[cluster11]

I felt Argentina did better than expected in the final. In fact, they played good enough that Germany didn't look as threatening during most of the match. It's true Lavezzi was causing all sorts of problems for Germany in the first half but the Argentinean coach (Sabella) went for more attack in 2nd half exactly due to those opportunities and that was a turning point. Once Lavezzi was replaced with Aguero it seemed Messi had to do more work and the German back and midfield learned from the first half to stop Argentina's attacks effectively. Toward the end of regulation time you can see Germany attacking more and more and Argentina just defending well. It seemed that Germany can just wear down Argentina and eventually win. But in extra time there was a reverse of trend when Argentina nearly scored and Schwensteiger was injured. That's why Goetze's goal is so spectacular. Just when you think Argentina is nearing the end of extra time and is guarding well against Lahm-Schwensteiger-Muller offensive, here come Schurrer down the wing and gives a cross that was scored with a 1-touch shot. It was a spectacular goal in itself, but also showed how deep German offense goes and how they are a "total" team (reminds of 2002 Brazil team).

Truth is nobody knew how things wiould turn out in the end. The World Cup final is different from the rest. Germany's super offense didn't work that well against Argentina. And Sabella's offensive bunch could not score despite getting the better chances. I can't blame Messi and I felt he deserved the best player award. Robben was great but he didn't perform that well either when faced with strong defense like Costa Rica and Argentina. Mueller was not effective in the final. But Messi and the Argentine defense together carried them all the way to the finals.