the manager, Löw, made some intelligent substitutions!
Many thanks to everyone who contributed to this great thread! The 2014 World Cup was another great victory for the white race in the realm of athletics. A World Cup Title is a great achievement, but my hope is that this tournament will inspire a rise in nationalism, aiding men and women in white nations to produce more white children and to understand a greater love for their nation, culture, and race…which is what truly matters!