September 2014 – Miguel Delaney

Champions League final 2014 report: Real Madrid 4-1 Atletico Madrid (aet)

A version of this originally appeared in the Irish Examiner

Real Madrid 4-1 Atletico Madrid

Miguel Delaney, Estadio Da Luz

Having finally put Real Madrid’s name back on the European Cup, a serene Carlo Ancelotti put it into the club’s true terms.

“On my first day, when I went to the Santiago Bernabeu trophy room, I said to the president [Florentino Perez] that there was one trophy missing.”

Ancelotti has completed that job, delivered La Decima, and it’s difficult to think of a more complete victory in terms of the dimensions of their 4-1 win over Atletico Madrid.

This, in so many ways, was the perfect 10th. The wait made it all the more wonderful for Real, the circumstances all the more special.

For a start, right at the death, there was the relief and release of Sergio Ramos’s stoppage-time equaliser. It gave Real new life, and killed all of Atletico’s momentum. From there, there was only one winner, but also one player who needed to score that key goal most.

Gareth Bale went some way to justifying his world-record transfer fee, and overcoming so many earlier misses, by heading in the decisive effort that finally put Real ahead. Marcelo made it 3-1 before the man that Bale succeeded as the world’s most expensive player, Cristiano Ronaldo, got his big goal in his home country.

Then, there was the significance of all that. The competition’s most successful ever club brought the trophy back to what they consider its rightful home, and against the side closest to home.

Perez looked on proudly. The Real Madrid president could finally say all that outlay was worth it, given how so many of his expensive stars had struck. It was testament to Ancelotti’s ability to handle top players. It also meant the Italian had his hands on a landmark third European Cup as a manager, finally becoming the figure to match Bob Paisley’s record.

On the pitch and off it, the emotions were clear. Iker Casillas said it was better than winning the World Cup. On 90 minutes, the goalkeeper had energetically grabbed Ramos and kissed him, fully aware of the importance and immortality of that equaliser. The two Real stalwarts were the last to leave the stadium mixed zone, but not until after Casillas had held up two hands to signify those 10 European Cups.

In the end, for all the emotion, it’s difficult not to distil it down to the numbers like that: a 12-year wait since Real’s ninth Champions League, over €1bn spent, three world transfer records… and one minute from the most painful failure.

That shows how close Atletico came, but also how far away Diego Simeone’s side really were.

The story of their season has been how they so admirably defied football’s economic realities. In winning the Spanish title, they spent so much energy, rather than money. It couldn’t continue indefinitely, despite Diego Godin’s opening goal. Real had that bit more.

In extreme circumstances like that, it’s difficult to put such a result down to any single factors. Had a bounce gone a different direction, or a ball gone another way, Atletico would be celebrating.

Instead, the only issue that Simeone was lamenting was the gamble on Diego Costa, who went off injured after nine minutes. The true consequence of that was that Atletico could really have done with that extra substitute as the extremities of the game sapped their energy.

“It was my responsibility to have [Diego Costa] play and obviously I made a mistake because I had to switch him as early as I did.”

Simeone, however, acknowledged that Real deserved it late on, but it takes nothing from Atletico’s campaign.

“You have to look at it overall – Madrid were better in the second half, they kept us in our half and we couldn’t get out. Football is wonderful because of that.

“The supporters should be proud of an excellent season, they shouldn’t waste a single second being sad.”

Bale, by contrast, had wasted many a chance.

“A few thoughts crept into my mind,” he admitted afterwards. “It happens and sometimes you don’t get the rub of the green but you have to keep persisting, keep going and you may get that chance that will may get that chance that will make the difference. Thankfully, I was able to get that chance and I was able to take it.”

Ancelotti, meanwhile, insisted it was down to much more than the “rub of the green”.

“You can say I’m a lucky man in the end, or you can say that we tried to do everything until the last second of the game.”

Real certainly did try to do everything, but not just on this night in Lisbon. It means, for now at least, they have achieved everything that has consumed the club for the past decade: la Decima.

***

A version of this originally appeared on The Score

Right at the death, this Real Madrid team ensured immortality. La Decima was delivered in Lisbon, Atletico Madrid suffered devastation.

And, having set it up, Sergio Ramos summed it up.

“It was incredible,” the centre-half said of his injury-time equaliser in Real’s 4-1 win. “That goal isn’t mine, it’s everybody’s.”

It also meant everything.

