Posted on 07/13/2014 10:37:26 PM PDT by Berlin_Freeper
Germany won the World Cup. Host Brazil won a world of new friends.
The now four-time champions, the first European team to win the World Cup on Latin American soil, earned the honor of lifting the most recognized trophy in sports with a tooth-and-nail 1-0 victory in a final as terrifically entertaining as the tournament itself.
For a 32-day showcase of football at its best, the winning goal was beautifully appropriate. Mario Goetze controlled the ball with his chest and then volleyed it into the Argentine goal, making difficult skills look so simple. Scored in the 113th minute, the mortal blow left Argentina too little time to recover.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, sitting in the VIP section, waved a clenched fist as Goetze celebrated. When referee Nicola Rizzoli blew the final whistle a few minutes later, Vladimir Putin reached across and shook Merkel's hand. The Russian president's country hosts the next World Cup in 2018.
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
This is the one aspect of soccer that I wish could be improved. There’s so much subjectivity in calling fouls, in determining whether there’s a card, and deciding whether it’s a red or a yellow.
I don’t know how this could be avoided, except that maybe matches could be reviewed (after the match) and each referee given a numerical score rating whether they were consistent in the criteria they applied for calling fouls on each team and player. This wouldn’t be perfect, but at least they would know someone was watching their performance. It would also make it a bit more difficult for referees to be involved in match fixing.
I always thought it meant Pig Loader or Corraler...but whatever, it’s kinda fun to say with a hitler accent. He had a rough game, though.
I am sure NOTHING will get done in Germany today except lots of eating and drinking!
Depends. Do they still show tennis on TV? If so then no.
Looks like it, so far ;p
Hey now, don't be bringing that high-falooting logic and common sense into this! :>
In the end, Messi’s career could be summed up in that errant free kick he took right at the end of the game.
Sure, he’s a nice player who scores a lot of goals, but I think he falls short in comparison with the true greats of the game.
Finally a united Berlin could celebrate a World Cup title.
The 1990 win came a few months before official reunification.
It's a problem in most sports, especially football and basketball.
Lol, great clip, Messi Messi Messi.
He is such a great player. He and a few others were a joy to watch.
It occurred to me just how tough it is to win a World Cup.
I mean everybody knows how great Germany has been over the years, yet it was 24 years since they won the previous one. Never take them for granted.
Yawn. But college football is about to get cranked up ...
Absolutely perfect, 100% accurate, incredibly on point analogy! Good job. (I'm jealous I didn't think of it, actually). I'm dead serious in asking - do you mind if I use your point above as my tagline? Or at least paraphrase it when dealing with the bashers?
Finally a united Berlin could celebrate a World Cup title.Oh, but that didn’t stop East Germans from celebrating as well. The wall came down in 1989 already, and when people drove to the Kurfürstendamm to celebrate, they came from all parts of the city, and there were many of these ridiculous East German Trabant cars among them :-)The 1990 win came a few months before official reunification.
I didn’t think Germany dominated the pitch the way they had in previous matches, but they did demonstrate that they were the superior team. The Argies put too much on Messi; one star can’t win against even a mediocre TEAM. And Germany was anything but mediocre.
The only disappointment in this cup for me was Holland. Once the Flying Dutchmen performed so well in the early rounds, I figured them to shoot it out with Germany for the Cup.
Have at it.
Yes, it was featured prominently in the movie, “Goodbye, Lenin” (One of my all-time favorite movies)
Eek, thanks for mentioning that movie. I have always wanted to watch it but never got around to it, somehow!
Good point and I agree.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.