Germany 1 – 0 Argentina: An Analysis of the 2014 World Cup Final

So the 2014 World Cup final took place in Rio’s Estádio Maracanã, Sunday 13 July, kicking off at 4 pm local time. Germany lined up in a 4-3-3 formation. With Manuel Neuer in goal, the back four comprised Benedikt Howedes at left-back, Mats Hummels and Jerome Boateng in the centre of defence, and Philipp Lahm at right-back, expected to fulfil a wider and more adventurous full-back role. Bastian Schweinsteiger sat in the centre of the midfield behind Toni Kroos and Christoph Kramer – making only his fifth appearance for the national side, and his first competitive start, a last-minute replacement for Sami Khedira, so impressive against Brazil, but succumbing to a calf injury in the warm-up. In the attack, Mesut Ozil and Thomas Muller played on the left and the right respectively behind Miroslav Klose.

Argentina utilised something between a 4-2-2-2 and a 4-3-3. With Sergio Romero in goal, and a back four of Marcos Rojo, Ezequiel Garay, Martin Demichelis, and Pablo Zabaleta, Lucas Biglia and Javier Mascherano occupied the two central midfield positions, sitting relatively deep to protect the defence. Ahead of them were Ezequiel Lavezzi and Enzo Perez; with Lionel Messi roaming behind Gonzalo Higuain in the attack. Provisionally, Lavezzi and Perez played as wide attacking midfielders, with Lavezzi starting on the left and Perez on the right, but intending to interchange through the course of the game.

As the first half progressed, both teams found the most joy down the flanks, but especially down their respective right sides. The Argentinians had a strong opening twenty minutes: after four minutes, a pass by Lavezzi down the right found Higuain, whose shot from the right of the six-yard box went across the goalmouth ; and at eight minutes, Lionel Messi burst into the right of the penalty area past Hummels, but couldn’t find anybody with his attempted pull-back. In the twentieth minute, one of the chances of the game was gifted as Kroos carelessly headed the ball beyond his own centre-backs, into the path of Higuain, who found himself through on goal. Higuan snatched at the shot, however, and struck wide from the edge of the area when he should have scored. At the same time, Lahm and Muller were connecting down Germany’s right to build attacks, and to provide crosses into the box. While the tempo of the game remained high throughout the half, with both sides pressing and harrying effectively, the pattern of the game emerged, which saw Germany retaining possession in the midfield and Argentina hoping to break incisively.

Argentina’s 4-2-2-2 was frequently becoming a 4-3-3 on the attack, as Lavezzi moved over to the right and made good use of his pace against Howedes and Hummels, with Messi drifting over to accompany him, and Perez filling in to bolster the left of the Argentine midfield. After just seventeen minutes, Kramer had suffered a nasty blow when, running for the ball, he found himself suddenly sandwiched between two defenders, and his head rebounded violently off Garay’s shoulder. After a pause in play, he continued on, but was forced to retire fifteen minutes later, still visibly dazed and being helped from the pitch. His substitution came as Argentina had a goal disallowed for offside, Higuain several yards ahead of the last German defender when Lavezzi crossed the ball for him to finish. With Khedira and now Kramer injured, and Lahm playing at full-back, Germany found themselves without an obvious midfield replacement, and brought on Andre Schurrle, an attacker. Schurrle moved to the left of the attack, with Ozil moving into the centre of the pitch.

The 4-2-3-1 which has characterised Joachim Low’s long tenure as Germany manager was replaced at the start of this World Cup with a 4-3-3. Muller played as the formation’s nominal front-man, with Ozil and Mario Gotze behind, and with Schweinsteiger and Kroos in the midfield ahead of Lahm, converted from his accustomed full-back position as he was last season under Pep Guardiola for Bayern Munich. With Lahm in the midfield, Per Mertesacker came in at centre-back, and Germany played with four natural centre-backs across the defence. This was the template until the quarter-final against France.