For all that Gareth Bale ultimately proved his worth with the second goal, and Cristiano Ronaldo crowned his night with the fourth, it was Ramos who provided La Decima’s decisive and defining moment.

His plundering header brought so much to a head.

This had so much wrapped up in it, even by the standards of late goals in this famous fixture, from Teddy Sheringham in 1999 to Arjen Robben in 2013.

Most immediately, it transformed a 1-0 defeat into a 4-1 procession. Real were suddenly soaring after such a struggle.

Yet, whatever about exaggerating their victory, the unexpected extent of the winning margin only emphasised and reflected the importance of that moment – and not just on the night.

Most obviously, of course, it changed the dynamic. Ramos’s goal ensured all of Atletico’s energy was finally eroded, while Real played with a new momentum. That meant, rather than talking about a modern football miracle, we were merely celebrating the club that were already the most successful in the competition’s history. Instead of Atletico continuing to defy the sport’s economic realities, Real confirmed the value of spending a billion. One side won their long-expected 10th trophy, another were denied what would have been a novel first.

The goal may have changed this match, but it also ensured the game in general remains the same.

None of this is to deny the fundamentally sporting qualities of the Real players’ victory. Carlo Ancelotti’s team displayed supreme character to keep going, and then accelerate.

Yet, when it comes to such proper knife-edge moments like Ramos’s equaliser, it can genuinely be difficult and even foolhardy to place too much importance in any individual reasons for success or failure.

Had one kick been slightly under-hit, or one pass further been over-played, it could have been completely different. Atletico would be celebrating.

At the same time, it’s impossible not to look at the multiple strands that ensured that single moment was so decisive.

Here, some blame must go to the otherwise brilliant Diego Simeone. For a start, quite literally, there was the gamble on Diego Costa’s fitness. While the decision to play the injured striker from the beginning was someway understandable, his bizarrely early withdrawal ensured Atletico were denied a substitute in those energy-sapping closing stages. Imagine, by contrast, the effect of bringing Costa on at that point?

Secondly, there was the way in which Simeone’s cynicism eventually proved a negative for his own team. All that defending, and all that systemic fouling, only increased the pressure. Atletico’s time-wasting, meanwhile, gave Ramos an even greater window to equalise.

Yet, from a wider perspective, it would be hugely unfair to overly fault Simeone and his side for any of that that. They themselves are not exactly playing in the fairest context.

The Argentine cannot spend multi-millions on transfers, or call on a series of the world’s most expensive players.

Simeone has to cut his cloth to measure, and that won’t always be pretty, especially after the exertions of the domestic league victory.

In that regard, there was a certain inevitability about Real’s recovery, even if it didn’t feel like it in the anxious moments leading up to it.

Ancelotti’s side won by sheer force of numbers. That’s in an almost literal sense, at least in terms of transfer fees

They were able to rely on record signings, who simply hadn’t expended the same energy in recent weeks. So much effort had been spent on Atletico’s title win. So much money had been spent in Real’s last decade.

It said much that the world’s most expensive player scored Real’s second goal and the next most expensive scored the fourth.

Of course, you can’t put any value on the kind of emotions authentically experienced by all at the club on finally ending that wait, but that in itself raises another issue.

This is now the third season in a row in which one of the super-wealthy modern super-clubs have ended a long Champions League drought. Chelsea at last won their first in 2012; Bayern Munich won a first in 12 years in 2013; Real did the same tonight.

The novelty value of ending these waits starts to wear off, even if that is obviously not the case for those at the clubs.

The feeling grows that the old elusiveness of the European Cup is now gone for such clubs. A cabal of them will just ending up passing the trophy around, even more so than the last decade. If you have the money, you’ll eventually get your turn.

That the last three finals all came down to the last minute actually emphasises the point. It doesn’t show how agonisingly close Borussia Dortmund and Atletico came, but prove how far away they are.

As the margins lessened, the true gaps were revealed.

That is why that Ramos minute was so momentous, and not just for La Decima.

Atletico Madrid, Champions League, European Cup, Real Madrid, Super clubs

The final rise of the super-clubs, May 2014

A version of this originally appeared on ESPN FC

Miguel Delaney

Lisbon

Carlo Ancelotti was never going to pass up the opportunity. With the Puerto del Sol waiting for the victorious Real Madrid squad in the centre of the Spanish capital, the Italian coach took the microphone, and began to serenade the crowd. Elsewhere Dani Carvajal showed off a beard he had died blonde, while Iker Casillas’s young son cutely bit into his father’s newly-minted Champions League winner’s medal. There were smiles and laughter everywhere.

