World Cup Final: Germany 0:0 (1:0aet) Argentina

Germany - Argentina 0:0 (0:0),1:0 after extra time, Maracana, Rio de Janeiro

Germany suffered a blow in the warm up as Sami Khedira picked up an injury. Christopher Kramer took his place and he was the only change to the starting XI that humiliated Brazil in the semi-final.

Di Maria was still injured and Sergio Aguero, who returned in the semi-final, was only at the bench again. Alejandro Sabella named exact same XI that started against the Netherlands in the previous round. The only change was that Lavezzi played on the right and Enzo Perez from the left from the beginning. 

Starting XIs

Everything down the right

The game´s pattern was as expected in the first half. Germany dominated possession and Argentina tried to counter. They were quiet successful to get behind the Dutch through long balls towards right channel and Argentineans targeted that left back area here as well. It made sense considering Germany´s left side isn´t as good as right with Howedes playing out of position, Ozil, who doesn´t contribute much defensively (he hasn´t had much impact offensively either in this game) and Hummels, the left sided centerback, doesn´t have as much pace as Boateng on the other side. Lavezzi started on that side right from the start and Messi always positioned himself towards that flank and Argentina created couple of promising moments down that side, especially before Schurlle´s introduction after half an hour.

Argentina - attacking third passes, 1st half

Germany looked to work the ball down their right too. They were trying to get Muller/Lahm isolated, switch the ball to one of them and get other players into that area quickly to combine. Even without support, the duo combined well, managing 26 passes between them, even thought Muller played down the middle or left in the extra time. They got into to good crossing positions repeatedly down that side and some of them were really dangerous. 

Germany - crosses, 1st half

Second half and extra time

Alejandro Sabella took off Lavezzi and brought on Aguero for the second period. It might have been due to injury, but whatever the reason was, it changed Argentina´s shape into more of a 4-3-1-2 with Mascerano as a deepest midfielder, Biglia and Perez bit further up and Messi just behind the striker duo. Argentina played very directly in the opening minutes of the second half and caused Germany real problems with front trio making good runs behind their high line. It is worth to say that both, Hummels and Boateng have been superb at the back and the later made some fantastic tackles and clearances when needed. 

Boateng - clearances, whole match

It also helped to solve Argentina´s problem in the middle. In the first half, they allowed Schweinsteiger too much space and time and he dictated the play without being challenged. After the formation switch, the front three were closing the passing angles towards him, Biglia and Perez were pushing on to Kroos and Ozil (who moved in after Kramer´s departure) and centerbacks were forced to pass wide, rather than forward. Look at Schweinsteiger´s passing in the first half and the rest of the match. He completed 57 out of 60 attempted passes in the first 45 minutes and only 37 out of 44 during the remainder of the match. Consequently, Germany´s possession fell from 63% in the first half to 53% in the second half.

Schweinsteiger - passes, 1st half

Schweinsteiger - passes, 2nd half and extra time

As the game went on and teams tired, Germany started to dominate again. Most of their play was down the right, but there were some promising attacks down the left too. The decisive goal came from that side after Schurlle´s good run and cross, which Gotze managed to convert beautifully, although many would say that Romero should have done better in that situation.

Apart of the half time switch by Sabella, the substitutions didn´t change much. Palacio came on for Higuain and Gago replaced Perez for Argentina. Joachim Low had to take Kramer off after he took a heavy knock from Garay. Gotze came on for Klose for the extra time and Mertesacker replaced Ozil to help defence deal with long balls in the final minutes. 

Argentina chances

The game was decided by a superb goal by Gotze and it should be pointed out that his position was much more difficult compared to three glorious chances wasted by Argentina. They haven´t managed a single shot on target in the whole match and their shooting was dreadful. 

Argentina - shots , whole match

Howedes hit the post with a header from corner when you would expect him to score and Schurlle had couple of decent chances for Germany, but the biggest chances fell to Argentina and they should only blame themselves for not taking the lead and maybe going on to win the game.
Firstly, Higuain was given a gift by Kroos, who headed ball towards his own goal without looking and Higuain didn´t even hit the target on the volley when he had all the time in the world to beat Neuer. Messi had great 1 v 1 after great ball from Biglia, but sent his shot just wide of the post. Although it wasn´t the best angle, you would expect him to score from there. Lastly, Palacio got into 1 v 1 against Neuer after Hummels misjudged Rojo´s cross, but he didn´t control the ball properly and his chip over goalkeeper went wide.  

Conclusion

The game was as expected from the beginning with Germans dominating and Argentineans looking to counter. Both teams focused their play down their right, but none of the teams managed to create a clear chance from that side at the end. Germany deserve a credit for the way they were able to shuffle their side despite Khedira´s injury in the warm up and Kramer´s early departure. It showed how flexible their attacking players are and how well they know their game. Schurlle had a big impact as an early substitute again (similar to Champions League quarter final second leg), offering pace and danger down the left, ultimately providing assist for Gotze´s winning goal.
Sabella made a clever change during half time and Germany´s dominance wasn´t so obvious in the second half, but they were in charge in the extra time again as Argentina´s fitness levels dropped. Remember, Germany played their semi final game a day earlier and only had to play for 30 minutes, while Argentina went all the way against the Dutch.
As ever, Messi was a major talking point before the game, but similarly to the semi final, he faded away in the later stages. He was lively in the first half, causing problems with his dribbling and had a big chance early in the second half, but he simply wasn´t at his best.
Di Maria´s absence was a huge blow and it is much more difficult for Argentina to replace him than for Germany to replace any of their players.
It wasn´t the most spectacular game we´ve seen at this World Cup, but both teams created enough chances to win in after 90 minutes and Argentina could have go ahead before going behind for the first time in the whole tournament. After the goal, there wasn´t enough time and energy to find an equalizer.

The World Cup Trophy is probably in the right hands as Germany were surely the best team, especially after Lahm´s switch to his favoured right back position. They destroyed Portugal in the opening game, beat France comfortably in the quarter final, completely humiliated hosts in the semi final and their match against Ghana was one of the most entertaining games of the tournament. Their only questionable performance came in the second round against Algeria, where Manuel Neuer had to show he is not fantastic only in the box, but also outside, sweeping behind the high defensive line. They made it at least to the semi finals for the fourth consecutive World Cup and they fully deserve to finally lift the trophy! 

Highlighs: Germany 1:0aet Argentina