Mario Goetze’s goal in extra time clinched the 2014 FIFA World Cup for the Germans, netting them their fourth trophy, putting them level with Italy and just one behind Brazil.
For the many Brazilians inside the Maracana, there was satisfaction that their neighbours and arch rivals hadn’t managed to get their hands on the coveted trophy, an achievement that would have certainly rubbed salt into their wounds after having witnessed their own team getting dumped out of the tournament in acrimonious fashion.
Argentina had a fine run to the final. They started off slowly and barring the games against Bosnia and Herzegovina and Belgium, they were truly pushed to the limits in each of their games. But they held their own and managed to get the job done, getting over their opponents to eventually make it to the grand finale. The 2014 run to the final was a rather unconventional one for the Argentines. Unlike in the past, this campaign wasn’t highlighted by superb, silken attacking play that their opponents found too much to handle.
True, Argentina had in their ranks, and as captain, arguably the best player in the world in Lionel Messi. He did win the Golden Ball, which was FIFA’s way of pandering to popular opinion and ensuring their commercial interests. But Messi wasn’t even the best player on his team. While he did show his class in leading the way in the group stages, as the tournament progressed, Argentina became more effective than effervescent. Mascherano wasn’t captain but led from the front
And the leader of this effective pack and Argentina’s MVP during the tournament was Javier Mascherano, who truly had a spectacular World Cup for the Albiceleste. Messi wore the armband, but Mascherano was the vocal leader on the pitch, marshaling the troops, and helping keep the Argentine unit tight and compact. He was, in fact, the incumbent before Alejandro Sabella handed the captaincy to Messi, so the midfielder was just continuing on in his leadership role sans the armband.
Having been witness to watching the midfield enforcer play centre-back for Barcelona the last few seasons, it was an absolute joy to watch Mascherano at this World Cup operating in his favoured deep-lying midfielder role. His marking, tackling and retrieval of the ball were all superb and his distribution once he obtained possession was fantastic, in a throwback to his Liverpool days and his initial years at Barcelona. Acting as the pivot, he helped protect Martin Demichelis, a pronounced liability at the back at club level the last season, and Ezequiel Garay, not the quickest of defenders.
He was crucial in keeping the Argentines organized and disciplined while defending, an aspect that their neighbours Brazil ended up paying a heavy price for not addressing. For long the shortcoming of South American teams, even the best of them, Mascherano ensured that it would not be their Achilles heel this time around.
Mascherano was amongst the leaders in tackles, balls recovered and distance covered among midfielders at Brazil 2014. And while it was his possibly game-saving tackle against Arjen Robben in the semi-finals that made people look up and take notice, efforts like those were what Mascherano routinely put out through the course of the tournament.
After conceding two goals against Nigeria in their final group game, Argentina went three full games without conceding another, only to be breached by Gӧtze’s superbly taken volley in the summit clash. And while he was excellent throughout the tournament, he reserved his finest showing for the semis and the final. While everybody spoke about how well Nigel de Jong man-marked Messi in the semi-finals, Mascherano’s equally lock-in defence against Robben and Wesley Sneijder was overlooked.
In fact, as the match wore on, and the Dutch began to enjoy possession and embarked on a late charge, it was Mascherano who the entire Argentine team suddenly looked up to. And in the team huddle before extra time and penalties, it was once again Mascherano, and not Messi, who was giving the team talk, motivating and inspiring his troops.
Javier Mascherano of Argentina challenges Bastian Schweinsteiger of Germany during the 2014 FIFA World Cup Final
The unsung hero – recognized by his opponents
Going into the final, Germany’s Bastian Schweinsteiger singled out Mascherano’s importance to the Argentine side calling him “the leader of a pack of wolves”. And Germany found it tough to get past that wolfpack in the final as Mascherano went toe-to-toe with perhaps the best midfield pairing in the competition in Schweinsteiger and Toni Kroos.
He may not be the big, bad wolf, but through his performances at Brazil 2014, the diminutive Argentine’s reputation as one of the best holding midfielders in the world has been restored. He led his side to their first final in 24 years, and they came close, really close.
But the loss in the final notwithstanding, when the dust settles around the 20th FIFA World Cup, and people begin to look back at the names that stood out, the names that shone the brightest, most of the talk may still revolve around Messi, but Mascherano’s huge contribution to the cause will not be lost on them.
