It was so beautiful for GERMANY: ‘Don’t cry for me ARGENTINA’

It was GERMANY’S moment of glory when MARIO GOTZE, the substitute struck the only goal of the World Cup 2014 final in Samba Dancing Brazil on Sunday and when the final whistle was blown, glittering celebrations broke out in the squad, the supporters on the ground and in Germany.

Germany now has four World Cups that adorn their shelves. Brazil lead with five. Before going on to comment further on the tournament, a big bouquet to BRAZIL who surmounted numerous odds to deliver one, if not the best World Cup in its history.

Before the World Cup began, not a day passed without criticism.

Allegations were made that venues, transport, hotels, strikes, anti-demonstrations and other details were all found wanting and critics even made bold to say that the World Cup would not take place. Now these loud mouths have been shut.

Admitted that my first love is cricket with the second being football.

Coming from a school that produced champion teams and football legends at St. Benedict’s College, Kotahena in the 1950s and 1960s.

I had the privilege of being close to the best coach the school or the country had in Brazilian and German trained Albert Fernando, and having learnt the rudiments from Fernando when covering football in my formative years as a journalist for ‘The Times of Ceylon’ I guess I have the credentials to comment on football.

Deserve to be crowned champions

To BRAZIL and the 2014 World Cup, which ended in a blaze of colour put up by the hosts and wild celebrations, GERMANY deserved to be crowned CHAMPIONS coached by Joachim Loew Soaking in the action throughout glued to the TV with my friend Colin Fernando in London, there was no doubt that GERMANY played the better football by far and richly deserved to be crowned.

When final day dawned, there were great expectations that ARGENTINA who were fancied to enter the finals with BRAZIL before the tournament began would beat GERMANY and take away the trophy home.

This prediction was based on the fact that ARGENTINA was having the best player in the world in LIONEL MESSI and that MESSI with his brilliant art and craft would hit the net and deliver for his team and country.

But the GERMAN coach and the team had MESSI all taped up and at times immobile although he came near to scoring a couple of times. GERMANY threw a few players around him as guards and he was immobile and with that ARGENTINA’S chances disappeared.

Beauty and winner by substitute Gotze

At the end of the game after a scoreless full time and seven minutes to the end of extra time the beauty by substitute MARIO GOTZE would have broken the hearts of all the ARGENTINES, it had the GERMANS dizzy with unbridled joy. While the GERMANS sang that perennial ‘It’s so beautiful’, the Argentines would have been sobbing and humming that other perennial - Don’t cry for me Argentina’.

No one would dare begrudge GERMANY their success. They played like champions in every game and their entry into the finals was welcome. Argentina too motored into the final and a memorable final was on the cards.

It was a game worthy of a World Cup final. Both teams attacked, defended to death their goal posts and at times there was the magical football - dribbling - made famous by former great Brazilian teams at times. When the first 90 minutes and the first period of extra 15 minutes ended and eight more minutes for the second period of extra time to finish and with a penalty shootout looming that substitute GOTZE struck for GERMANY that stuffed ARGENTINA and gave and made GERMANY FIFA WORLD CUP 2014 CHAMPIONS.

Next World Cup 2018 in Russia

The next World Cup 2018 will be hosted by President Valdimir Putin’s Russia who after watching the final has vowed ‘an unforgettable football feast’. The Russians spent more than dollars 50 million on this year’s Sochi Winter Olympics and he now faces another multi-billion dollar bill to host the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

The 2018 World Cup is Russia’s most ambitious project since the fall of the Soviet Union. Putin has promised to do all they can to organize the event at the highest level after watching the final at Rio de Janerio’s Maracana Stadium. ‘We successfully hosted the Winter Olympics in Sochi and now know exactly what a challenge it is to organize an event of such calibre’, said Putin.

What surprised connoisseurs of the game was the first round exits of the better known teams such as Spain the reigning champions, England, Italy, Uruguay and Chile. These teams were tipped to contest the finals because they were strong in all departments of the game.

Being in England after covering Sri Lanka’s successful cricket tour where the locals put to second best the hosts in the Twenty20, one-day bashes and winning the first ever Test series, I had the intolerable experience to read everyday the over-kill and intolerable biased articles by their football writers who were gloating that England would be the World Champions.

When the great Pele was lured

England writers in Brazil even went to the extent of luring that Brazlian football legend Pele to tip England to be champions. What finally happened to England would have embarrassed Pele and made him lose credibility.

Not sufficient having eaten humble pie in Brazil, the writers then began singing that England has a young team and that they need not be disappointed and that they have it in them to be champions in Russia in 2018. Reminded me of that Jim Reeves perennial ‘WISHFUL THINKING’.

Like in cricket’s every four year World Cup tournament, it is customary for countries to change their coaches if they fail, although coaches alone cannot be blamed for defeat, England are persisting with Roy Hodgson, who to many is not fit to cling on to the job. ‘Kissing goes by favour, those in the know say. But in Samba Dancing and soccer crazy Brazil it is different. Coach big Phil Scolari who also coached England’s Chelsea, and who was Brazil’s coach, his neck has fallen on the block and has not been granted an extended contract. Although it is not done, but that is how it is done when the coach become the scapegoat when his team loses.

Don’t lynch the coach

As for the writer, the coach in any sport must not be lynched when his team loses. A team can have the world’s best coach who can show and tell. All depends on how the player or players do it out in the middle. If the player or player fails don’t skin the coach. It is not done.

The match that stunned hosts Brazil and had them sobbing with some frustrated fans reverting to rioting, was the seven goal defeat of their team by Germany in the semi-finals. Brazil five times winners of the World Cup and under pressure to deliver as hosts were never before disgraced like when Germany kept hitting the net in gay abandon, believe it or not, not once, twice but seven times which was unbelievable, unacceptable and disgraceful which shamed the nation and saw their crazy supporters cheering and urging the other teams to success.

True, that they lost their magician and poster boy NEYMAR to a vicious tackle which kicked him out of the tournament and also an unforgivable error by skipper Thiago Silva which earned him his second yellow card and kept him also out of the semis, yet Brazil cannot find these as excuses for their drubbing.

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