The exhausted relief of Saturday’s 4-1 win over Atletico Madrid had given way to jubilant release. For all the traditional elitism of a club like Real, these were endearingly base human reactions. The squad were simply revelling in the reflection of that 10th European Cup.

A 12-year wait, and one big weight, had lifted.

It was impossible to begrudge the players or coaching staff.

It was also impossible not to think we’d seen similar scenes rather recently.

Of course we had: in the last two seasons.

The emotions on view around Madrid were similar to those in the Allianz Arena last season and London’s Kings Road the year before.

In 2012, Chelsea beat Bayern Munich to joyously win the first Champions League in their history. The following campaign, the German side immediately bounced back to end their own 12-year wait.

The speed with which Bayern did that is pointed.

It’s difficult to imagine Atletico Madrid returning to such a position so quickly, just as 2013 finalists Borussia Dortmund could only reach the quarter-finals this season. It’s also difficult to think many of the super clubs will ever go on such lengthy droughts again.

This is the wider point to those Champions League wins of the last few years, and the manner in which those three elite clubs claimed victory. While the emotions of people directly involved are obviously so deeply felt, the frequency of these ‘once-a-generation’ celebrations gradually renders them less wondrous for many others. We’ve seen the story before.

If a big club is ending a wait every other season, it only increases the sense they’re all just eventually going to get their turn. That’s possibly because that’s precisely what’s happening. It is the increasing trend in the Champions League, more so than ever before.

A cabal of about seven to 10 super-clubs now have so much power and so close to each other in terms of baseline level that, if they keep generally competitive to a competent level, the odds are the roulette wheel will eventually land in their favour; that the great trophy will come to them.

To illustrate the case, consider the situation in the late 90s, just before the Champions League fully and finally expanded to its current size.

Real Madrid had gone 32 years without winning the trophy before 1998, Manchester United 31 before 1999. Bayern ended up going 25 years prior to 2001. Barcelona, meanwhile, were the great underachievers in the competition’s history. The Catalans only won it once in the first 40 years of the event.

Compare all that to now, and the length of time it is since this list of clubs last won the trophy:

Real Madrid – 0 years

Bayern Munich – 1 year

Chelsea – 2 years

Barcelona – 3 years

Manchester United – 6 years

The point becomes clear. Previously, there was a genuine elusiveness to the trophy, no matter who you were. Now, that true depth of elusiveness only exists for those outside the cabal. Once the big clubs properly adjusted to the extra demands of newly expanded Champions League from around 2007, and built squads of sufficient size, they set a certain bar. Beyond, the sense grows the trophy will merely pass around between them.

This is of course not to play down the achievement of any individual team, since they still have to do all their jobs right and show requisite character to actually go and win it in a given season. But, on a macro level, it is a reality that a core of clubs are no so broadly close to each other that they will just crash against each other to the point the path clears for one.

This is the problem when the economics of European football allow a small group to pull so far clear of the rest. And, if it is immensely difficult to catch up with these sides, it is easy to see who and what they are. It is nothing to do with history or structure, or old money against new money. It is simply those with enough power and potential to employ the world’s top band of players and coaches.

They are, primarily: Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester United, Chelsea, Manchester City. Five of them have won it in the last seven years, and City’s time is surely coming.

A secondary growing group, meanwhile, are Paris Saint-German, Arsenal and Juventus. They could eventually be joined by the likes of Monaco. Everyone else has to work so much harder to just keep, and thereby properly compete for the top trophies.

Many may point to the fact Dortmund and Atletico got to the final in consecutive years, but both sides virtually prove the argument.

They are not super-clubs, so needed rare super-coaches to come anywhere near victory. It was still not enough in the Champions League, and the elite are already chasing Jurgen Klopp and Diego Simeone. The fact both of their finals also went to the wire further emphasises the point.

So near, yet still so far.

Atletico were on the brink of something truly radical, to go with their sensational Spanish title win. Instead, continental football reverted to a default state. Real Madrid were talking about returning to their “rightful place”. That very description sums up the issue.

There are a core of clubs that feel the same way and, by law of averages, will soon get similar opportunities.