Brazil national side fail to live up to the expectations of the home fans as Germany thrash them 7-1 in the semi-final.
This past Tuesday in Belo Horizonte, time seemed to stand still during the 90 minutes of football in the first semi-final between Brazil and Germany.
For 90 minutes, all those who watched went through emotions that you would associate more with being at the cinemas and amphitheatres. For 90 minutes, people’s thoughts were suspended, for from the outside looking in, it bore no evidence of a sporting contest, least of all a FIFA World Cup semi-final between two giants of the game.
While the rain came down hard as the match wore on, the tears came down harder on the cheeks of many Brazilian supporters in the stadium who just found it all a little too much to stomach. Overwhelmed they were and awash with misery at watching their heroes fall apart like a deck of cards.
As the first goal went in, when Thomas Müller found himself completely unmarked to head home, the entire Brazilian team took a deep breath knowing that they now had to put up a masterful effort to come back in this one without their two best players. Hope, while having taken a hit, was still intact. When the second one went in, and in the manner in which it did, that hope was shattered. The young team out on the pitch began to see its World Cup dream slip away.
And in thinking about that dream slipping away, they let in a third, fourth and fifth. In a span of six extremely long minutes, Brazil’s players suddenly found their dream turned into a nightmare, a real live one, and one in which they were very much awake. Their thoughts must have shifted to the vultures that would circle around them after the match, the memories that would haunt them for years on end and a public that would be merciless and unforgiving during their entire lifetime for having brought on this shame to the country’s football and its people.
It was the day Brazil stood still and let time and Germany just waft past them. The scenes witnessed that evening were just some of the most poignant ones seen in recent times.
A modern day sporting tragedy
In an era far removed from Greek tragedies, Brazil’s national football team became the centrepiece in this modern day sporting tragedy, one that can claim to rival Greek tragedies of yore from Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides.
As much as word may be out that Germany were clearly far superior and that Brazil were destined to fail, let’s get things straight, events like Tuesday are freak results; they come along rarely. Brazil aren’t that bad and Germany aren’t that good, period. Five of the seven goals conceded were gifts presented to the Germans in an unexpected show of hospitality from the hosts, the nature of which were so welcoming that even a side like San Marino would have pumped in a few goals.
What we witnessed was amongst the most spectacular unravelling ever seen in recent times in sport. Brazil’s footballers just imploded on the pitch against the more seasoned Germans and the result wasn’t pretty.
Pressure can undo so many good things. When you play under pressure, you pretty much stop playing, focussing instead on how best not to mess things up. Brazil were under pressure right from the moment the tournament got underway and that is precisely why they’ve flattered to deceive right through.
A year ago, this team became overwhelming favourites to clinch their sixth World Cup after putting in a masterful run to win the Confederations Cup at home. It is not for nothing that the favourites going into a World Cup have never won; in Brazil’s case, the euphoria and the pressure was just so much more considering them being the hosts and considering the painful memories from 1950 that the country wanted this team to banish.
Brazil’s unconvincing road to the semis
A team cannot go from being world-beaters to being on the wrong end of a 7-1 score line in a jiffy. The truth is Brazil have hardly got out of third gear at this World Cup due to a combination of their own anxiety and how well their opponents have played. Unconvincing is the word that can best be described to sum up how they’ve performed right through, from their opener against Croatia right upto squeaking past Chile and holding off Colombia.
They sparked in fits and spurts and managed to get the job done in order to progress. But then, such an approach can only take you that far, and when you go up against an elite team such as Germany, you have got to be better prepared. Driven by a fear of failure all along, the focus has to been to somehow get the win, while sacrificing all else for the ultimate glory.
Trouble with that approach, sadly, is you tend to not have a fall back option. Brazil right through the tournament exhibited a distinct lack of a clear strategy or game plan. Hence, the reliance on Neymar; hence, the sweaty foreheads and palms when he went down after being kneed in the back by Colombia’s Juan Zuniga.