After the tense victory in extra time against Algeria in the previous round, against France Klose was restored to the team at Gotze’s expense, and Lahm was reestablished at right-back. Khedira took his place in the midfield. Schweinsteiger again proved himself adept at midfield defensive work, covering ground and intercepting effectively; Lahm as a natural full-back offered more to Germany there than he could muster in the centre of the field, providing much needed pace, width, and attacking intent down the right flank; and despite his lack of ability outside the box, Klose proved Germany’s best option leading the line, his prowess in the penalty area encouraging the opposition to defend deep, allowing Germany’s attacking midfielders the space in which to play.

Yet the formation against France and for the triumph over Brazil had remained a 4-3-3, with Kroos and Khedira just ahead of Schweinsteiger, and Ozil and Muller either side of Klose: despite his goalscoring ability and his frequent forward runs, Kroos would never linger behind the striker, always retreating to make a compact midfield. Now against Argentina, with Schurrle on and Ozil central, Germany’s formation moved back towards a 4-2-3-1. A unique sort of number ten in that he favours short runs and passes and intelligent movement off the ball rather than prolonged possession and attempted through-passes and shots on goal, Ozil is still a natural for the position, and Low allowed him to play there rather than asking him – or another attacker – to drop deeper to retain the shape of the 4-3-3. Kroos was inevitably required to drop a little as part of the midfield two, playing more resolutely alongside Schweinsteiger.

The interchange between Ozil and Muller has been a key facet of Germany’s game, and a highlight of international football, over the last four years. With Schurrle hugging the left touchline, Ozil frequently moved between the centre and the right of the pitch, receiving passes from Lahm and becoming one of the game’s key players. Nobody on the German side was moving with as much fluidity between the narrow lines of the Argentinian’s tight defence. This encouraged Muller also to wander on occasion, and the first of a flurry of chances before half-time came when he cut the ball back to Schurrle down Germany’s left, only for Schurrle to fire the ball straight at Romero in goal. A moment later, Messi again found space down Argentina’s right, and managed to flick the ball over Neuer, only for Boateng to scramble it clear. Then Ozil beat a couple of defenders and laid the ball off to Kroos on the edge of the Argentine area – but Kroos’s shot was tame, and trickled towards Romero’s outstretched gloves. The final chance of the half – and the closest either side had come to scoring so far – came as Howedes headed against the woodwork from a corner taken by Kroos. While Howedes’ leap was impressive, winning a free header just yards from goal meant that he should have scored.

Within seconds of the second-half commencing, Messi struck from the left of the penalty area agonisingly wide of Neuer’s far post. Argentina looked bright, but the half soon settled into a slower, slightly scrappier affair. The Argentine forwards – now playing solely on the counter, and with Sergio Aguero replacing Lavezzi after the break, entrenching a 4-3-3 but a narrower version, with Messi just behind Aguero and Higuain – began to make more runs across and at the heart of the German defence. Germany were dominating possession and probing, but still going wide in an attempt to carve chances. Since coming on, Schurrle had provided much workrate down the left, but he was rarely venturing to go past Zabaleta and reach the byline. Mascherano and Biglia provided Argentina with a strong spine ahead of Demichelis and Garay, and Boateng routinely cleaned up at the back for Germany, while Schweinsteiger tracked back to make several timely interceptions.

A ball played over the top towards the right of the German penalty area in the fifty-fifth minute encouraged Neuer to race from his goal and to punch the ball clear; but in jumping to do so, he clattered into Higuain, with the foul absurdly given against the attacker. After a foul by Schweinsteiger and a high challenge by Howedes in the first half had brought the game’s first bookings, now two fouls in quick succession saw yellow cards for Aguero and Mascherano.