On this occasion, Ancelotti took his opportunity, and not just on the Puerto del Sol stage. Next season, we’ll likely hear the same old song.

Doping, Football history, Lance Armstrong

Football naive to believe it’s untouched by Armstrong, October 2012

The world of cycling has dropped a fair few bombshells over the past few weeks. One, however, hasn’t quite had the impact it should have.

In 1999, whistle-blowing cyclist Tyler Hamilton was talking with the US Postal Service doctor Luis Del Moral. The medic, who has received a lifetime sporting ban by the US Anti-doping agency, revealed the following: “you guys take nothing in comparison to footballers”.

Over the last few days, it has been easy – and correct – to scoff at the attitude to doping in cycling. At the top, there was the arrogance of the UCI on Monday. Underneath, there was the ignorance of Lance Armstrong’s predecessor, Miguel Indurain. The five-time champion astonishingly claimed, despite all evidence, that Armstrong is innocent.

And, all around, there is justifiable doubt over whether the sport can ever escape a doping epidemic. The Usada report, after all, represented only the latest and largest scandal to afflict cycling. In 2006, it was similarly blown open when Spanish police investigated the doping network of Dr Eufemiano Fuentes in the infamous Operation Puerto.

It is that very incident, however, which indicates why those in other sports shouldn’t scoff too much. The only reason that Operation Puerto was such a scandal for cycling alone was because riders were the only alleged clients of Fuentes that were named. They amounted to 34 – a fraction of the 200 athletes said to be seeing the doctor. Indeed, Fuentes himself was so indignant that only cycling was tarnished that he announced he also worked with tennis and football players.

The question, then, is perhaps not even whether there is doping in football. It might be whether the scandal that has so ravaged cycling has actually always involved other sports; that cycling was only one strand.

Take the very point in the mid-90s when EPO started to take hold of the Tour de France. At around the same time, Roma manager Zdenek Zeman cast doubt about the physical development of the imposing Juventus team then dominating Europeanfootball.

It sparked an investigation which ended with the Juventus doctor being found guilty of administering illegal substances to players, including EPO. There followed a series of legal wrangles and appeals until, eventually, the Cassation court came to a final decision in March 2007. In a controversial compromise, the original guilty sentences were upheld but the statutes of limitation meant, in practice, everyone walked free.

In short, the kind of systematic doping so typical of cycling was essentially proven but nothing was done about it. Despite the head of the World Anti-Doping Agency, Dick Pound, calling for Juventus to be stripped of their titles, it never happened.

As has been often said about cycling, though, they weren’t the only ones at it. Only last month, Argentine international Matias Almedya alleged doping at Parma as questions again rose about a ‘culture’ in Italian football.

Of course, the reason cycling has had its history and records rewritten so dramatically is because of whistleblowers that could/would go further than Almeyda. Football has yet to see that.

But, under the overall silence, some worrying stories have started to swirl and spread beyond Italy. For the moment, without strong testimony, they remain as libellous as those which Armstrong sued over in the last decade.

One of the worst of them, though, regards an international squad conducting routine tests before a competition. Two of the results, however, were anything but routine. The only problem was that neither were the players involved. They were essential to the team and, as a result, the positive tests were covered up.

Then there is the case of the internationally-capped player who wanted to speak out about the doping programme at one club. He was subsequently bought off with a greatly improved contract.

Given the lack of official positive tests, this may all sound incredible. But, when you consider the fact the risk is so low and the rewards so high, it is actually somewhat inevitable.

First of all, even though testing remains up to a decade behind the dopers, Fifa has been slow to get serious about it. In 2006, they became the last Olympic sport to ratify the World Anti-Doping Agency code and have even contested the idea that individual players should be tested out of competition.

Secondly, there are the rewards. Look at the sheer money involved. And, although sports like football aren’t measured or decided by physical performance in the manner of cycling, the advantages of doping are obvious: increased recovery time for injury; superior stamina; the capacity to keep applying your existing ability at the most exacting stages of games.

If the stories are to be believed, though, football may face a few exacting years ahead. Doping in the sport exists. At the moment, the will to truly confront it does not.

Argentina, Maracana, Messi, World Cup, World Cup final

Leo Messi’s legacy should not be damaged

A version of this originally appeared on Eurosport, July 2014

Miguel Delaney

Rio

The moment couldn’t have carried more historical weight, and couldn’t have been more pressurised.

It was what the entire World Cup final came down to, and some have already argued Leo Messi’s entire legacy.