“We missed you skipper”
Without Neymar, they were going to struggle offensively, but Thiago Silva’s absence at the heart of the defence was always going to have more severe implications, though no one could have quite predicted the scale of damage that was eventually inflicted. Their captain has been immense for them in this tournament and in my opinion has been more crucial to the team than Neymar. I say so because, once you gloss over the goals and attractive play that the Samba boys displayed en route to the semi-final, their progress was more a grit-and-grind display, of overcoming opponents rather than overpowering them. And at the heart of it all was the man from PSG.
Brazil’s Thiago Silva (R) consoles David Luiz
Strong rear-guard action was required in every game that Brazil played – against Croatia, Mexico, Cameroon, Chile, Colombia – and Silva stepped up to the plate magnificently every single time. His marshalling of the defence was superb to watch as he kept his teammates focussed and was always proactive, shouting out instructions and keeping his team huddled together. His presence makes David Luiz play better and that recklessness in his game is hardly seen when Silva is around.
He wasn’t around on Tuesday in the semi-final, wasn’t around to rally his troops when they were shooting themselves in the foot, wasn’t around to bring about a sense of calm to the back four in particular and the team in general. For four of the seven goals conceded, Brazil even had numbers back, only they weren’t really marking anyone, just marking space. A fine leader of men, the only one perhaps in this team, he was sorely missed out on the pitch that evening.
Brazil didn’t lack talent, they lacked experience
This team that played as such an effective unit with so much cohesion and unity in winning the Confederations Cup also played with a great degree of freedom at that event. An uninhibited approach allowed them to play their games at their full potential knowing full well that the event was but a precursor, a warm up, to the big event a year away. Failure to win it would not be the end of the world. In 2014, at the showpiece event though, the stakes were much higher, and Brazil crumbled.
All those saying that is the worst ever generation of Brazilian players to ever play for the Selecao could not be farther from the truth. Brazil’s remarkable self-combustion came not due to a lack of talent, but due to a lack of maturity and experience. This squad was simply too young and too inexperienced to handle itself when backed into a corner.
Of the four semi-finalists this year, Brazil clearly was the odd man out, for every other team had a solid core of five to six veteran pros with plenty of experience behind them. Argentina’s entire team boasts of players that have now been playing for years in the top leagues in Europe and South America with plenty of caps under their belt; Germany has a strong veteran core of Philip Lahm, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Per Mertesacker and Miroslav Klose to look to for leadership and even their younger players have a World Cup under their belt already; the Netherlands likewise have Robin van Persie, Arjen Robben, Wesley Sneijder, Nigel de Jong and Dirk Kuyt. All of them big-match players, all of them seasoned professionals capable of handling themselves well in high-pressure situations.
Contrast that with Brazil and you find no one of note barring Julio Cesar and Dani Alves. Even their captain, Thiago Silva, is an amateur when compared to those leading the other three semi-finalists.
‘Big Phil’ fails to provide the major lift
This team is no doubt talented; the trouble is they have hardly been able to will themselves to play anywhere close to their best. That’s why the blame, entirely, must go to the coach, Luiz Felipe Scolari, for this acrimonious debacle.
Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari had no answers to Germany’s onslaught
Scolari’s missteps began from the day when the squad was announced. He opted for caution over flamboyance when he selected a gut of defensive-minded midfielders in the squad and left out players such as Lucas Moura. During the whole tournament, he seemed to be unable to influence the game during periods when his side were under pressure. His substitutions seemed to follow a preset order rather than being influenced by how the game was going. Tactically, he was outsmarted by almost every single opposing coach, including that of Cameroon. Perhaps the most shocking decision of all was him deciding to play Maicon in the right-back position against Germany. Who was he kidding?
Dani Alves may have been sub-par for much of the tournament and his benching in the quarter-final against Colombia may have been to send a strong message to him, but not playing your best right-back against a team like Germany is asking for trouble. Even more so when you’ve already been forced to include Dante in central defence thanks to Silva’s absence. Both Maicon and Dante let the team down massively. Maicon has been washed up for some time now; he is backup at AS Roma for a reason.
Road to redemption
There are some clear problems with this team, like the need for a good centre-forward. The other main issue they will have to address by the time the Copa America comes around and subsequently the next World Cup, is the right-back and the goalkeeper positions. Julio Cesar could be playing in his last World Cup and Alves may not be around too when the next one comes around.
