[shashi63]

I found this piece on FB.. Thought it interesting..

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Micha...538259?fref=nf

G" is the 7th letter of alphabet,
and Germany
starts with "G"

- The name Germany contains 7
letters
- Germany was in Group "G" or
Group "7"
- Germany ended group stage with
7pts
- Germany scored 7 goals in group
stages- 4 vs Portugal, 2 vs Ghana and 1 vs
U.S.A
- Germany scored 7 goals vs Brazil
- And obviously, we are in 7th
month of year and winning goal was
scored 7 minutes to end of extra time.
- Best fighter from Germany team was Schweinsteiger with number 7 on his shirt

And...Michael Schumacher "defines" number 7 like we already know

[Mik]

What a night! The best team in the world showed up on the field and made it count. I don't believe Argentina were all that good. Even if Higuain had shot well, its not easy to beat Neuer. Germans were more intent on the win and frequently raided a very well sorted Argentinian defence. The game was too tactical and didn't make for great watching.
There is hardly anything artistic about present day Argentina or Brazil save Messi/Neymar. The challenges on Kramer and Schweini were downright disgusting and apart from the talismanic players - rest of the lot is just average.
On the other hand, Germans were without Marco Reus, Badstuber and Khedira who are all first team starters. It hardly mattered.
They played as a unit and have more or less perfected the high press passing game which makes for attractive football.

[srishiva]

Sometimes I wonder if the game is turning very tactical and fast and the traditional powers might lose out like in Hockey.

[linuxmanju]

Originally Posted by TorqueyTechie

Buddy, if you have followed the entire world cup closely there have been so many other players who have played much better than Messi. He may have been good but not exactly the person who deserves this award. In the finals too he missed couple of chances. In this case clearly his reputation came ahead of his actual contribution.

The award is for only this tournament and not during qualifiers. In the group stages he was effective again but not great as you would expect from him. For me it would have been Muller or Bastian Schweinsteiger. Mascherano was brilliant too!!

Trust me when I tell you this, I have watched all games except one. Golden Ball is given for the most influential player of the tournament.

Messi, against B&H he scored one and set up one to make it 2-1 win, He scored the solo goal against Iran and made Argentina qualify, scored twice against Nigeria. Setup Di-Maria to win against Switzerland. So everything above is something which influenced the outcome of the game and for Argentina overall.

On top of that, He is the player who created most chances in this world cup and completed the most number of dribbles, if you think that's not enough please check the survey of managers "The most marked player in the world is Messi, with a minimum of 2 defenders marking him always". So that means 50% of ones defense is for Messi alone, which other forward could utilize to their benefit ( i.e if they could ).

Muller's 3 Goals came Against Portugal in a single match and one goal against Brazil which they were winning by 7/1 anyway, 1 Assist in Ghana match which they drawn, Algeria 1 assist was a crucial one. I fail to understand how 3 Goals in a match and one goal in 7 goal haul make it an influential effort to make the team reach final, without which they would have reached final anyway.

The award was decided by FIFA panel, who know more football than you and me, I don't think we can question the intelligence of a panel who played foot ball their entire life. They judge it by every aspect of the game, not impulsively.

[nandita_bayan21]

Was definitely a must watch World Cup final. All the way, my brain said it would be Germany but heart was still pounding for Argentina. I badly wanted to see Messi lift the WC. Nevertheless, I guess both team played well, Argentina with a much need stronger attack and restricting Germany to just 1 goal, that too in the 112th minute.

Well deserved Golden Boot for James Rodriguez, might be picked up by some club real soon. An Messi, you will still remain my all time fav football hero

[thoma]

Originally Posted by Mik

The challenges on Kramer and Schweini were downright disgusting

Not to discuss about the red card deserving foul by Howedes. Lucky he escaped with a yellow.

Originally Posted by nandita_bayan21

All the way, my brain said it would be Germany but heart was still pounding for Argentina. I badly wanted to see Messi lift the WC.

Yeah, me too. After a few minutes of the whistle, it was my heart over my mind all the way. But Joachim Loew and his arsenal were rightly probing and deserving for a cup for some years now.

[neelchak]

As a gentleman pointed out earlier, mechanical but ruthlessly clinical won over artistry and flair. Argentina looked better on the ball for the most part, were able to penetrate more and created the clearer chances. Messi, leaving aside the heavy and unreal expectations from him, should have taken his chance. This was the game for which he sleep-walked through most of his season with Barcelona. Both teams did well to produce a very good match for a WC final. The winner takes it all in the end.