The Argentina number-10 stood around 30 yards from goal. His team were 1-0 down to Germany with just one minute left on the clock, and just one kick left to save them. The free-kick was in a similar position to his group-stage goal against Nigeria, but in drastically different circumstances.

Given the stakes of an equaliser at that point, a successful strike would have meant everything; a miss would have left him with absolutely nothing.

The latter was what Argentina ended up with. Rather than gloriously curl the ball into the top corner, Messi sent it high into the air over Manuel Neuer’s goal. His chances of winning the 2014 World Cup followed it into the sky. Instead of confirming his eternal genius with one wondrous final act in the most historic of fixtures, he instantly saw all the old questions return.

The latter, really, is ludicrous.

The very fact a single kick could have produced such extremely contrasting reactions displays the immense expectations onMessi. It also emphasises how great he is, especially after a tournament that would have been superb by anyone else’s standards.

He created more chances than anyone else and came so close to creating history.

As such, it’s worth taking a step back. That kick, and the earlier 47th-minute chance, were not just about winning the World Cup – at least not for Messi.

They were about providing a debate-ending statement. Had he scored, and gone on to win the trophy, it would have left him with a career that was simply incomparable among football’s immortals.

Unlike virtually all of the rest of them from Diego Maradona to Alfredo Di Stefano, Messi only lacks one major trophy. The World Cup was the last one he had to win.

In that regard, he failed with his last act. That can’t be disputed. It will stand against him.

He also failed with the earlier act that was much more damning. Just moments after half-time, Messi was put through by Gonzalo Higuain but could only succeed in putting the ball wide.

The most troubling aspect was that, unlike the Nigeria goal and the pass for Angel Di Maria against Switzerland, this was an inversion of everything that had gone on before in this World Cup.

Messi was now missing by inches when previously he had maximised the most minimalist of circumstances. It adds greater edge that it was on the more exacting of stages, the one where it meant the most.

As a result, this was a repeat of 1990 rather than 1986. Instead of replicating Maradona in Mexico 28 years ago, this was a re-iteration of Italia 90.

There were flashes of genius, one big miss, and then Germany winning it late on.

It’s often forgotten Maradona actually missed a big penalty in the semi-final shoot-out of that tournament, and that he didn’t actually win that much else beyond the 1986 World Cup other than two Serie A titles.

This is not to excuse Messi’s display, but to point out that his career has always been almost the inverse of Maradona’s, with the parallels between this World Cup and 1990 the only real meeting point.

It was really only the parallels in age, location and talent that called for the 1986 comparisons before the World Cup but the key was that it would have been a crowning moment.

That never arrived, despite so many bejewelled displays, from the strike against Iran to the passes for Di Maria.

Consequently, Messi’s career is even more comparable to Johan Cruyff’s than Maradona’s. He has been dominant and utterly devastating at club level, but hasn’t yet made it any further than a defeated final with his country.

That is still incredible company to keep, a fine level to reach. His manager Alejandro Sabella put it best.

“As for his reputation, he is in that pantheon, but he was there before. He has been there for quite some time.”

That shouldn’t be forgotten. Messi may have missed big chances tonight, but he was the major reason his team were in that situation. He has also scored huge goals before, not least in two separate Champions League finals.

Of course, this was by now the trophy he wanted above all.

He made that perfectly clear, particularly with the miserable face put on when going up to collect an ultimately meaningless Golden Ball award.

It said so much that he didn’t care, with the almost comically posed photos adding an element of farce to a defeat some seem to consider a tragedy in the context of his career.

It didn’t have the perfect ending, but no player has the perfect career.

Messi has come far closer than most.

That should not be forgotten, even if it is the misses that will ultimately remain in the memory from this World Cup.

He may not have proven he is the greatest, but there should not be a single doubt that he is a great.

Argentina, Brazil, Germany, World Cup, World Cup final

World Cup final 2014 report: Germany 1-0 Argentina

A version of this originally appeared in the Evening Standard

Miguel Delaney

In Rio

It was the perfect finish, and not just in terms of the purity of Mario Goetze’s historic strike.

As the 22-year-old joyously turned the ball past Argentina’s Sergio Romero, there was so much more than 113 minutes of taxing football that went into Germany’s glorious crescendo, a time which made it the second latest World Cup-winning goal ever.

