Germany v Argentina… Seems about right, doesn’t it?
For all the shocks in this most magnificent of tournaments, most of all the demise of a once great Spanish team and Costa Rica’s unlikely progression to the last eight, tonight’s final won’t surprise too many with more than a fairweather interest in the beautiful game.
Germany are always there or thereabouts, you can never write them off, and countless other clichés. Look at the finer points and you’ll see the best spine of any team competing in Brazil – Neuer, Hummels, Kroos, Schweinsteiger, Khedira and Muller – and you can only make them favourites.
The 7-1 wasn’t bad either. Ruthless.
But then there’s yer man
Lionel Messi may have quietened down significantly since the group stages, with talk of fatigue and the pressure of trying to emulate Pele and (more significantly) Diego Maradona, but all bets will be off once 8pm comes this evening.
This is the biggest game of his life and, at 27, he’s playing it at what should be the peak of his career.
Whether you love him or his aloofness leaves him cold, there won’t be a heart left cool if Messi confirms what we all really know anyway – that he’s the best player to have played the game – by lifting the trophy tonight.
Probably after extra-time.
It’s been an extraordinary tournament, let’s all just hope the final bucks the trend of the last 24 years (nine goals in total) and we’re sent away with a classic.
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