This team is extremely young and culling the entire lot in favour of other alternatives would be too harsh a decision. Each of these players have exhibited considerable potential at club level and together as a team to be kept in the mix for upcoming tournaments. A knee-jerk reaction is the easy way out, but not the right one at this point. Ensuring continuity is a key part of squad building. Barring a coaching change, the players have to be given more time. They just have to look at the team that butchered them in the semi-final to understand that.
This German team’s road to the final began eight years ago, in similar conditions at home, where they fell to wily Italian team in the semis. That squad headed by Jürgen Klinnsmann and the subsequent one in 2010 bore much resemblance in that they all had a young core of players. With greater experience and maturity, they are now once more in the final, 12 years after they made the final in 2002 at Korea/Japan. And redemption is a great motivator to help inspire a bunch of players out of a funk after such a heavy defeat.
That road to redemption begins later tonight when they take on the Netherlands in their country’s capital in the third-place playoff. While no team really likes to play this particular match in a World Cup, for Brazil it provides an immediate opportunity to redeem themselves in the eyes of their country mates, and more importantly to help them believe in themselves once again.
It definitely is a game that Brazil need more than the Dutch, considering their rather narrow, gut-wrenching defeat to the Argentines in the second semi-final.
The original tragedies from the Greeks were aimed at depicting actions that were so complete and noble, that through trial and tribulation, the emotions of the audience were to be transformed from pity and fear to compassion and other pleasurable emotions resulting in a catharsis of the troubled soul. A similar renewal and restoration process lies in front of the current Selecao crop for they would like to wind up affairs at their home World Cup on a high and provide their fans with a sense of belief and hope that they can and will be back with a bang the next time around.
Two European and two South American teams have made it into the final four of the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Going into the final week of action, it is the hosts Brazil, their fierce rivals Argentina and European powerhouses Germany and the Netherlands who are still left standing with a chance to compete for the top prize.
For two of them in particular, the Germans and the Dutch, it is a repeat of what they managed to do at the last edition in South Africa. They have managed to make the semis at the World Cup finals for two successive editions now; quite an achievement.
As far as Germany are concerned, Die Mannschaft are the most consistent national team in football. Forget back-to-back semis, this is the fourth consecutive time that Germany have made it to the final four since the 2002 edition in Korea-Japan. The Germans don’t do upsets, they don’t do group stage eliminations, they don’t do hype. They just methodically go about conducting their business and get to the final week of competitions going down only to the eventual champion in most cases. Their presence in the latter stages is almost a given.
For the Dutch, after the disappointment of not qualifying in 2002 and the fractious exit in 2006 at the hands of Portugal, it marks a welcome return to a place where Dutch football believes it truly belongs – the journey from being merely a pretender to now being a contender.
Spain and Uruguay were guilty of relying a little too heavily on the same squad that earned them success back in 2010. Trouble was, some of those players were no longer at their peak and had slowed down over the years. As a result, players in form and performing well at club level were overlooked in favour of the established names. Spain may have brought in new players into the squad, but the starting eleven bore few changes to the core from the 2010 World Cup. The defending champions also failed to address their defensive woes and were forced to pay a heavy price.
Uruguay too relied too heavily on the old guard and that in turn increased their dependence on Luis Suarez. They suffered from a severe lack of mobility in their play, and their defeat in the opener actually forced Coach Oscar Tabarez’s hand to give the newer guys a run.
Germany’s squad is more mature now
One might argue that Germany have much the same players, just like Spain. True, but there is one key difference; Germany’s core is now actually in their prime. From the time of the 2008 Euros and the 2010 World Cup, these players are more mature and more experienced and have all tasted plenty of success playing for their respective clubs. Captain Philip Lahm and midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger are now the seasoned pros in the setup with a wealth of experience behind them.
Germany have made it to their fourth consecutive World Cup semi-final
And while the squad might look the same, Joachim Loew has made minor tweaks in personnel as well as tactics. The Germans don’t ever single out one man to be the key guy in the team; it is almost always a team effort. Four years ago, this was Mesut Ӧzil’s team, but it no longer is. Toni Kroos has taken over that mantle now and with Thomas Müller playing up front, there is more dynamism in this German side.
Germany’s defence isn’t the greatest either, not when you have Jerome Boateng and Per Mertesacker playing together, or Holger Badstuber. As shown from Mertesacker’s improved performances at Arsenal, he needs a partner who is quick on the ground. And Germany have plugged that gap with Mats Hummels now in the mix. Germany look a more solid team with any combination of Boateng or Mertesacker with Hummels.
