Messi Falls Short of Mastery
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6C • MONDAY, JULY 14, 2014 WORLD CUP OMAHA WORLD-HERALD Brazil’s issues remain despite successful Cup RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Germany won the World Cup. Host Brazil won a world of new friends. The now four-time champion German team, the fi rst from Europe 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 fi nal as entertaining as the tournament itself. For a 32-day showcase of soccer at its best, the winning goal was beautifully ap- propriate. 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 fi st as Goetze celebrated. When referee Nicola Rizzoli blew the fi nal 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. One of the ironies of this World Cup is that even though the tournament will be re- membered as a resounding success, it was a headache to the end for Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff and Sepp Blatter, president of World Cup organizer FIFA. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS As they handed over the 18-carat gold trophy to Germany captain Philipp Lahm, Lionel Messi was recognized as the World Cup’s best player, but it was of little consolation to the four-time world player of the year. “Only lifting the trophy matters,” he said. the Maracana Stadium echoed with an insulting chant aimed at the Brazilian president. There were resounding boos, too, when she was shown shaking the hand of losing coach Alejandro Sabella. As sunset-pink clouds made way for Messi falls short of mastery night, and the teams treated the world to 30 minutes of extra time, the stadium bathed in light looked like a spaceship landed World Cup’s ‘best player’ swarmed by German defense between the hills, high-rises and favelas of Rio. RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Lionel Messi’s The 74,738 fans had a ball, especially fi nal act in the 2014 World Cup was lifting a Germans and Brazilians who didn’t want free kick high over the bar, wasting Argenti- Argentina, their neighbor and fi ercest foot- na’s last chance to equalize in the fi nal against ball rival, to win a third world title. Germany. In once-divided Berlin, a monster crowd It was far from a fi tting fi nish for the four- said by authorities to be a quarter-mil- time world player of the year, who accepted lion strong crammed in front of giant TV the tournament’s best player honors moments screens near the German capital’s famous after his team lost 1-0 in extra time Sunday. Brandenburg Gate. This was supposed to be Messi’s World Cup, “At some point we’ll stop celebrating, just like the 1986 tournament belonged to but we’ll still wake up with a smile,” said another Argentine great, Diego Maradona. Germany’s Manuel Neuer, voted the tourna- But after carrying his team through the ment’s best goalkeeper. group stage in Brazil with four goals, Messi The biggest game in soccer attracted seemed to run out of steam. a good sprinkling of celebrities. David He created chances in the fi nal Sunday but, Beckham hugged Pele. Supermodel Gisele like the rest of the team, lacked the fi nishing Bundchen snuggled with her husband, NFL touch to turn the game for Argentina. star Tom Brady. Rolling Stones front-man “I’m hurt for losing the way we did. We Mick Jagger was there, too. were close to penalties,” Messi said. “I think Even with tiring legs as they played into we deserved a little better. We had chances.” extra time, the two exquisitely matched He was a picture of disappointment as he teams gave and sought no quarter. collected the trophy for the tournament’s For the highest stakes in soccer, players best player, and then stood in silence at the bruised body and soul. German midfielder entrance to the player’s tunnel, watching the Bastian Schweinsteiger was carrying a cut Germans receive the trophy. under his right eye as he walked up with his “At this moment, I don’t care at all about teammates to collect the trophy. that prize. Only lifting the trophy matters,” Midfielder Christoph Kramer played on Messi said. for 14 minutes with a suspected concussion Argentina coach Alejandro Sabella said before he was replaced by Andre Schuerrle. he thought Messi deserved the best player It was Schuerrle who provided the cross award “because he played an extraordinary that Goetze controlled so magically. Kram- role. He was the fundamental factor in the er’s head injury was the last in a series team.” at this World Cup that will put pressure Messi has won everything there is to win on soccer to better protect players from with club team Barcelona, but many critics concussion. say he needs a World Cup title to be consid- Though Brazil did not fare as well as ex- ered among football’s all-time greats. pected on the pitch, it performed far better “He’s been there for quite a while already, than many predicted off it. in the pantheon of the greats,” Sabella said, The tournament spread across 12 cities when asked to compare Messi with players in Brazil passed without logistical disasters like Maradona and Brazil’s Pele. for the 32 teams and hundreds of thousands Messi stood out in an otherwise mediocre of traveling fans. Argentine team in the group stage, scoring There also was no repeat of giant public against Bosnia-Herzegovina and Iran and protests that unsettled last year’s warmup twice against Nigeria. tournament, the Confederations Cup. Heavy The free kick he curled inside Nigeria police security around venues dissuaded goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama’s left post was dissent. a masterpiece. Then, game by game, Messi’s THE ASSOCIATED PRESS But broken promises of new subway lines influence started waning. Messi fi ghts for the ball with Bastian Schweinsteiger during the World Cup fi nal. Messi led Argentina and other life-improving infrastructure to Against Switzerland he had little impact out of the group stage with four goals, but his impact faded as the knockout rounds progressed. “He accompany the 12 new or renovated stadi- until extra time, when he drilled a hole in the was the fundamental factor in the team,” Argentina coach Alejandro Sabella said. ums reflected poorly on Brazil’s bureaucra- Swiss defense and set up Angel Di Maria’s cy, as did accusations that corrupt public winning goal. In the next game, against Bel- the Netherlands, and besides a few runs and shot of the World Cup well over the target. servants skimmed off funds. An unfinished gium, he started the movement that resulted deft passes into the area against Germany, he German coach Joachim Loew said his overpass collapsed, killing two people, in in Gonzalo Higuain’s fi rst-half winner and didn’t rise to the occasion. team’s high-pressure game meant Argentina the host city of Belo Horizonte. helped Argentina keep possession as the Bel- His last chance came in the fi nal seconds of couldn’t get Messi into dangerous positions as And the largely white and seemingly gians tried to level the score. extra time as he was given a free kick about often as in previous games. well-off stadium crowds reflected Brazil’s Man-marked by Nigel de Jong, Messi strug- 10 meters from the area. Messi wiped the “They went straight to Messi and Messi stark economic inequalities. gled to fi nd space in the semifinal win over sweat off his face, took aim and sent his fi nal wasn’t able to start running,” Loew said. This was a World Cup that Brazil’s black and mixed-race poorer citizens mostly saw on television. World Cup: Germans need extra time to win defensive bout, take i rst title since 1990 Continued from Page 1 been beaten by Germany in the last was more notable for top-class defend- three World Cups. the left fl ank, sending his cross into the ing than creative attacking, but both “This was our chance, and we felt that area, and the Bayern Munich midfielder teams had their share of chances. way. We couldn’t do it. We have to lift did the rest with a clinical fi nish. The Argentina’s Gonzalo Higuain fi red our heads and suffer the pain,” Argen- goal echoed that of Andres Iniesta four wide when gifted a chance in a one-on- tina midfielder Javier Mascherano said. years ago, when the midfielder scored one with goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, and “Obviously, the pain is tremendous.” later saw a goal ruled out for offside. in similar fashion but from the other It is Germany’s fi rst World Cup title side of the area to give Spain a 1-0 ex- Germany defender Benedikt as a unified nation, having won as West Hoewedes hit the post just before half- tra-time win over the Netherlands. Germany in 1954, 1974 and 1990. It went entirely to script, Germany time with a header. The Germans faced Argentina in both Germany had entered the game as the coach Joachim Loew said. the 1986 and 1990 fi nals, during Diego “I said to Mario Goetze, ‘OK, show to favorite after its 7-1 semifinal drubbing Maradona’s heyday.