There were also six years of falling in behind Spain, eight years of near misses, 14 years of foundational work and five players from the starting line-up that won the 2009 under-21 European Championships. One of football’s most remarkable revolutions finally saw an evolution into winners.

Jogi Loew has been around for all of that, and certainly felt the anguish of all those recent failures. After so many questions about whether his team had the character to replicate all the German winners of the past, he now knows what the most prestigious victory in football feels like.

He also knows how much has gone into it.

“We’ve been together now for 55 days,” Loew said after this 1-0 win. “We started this project 10 years ago, so this is the result of many years’ work, beginning with Jurgen Klinsmann. We’ve continued that work and our strength has been our constant progress. We’d not made this ultimate step before, but champions do what they will do.

“We believed we’d win it and we worked a lot to achieve it. If anyone deserves it, then this team with Bastien Schweinsteiger, [Phillip] Lahm, [Lukas] Podolski, [Per] Mertesacker, they deserve it.”

Someone like Goetze, meanwhile, defines it. The decisive moment was almost a distillation of everything that German football has been about for the last decade. One of their most vibrant young talents absolutely maximised the ability that has been nurtured by the most sophisticated coaching structure in the world, ultimately providing true end product.

Such foundations and youth approaches also help their international sides develop a club-like cohesion beyond any other team except Spain. That was someway reflected in the more ragged way that Argentina had to work around Leo Messi’s central quality.

Of course, that’s not to say this hard-fought win was all just the inevitable and unstoppable consequence of infrastructural changes. The players and management still had to go and make it happen, which they more than did.

Germany learned from the last few tournaments, and applied the lessons throughout this one. The emotion involved in such a journey could be seen at the end, none more so than from Andre Schurrle, who was part of the Euro 2012 squad that went out of that tournament’s semi-finals in such underwhelming fashion. The Maracana offered quite the contrast. There were finally tears of joy.

“This is the best moment of my life,” Schurrle said. “I had to cry because I was so overcome. I couldn’t stop it. It was always a dream to become a world champion.”

That was also made reality because of certain moments that are more general to any winning team. Loew tried a little mind game when sending Goetze on after 88 minutes, as the manager revealed in his celebratory press conference.

“Okay, show the world you are better than Messi and can decide the World Cup,” he told the young forward.

The latter part definitely came true. The former obviously formed part of a managerial motivation, but ended up at least becoming true on the night.

Messi was not at his best in the Maracana, and could have decided the game long before Goetze did. Shortly after half-time, he was presented with the opportunity to put Argentina 1-0 up, only to put the ball just wide of Manuel Neuer’s post.

It was Gonzalo Higuain who provided the pass, but the forward himself who passed up an even better opportunity earlier on.

Those misses meant this World Cup’s most enduring storyline was not Messi replicating Diego Maradona by finally winning the trophy and thereby potentially surpassing his great predecessor. It became about Germany finally replacing Spain, and bringing a grand project to fruition.

Phillip Lahm has also been there for almost every step, and felt so many previous experiences had an effect.

“We stepped up time and again in the tournament, did not let ourselves get distracted by any disruption, went on our way.

“And at the end you stand there as world champions – an unbelievable feeling. The team has remained quiet and patient.”

The patience is true, although Loew was keen to reassert that.

“We’re looking back over 10 years of preparation and hard work. This team has developed a spirit which is unbelievable.”

The ultimate win was far from unbelievable. Far too much work had gone into it, and not just on the night.

***

A version of this originally appeared on ESPN FC

In terms of an ending and a climax, the delivery just couldn’t be faulted.

Mario Goetze’s magnificent finish was entirely fitting of the type of goal that should win a World Cup, from the quality of the control to the athleticism of the turn through to the elegance of the strike.

It was, without putting too fine a point on it, absolutely world-class.

It was also the perfect distillation of everything that ultimately won this World Cup for Germany: one of their most vibrant young players absolutely maximising the talent that the most sophisticated coaching structures had given him, to eventually provide true end product.

Again, you can’t fault the technical delivery of that ending.

As a consequence of all that, however, it wasn’t exactly the most unpredictable ending. There was a sense of inevitability aboutGermany’s deep infrastructural changes ultimately ensuring the team landed on the right result.

That affords a grand scale to this great victory, but doesn’t necessarily mean it was in-keeping with the repeatedly epic nature of this competition’s narratives.

This World Cup had arguably more stunning storylines than any other in history, but this was a break from that, at least in the sense of how expected that finish was.