Messi, who to this point had been the game’s most dangerous player, began dropping deeper to search for the ball. Rodrigo Palacio replaced Higuain in the Argentine attack. Two pieces of clever play by Germany brought abject conclusions, with Howedes fumbling from an advanced position in the Argentine area, and with Kroos again spurning an excellent shooting opportunity after a good ball from Ozil. With five minutes of normal time left, Argentina made their final change of the match, as Fernando Gago replaced Perez. Germany responded by substituting Klose – presumably drawing to an end his World-Cup defining international career – for Gotze.

With no clear opportunities presenting themselves in the final minutes, the game moved on into extra time, and immediately became more open. Schurrle forced another save from Romero. After several forays down the left, a lofted diagonal ball from that side evaded Hummels and put Palacios in on goal, but as Neuer raced out, Palacios lifted wide. Mascherano was fortunate to escape a second yellow card for fouls on Schweinsteiger either side of the half-time break; then Aguero should certainly have gone for catching Schweinsteiger – whose command on the game was only growing – with a fist to the cheekbone, which caused a cut and plenty of blood.

As he returned to the pitch and the players entered the final ten minutes of extra time – as penalties looked increasingly likely – Germany scored. Whether Muller or Gotze, the false-nine experiment has thus far brought meagre returns for Germany, failing to extend their play; but it was unsurprising that Gotze’s fresh legs ultimately proved the difference. Crosses having been delivered from the right for so much of the game, the goal came thanks to a delivery from the left, as Schurrle crossed to Gotze who, to the left of the six-yard box, showed exceptional ability and composure, controlling with his chest before volleying with his left foot over Romero and into the back of the net. Argentina fought to find a way back into the game. Messi headed onto the roof of the net from the edge of the area; and after Mertesacker replaced Ozil, Messi struck a final free-kick from too far out decidedly over the bar. The referee played on beyond the allocated injury time, but Germany held firm, and thus became World Champions.

Lamenting Messi’s role in Argentina’s defeat is sensationalist, if perhaps reflecting the extent to which individualism rules in today’s game. Argentina’s top scorer and the joint-third top scorer in the tournament with four goals, scoring decisively in every match of the group stage and creating the winning goals in the knockouts versus Belgium and Switzerland, even on the night Messi was one of Argentina’s best players. Undeniably fading towards the end of ninety minutes, and offering little aside from his late, desperate attempts in extra time, still Messi came closest to scoring with his run towards the end of the first half and his shot in the opening moments of the second. In the first half in particular, with Hummels bizarrely challenging him for pace rather than attempting to hold him up, Messi ran past Hummels time and time again without receiving adequate support. Built effectively around a compact defence, Argentina lacked fluency in the attack throughout the World Cup, and in the final it was Higuain and Palacios’s squandered chances which proved costly.

Germany’s standout players across the course of competition have been numerous. Hummels had appeared the tournament’s preeminent ball-playing centre-back, and scored two goals from headers against Portugal and France, before struggling defensively in the final. Kroos too had been regarded one of the World Cup’s standout players, especially after scoring twice against Brazil, before a tentative showing yesterday. In their stead, Boateng made crucial use of his strength and athleticism in the German defence, and Schweinsteiger dictated the game in the middle of the pitch while remaining so astute and committed defensively. He and Ozil were the standouts for Germany in the final.

Meanwhile Muller comes away from the tournament with another five World Cup goals, and Klose scored his sixteenth in total to break Ronaldo’s World Cup goalscoring record. Neuer has brought new acclaim to and a new perspective on the role of goalkeeper with his aggressive and modern sweeping behind the defence. Philipp Lahm scarcely put a foot out of place. Yet Gotze’s magnificent goal encapsulates as well as anything Germany’s World Cup, which has been brilliant at least as much as it has been, at times, workmanlike. After coming so close but falling short at each tournament since 2006, their triumph vindicates Low’s management; and with a winning mentality, the youth of their attackers, and players including Marco Reus and Julian Draxler to come into the side, this may be seen as the beginning rather than the end of an exciting process.

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