Germany Roils Argentina in Rio
July 14, 2014
Mario Götze scored in the 113th minute of the World Cup final yesterday to give Germany a 1-0 victory over Argentina in the championship game at Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro. The title is Germany’s fourth, compared with host Brazil’s record five championships. Germany’s victory marked the first time that a European team won the cup in a tournament held in the Americas.
The 22-year old Götze entered the game in the 88th minute; 25 minutes later, he instantly became one of Germany’s all-time sports heroes. Ironically, Götze had replaced Miroslav Klose, who had broken the all-time career record for goals scored in World Cup competition.
Germany’s victory stole the spotlight from Lionel Messi, the Argentine star generally considered the best player in the world. Messi received the Golden Ball award as the tournament’s best player, but it was Götze and his teammates who carried off the big prize.
Soccer is the world’s most popular sport. The World Cup Finals, the biggest single-event sports competition in the world, involved 32 countries whose teams played 64 games in 12 cities over 32 days. A description of the World Cup as “the planet’s single greatest collective human experience” by sports writer Roger Bennett captured the fervor aroused by the 2014 tournament.
- The World Cup is the most important international competition in soccer. Every four years national all-star teams from 32 countries compete for the trophy. (© Alfredo Lopez, Jam Media/LatinContent/Getty Images)
- Football, or soccer, is known as “the beautiful game.” (© Jose Jordan, AFP/Getty Images)
Additional World Book articles:
- Tim Cahill
- Neymar
- Cristiano Ronaldo
- Football, Association
- Soccer 1994 (a Back in Time article)
- Soccer 2010 (a Back in Time article)