In that regard, the winning goal did fit the final, because this was also more reminiscent of recent tournaments.

For all the unique grandeur of the Maracana as a special venue, it was not quite a special World Cup final.

It was rather mid-ranking in the history of these games.

Although nowhere near the negativity of 1990 or 2010, it didn’t come close to the coruscating crescendo of 1966 or 1986. The initial pace and openness gave way to tension and a gradual decline dynamism.

What made it stand out was the atmosphere and the setting, as well as the winning goal. Goetze was probably the only player who truly seized the final but it said much that he was a substitute, benefitting from fresher legs.

As he went on, manager Jogi Loew had a specific message for him.

“’Okay, show the world you are better than [Leo] Messi and can decide the world Cup.”

He certainly did the latter. And while the first part of Loew’s statement was clearly a stretch in order to provide motivation, it was certainly true that Goetze ended up more more decisive on the night.

Messi, after all, had the opportunity to put Argentina ahead long before game. That 47th minute represented another inversion of the tournament’s general trends. After a campaign in which the number-10 had maximised the smallest margins, he missed by inches when presented with acres of space for someone of his talent. It should really have been the moment.

Instead, having been put through by Gonzalo Higuain, Messi attempted to swerve the ball beyond Manuel Neuer’s reach but only succeeded in swerving it beyond the post.

It should not affect the legacy of one of the greats, but it is impossible to overlook the fact it affected this final and this tournament.

Rather than serve as the campaign in which Messi put forward a decisive argument in all the debate about the greatest player of all time, we saw another story.

Germany brought to fruition one of the greatest football projects of all time.

That also harked back to the trends of the last few tournaments.

With Spain finally deposed, Germany at last did what they long suggested. They replaced the Spanish at the pinnacle, finally stepping into a breach.

There was no more grand obstacle. They now represent the benchmark.

Of course, most of their players would rightfully balk at the idea that this was some kind of fait accompli. They worked hard for this, and that showed in every trying moment of this final.

“From the beginning we knew we would not have only 11 players on the pitch,” Loew said of what was such a taxing game. “We would need 14, so everyone had to be in top shape during the tournament. Everyone had to be ready. People can’t always play for 90 or 120 minutes at their maximum level. You saw that today. Argentina were becoming more and more tired, so we had players like [Thomas] Mueller and [Andre] Schurrle who could go deeper.”

The emotion certainly went deep, as Schurrle himself indicated.

“This is the best moment of my life. I had to cry because I was so overcome. I couldn’t stop it. It was always a dream to become a world champion.”

They have made it reality, and there is no denying they are a great champion.

The trajectory of this team makes that all too clear. A young side have learned along the way to crown a generation.

“We’ve been together now for 55 days,” Loew said. “We started this project 10 years ago, so this is the result of many years’ work: beginning with Jurgen Klinsmann. We’ve continued that work and our strength has been our constant progress. We’d not made this ultimate step before, but champions do what they will do. We believed we’d win it, and we worked a lot to achieve it. If anyone deserves it, then this team with Schweinsteiger, Lahm, Podolski, Mertesacker… they deserve it. This team deserves it. We showed the best performances for seven matches of all the team in this tournament, but we’re looking back over 10 years of preparation and hard work. This team has developed a spirit which is unbelievable.”

That made the ending, however, all too believable.

There was no unpredictability, only inevitability.

Argentina, Mascherano, World Cup

Javier Mascherano interview, July 2014

A version of this originally appeared in the Independent

Miguel Delaney

In Sao Paulo

For a player who has not displayed a single second’s doubt or hesitation throughout this World Cup, Javier Mascherano’s inner mindset is somewhat surprising.

The 30-year-old is discussing the moment that essentially saved Argentina’s entire campaign, and the thoughts running through his head as it happened.

In the 90th minute of Wednesday night’s semi-final against the Netherlands, Arjen Robben executed a gloriously quick exchange with Wesley Sneijder to finally put one of this tournament’s finest attackers through on goal. Robben suddenly left the Argentine backline behind him, and seemed set to finish them. Only Mascherano trailed.

Given Robben’s pace and pedigree, it all seemed so certain. Mascherano was not thinking any differently.

“It was terrible,” he says. “I thought I’d slip, I thought I wouldn’t make it, I thought he’d get ahead of me. I thought of so many things…”

In the end, none of those thoughts mattered. His actions, yet again, were all that counted.