For the Dutch, it’s out with the old and in with the new
There’s never been any doubt about the talent in the Dutch ranks, but there was always that sense of disappointment about how they could never get their act together to win a major tournament. It has been a tumultuous journey for the Dutchmen the last four years from the highs of reaching the final in South Africa in 2010 to the lows of losing all three matches and being eliminated in the group stages of Euro 2012.
Since then, with Louis Van Gaal back in his second stint as Netherlands manager, the Dutch have begun the climb out of those dark hallways. They were the first team to qualify for the World Cup from Europe, scoring prolifically and without losing a single game. They too have learnt from past endeavours and changed elements of the team that cost them dear at recent tournaments.
They culled the entire defensive line; not one member from the defensive unit that went to South Africa has travelled to Brazil, and only Ron Vlaar survives from the squad that was dumped out acrimoniously at the Euros. In their places are young defenders picked out from the Dutch Eredivisie, confident in their stride, emboldened by success enjoyed domestically.
It’s back-to-back semi-finals for the Oranje.
Only five veteran players have been retained by Van Gaal – Robin van Persie (now the captain), Arjen Robben, Wesley Sneijder, Nigel De Jong and Dirk Kuyt.
The attacking trio of van Persie, Robben and Sneijder combine to make one of the top offensive threats going forward. In fact, barring Sneijder, the other two members of that trio have actually gotten better since the last World Cup and have enjoyed much success playing for their clubs; Van Gaal has made absolutely the right call to retain them to provide this otherwise young team with some veteran leadership. And while Sneijder’s stock may not have improved like the others, he is still one of the best midfielders in the world in delivering killer passes and from dead ball situations.
Dirk Kuyt is an absolute professional, and hence is a great footballer to have in the squad. To add, his versatility (he can play wing-back, full-back, midfield, winger, forward) gives the Dutch team options. De Jong provides the steel in midfield and is still a great asset to have for his ability to break up play and retrieve the football from the opposition.
And the young players chosen in the squad, extensively from the Eredivisie, have provided some much needed freshness and have come into the tournament on the backs of extremely successful seasons. Van Gaal has picked exclusively from the top two sides in the Dutch league last season – Ajax and Feyenoord – and PSV who finished fourth.
Goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen, defenders Daley Blind and Joel Veltman were all part of Ajax’s title winning team. Defenders Bruno Martins Indi, Stefan de Vrij, Daryl Janmaat and Terence Kongolo and midifielder Jordy Clasie formed a part of Feyenoord’s fine team that finished second. And forward Memphis Depay and midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum were chosen from PSV. The reliance on players from the local Dutch league who have played with and against their teammates has brought in that familiarity and has helped the team work better as a team.
And the importance of confidence cannot be overstated; Van Gaal has picked winners in his squad. With winning comes mental toughness and fortitude and these young Dutch youngsters displayed that in spades in tight games against Chile, Mexico and Costa Rica in the lead up to the semi-finals.
South American obstacles in the way
Germany and the Netherlands now have South American opposition standing in their way, two favourites nonetheless, in Brazil and Argentina respectively. It is not only a clash of continents, but also a clash of styles. Traditionally even the best of South American teams have come undone when they’ve gone up against strong European teams who outsmart them tactically and rely on their organization and strong game plan to counter the flair of the South Americans.
Just ask Argentina who were thumped by Germany in 2010 and edged out in 2006 before that. Ask Brazil who were outwitted in 2010 by the Dutch and in 2006 by France. The two teams will have a point to prove over the next two days.
However, the Germans and the Dutch are well equipped to cope with them as always. The familiarity of the local conditions and home support will be one huge advantage for the South Americans, but you can bet on the two European teams to provide more than just a stern challenge. If Brazil and Argentina are to have that dream final on Sunday at the Maracana they will have to overcome their stiffest tests of the tournament so far, for they are going up against two of the most well drilled sides in this year’s tournament.
All the preparations for crazy parties on the beaches in anticipation of a Brazil-Argentina clash should be put on hold for there is a very real possibility that the meeting of arch-rivals in the final could just be between two European neighbours instead of two South American ones.