[Chetan_Rao]

Messi wasn't even Argentina's best player on the pitch, forget the tournament's. Take Mascherano out of that midfield and Argentina wouldn't even be in the final for Messi to fluff his lines. Credit where it's due: he's a terrific club footballer, but that magic hasn't rubbed off on this national shirt (yet), and I have a nagging feeling he may not be back in four years' time. While others around him looked shattered by the loss, he just had an air of resignation about him. Feel awful for him and Neymar, each expected to carry an average (sometime below) side to glory.

[drmohitg]

I really felt sorry for Messi to be honest. He is such a great player but his style of play is too influenced by Barcelona's style. So the end result is all his quick passes go waste because the fellow players are unable to anticipate that move. All his quick runs and dashes go waste because the player in question decides to pass the ball back into safe zone rather than pass it front to him. End result is he just relies on his speed and dribbling skill which against heavy marking by a quality side like Germany is difficult to put into action.

[finneyp]

Argentina sorely missed Di Maria yesterday!
Their mid-field play was non-existent! it was like 1 goalie + 8 defenders + 2 strikers...
You cannot expect to win WC with such strategy or lack of quality midfielders!
Maradona was one of the best mid-fielders who feeded his strikers very well, also moved forward as striker, no wonder he was so successful!

Overall, Germany was better team yesterday, had most of the possession and made frequent attacks on the Argentinian goalpost, they deserve to lift the WC!

[Chetan_Rao]

Originally Posted by drmohitg

I really felt sorry for Messi to be honest. He is such a great player but his style of play is too influenced by Barcelona's style. So the end result is all his quick passes go waste because the fellow players are unable to anticipate that move. All his quick runs and dashes go waste because the player in question decides to pass the ball back into safe zone rather than pass it front to him. End result is he just relies on his speed and dribbling skill which against heavy marking by a quality side like Germany is difficult to put into action.

The system he's used to at Barca since he was a kid at La Masia is totally at odds with the system Argentina plays (if one even exists except 'hoof it up to Messi and pray like hell'), and Messi's instinctive play continuously clashes with what his team-mates are trying to do, so badly that he often dropped deep to collect the ball himself in this tournament. I wonder how good Messi would be internationally if he had a playmaker like Pirlo or Alonso (Xabi) to pair with.

[pratyush6]

Absolute heartbreak for Argentina. They looked the better side in the Finals. They had more chances and failed to convert any. The 2 chances they got and fluffed right at the beginning was astonishing.
Equally good was the goal by Mario Gotze. Simply superb.
Felt really bad for Messi, he put in some great runs, his teammates are simply not at par and it showed. Messi could have probably gone solo a bit more instead on relying on his teammates (whatever that means!).

A great World Cup and probably the team of the tournament won it!

Congrats to Germany!

[Blue_V]

Argentina looked more defensive and at times lethargic. Germans looked what they are known for, well set machine. But it was Argentina that had the easier chances. Messi, Higuan, and another player just could not make it. Messi at times looked to do everything himself. I don't know why he chose not to take part in the team cheer up exercise before the start of the extra time. Germany deserved it.

[human_wheels]

Felt sorry for Argentina. Really wanted them to lift the WC this time. 24 years ago they were beaten by the same team, and I was heartbroken. But Germany played brilliant as a team.

[TorqueyTechie]

Originally Posted by linuxmanju

Messi, against B&H he scored one and set up one to make it 2-1 win, He scored the solo goal against Iran and made Argentina qualify, scored twice against Nigeria. Setup Di-Maria to win against Switzerland. So everything above is something which influenced the outcome of the game and for Argentina overall.

The award was decided by FIFA panel, who know more football than you and me, I don't think we can question the intelligence of a panel who played foot ball their entire life. They judge it by every aspect of the game, not impulsively.

I agree to you that he was the one who scored the goal against Iran and Nigeria. But was he influential the whole match. NO. Was he good during the group stages Yes. Similarly was he good or influential during the knock out stages. No. He was good in patches during all the whole tournament and never ever to reach the level of receiving the award and this is my opinion. For me Mascherano was a deserving candidate. He played well through out the tournament.

And to just make it clear I dont hold any grudge against him as a player. But he just cant replicate his club success when he plays for his country. Probably it might be the system he is used to playing is different from what he plays for his country.

Yeah I know that this time the award has been given by the FIFA panel rather than voting pattern followed till now.

Please check the below link to hear from the Arg great's mouth himself :

http://www.theguardian.com/football/...si-golden-ball

http://www.101greatgoals.com/blog/no...p-golden-ball/