“But I did get there,” Mascherano says, with a quiet satisfaction, “and it wasn’t a goal.”

The defensive midfielder somehow capitalised on a split-second’s awkward slip by Robben to throw his body forward and get the crucial touch.

It may well have been the tackle of the tournament. It may well have come from the player of the tournament. While Leo Messi will rightfully continue to command attention ahead of Sunday’s final, it is Mascherano who perhaps best defines the durability and resilience of this Argentina side in getting there. They have still not fully convinced in this World Cup, but have compensated by really knowing how to dig in and fight. Seen as Alejandro Sabella’s “on-pitch manager”, Mascherano sets that tone. He is prepared to go the distance, to feel the pain. Wednesday night was an almost literal example.

Mascherano’s early head injury may have received most of the attention, but he was preoccupied with pain in another part of his body.

“I don’t want to be rude,” he says with a smirk about the stretched challenge that stopped Robben, “but I opened my anus.”

It is quite an image. Mercifully, there are many more images from the night that overshadow it.

Before the penalty shoot-out, there was the sight of Mascherano grabbing goalkeeper Sergio Romero and telling him “tonight, you make yourself a hero”.

After it, as every other Argentina player sprinted forward in utter jubilation, the midfielder sank to his knees.

“We did the job,” Mascherano said, before repeating it. “We did the job.”

It is little wonder Sabella described the player as “a symbol, an emblem” for the team. “He’s a huge influence on our squad,” the Argentina manager said of Mascherano. “Reaching the semi-finals took a huge weight from his shoulders.”

That sense of redemption and delivery was another sentiment frequently expressed by Mascherano after Wednesday night’s shoot-out win. Having made his debut in 2003, the 30-year-old has endured Argentina’s recent history of underachievement more than most. His 11 years with the team have coincided with the longest the country has ever gone without winning a trophy. It is now 21 years.

On Sunday against Germany, they have the opportunity to rectify that, and Mascherano is determined to seize it – but also appreciate it.

“I have had 11 years where we have seen a lot of things but haven’t seen the light,” he says. “Tonight, we started to see it.”

It’s quite a poetic statement from a player most notorious for applying the game’s darker arts. Yet, despite his abrasive reputation on the pitch, there is an unmistakable humility to Mascherano off it. It comes across when he describes the Robben challenge more.

“He played a great exchange with Sneijder but, because of that extra touch, that he didn’t quite hit it so early, it gave me the possibility, that extra split second. The truth is that there’s not much virtue for me. I just threw myself into it. If I was a moment off, it was a penalty. There’s no virtue. Anyone could have done that. I was lucky to get there. The team was lucky Robben took one more touch. To get to a final, you always need a bit of luck.”

You also need his defensive aptitude, his resilience. Some who know Mascherano say it is precisely his humility that make him all the more willing to indulge in the darker arts, that he realises a chance like this should not be wasted for want of desire.

The game is evidently life to him, but that means it also requires a real work ethic. That’s reflected when he references his experience after his first World Cup, in 2006. As Mascherano prepares for a World Cup final as one of the tournament’s finest players, it is remarkable to think he was once kept out of the West Ham United team by Hayden Mullins eight years ago.

“At football you have work, you have to keep the mentality,” Mascherano says. “The best thing I did when I couldn’t play at West Ham was I kept my mentality. I went to train every day to be a better player. I didn’t have the chance to play all the games there I wanted to play but obviously football always gives you a chance. When I went to Liverpool I had a chance to show my quality.”

He is also proud Argentina have now shown their true spirit.

“We did the things we had to do. We have the tranquility of having given everything, of having performed like we had to. That forms part of this group. It’s been so many years but, well… now, our country, our flag are in the eyes of the world, returning to a World Cup final, the most important match of our careers.”

“It’s a delight, a delight that lifts your soul. It’s something you can’t explain, it’s something I never imagined, but there we are.”

Ahead of it, Mascherano is asked about a previous moment from this tournament, and another defining image. Before the quarter-final against Belgium, he set the tone with his team-talk.

“I’m tired of eating shit,” Mascherano roared. “I want joy for those who follow us and everything. We’re going out to play the game of our lives.”

What about now? Mascherano smiles.

“In life, there’s a bit of everything. You always have to” – this time the hesitation in his thoughts are all too evident – “eat a little bit of dirt.”

He’s also ready to play the game of his life.