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Congratulations Germany, Worthy FIFA World Cup Champions!

Fakhruddin Ahmed
The best team won the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Germany scored most goals in the tournament with 18, and was the only team to score in every match they played. Although Germany did not have a superstar like Messi, all German players were outstanding. They were strong both on defense and offense, but what separated them from their competitors is that they had a better set of creative midfielders. The German team is also diverse: defensive standout Jerome Boateng is African-German, and the midfield wizards Mesut Ozil (Turkish-German) and Sami Khedira (Tunisian-German) are Muslims.
Although Argentina had better chances in the final, with a tired-looking Messi shooting off target twice with only the goalkeeper to beat, one could sense that Germany were biding their time before scoring the match-winner, which they did through substitute "Super" Mario Gotze.
It is mind boggling that West Germany won their first World Cup in 1954, only nine years after rising from the ruins ofWWII. West Germany/Germany have been in the final a record 8 times. This was their fourth semi-final or better in the World Cup in a row. They became the first European team to win the World Cup in South/Central America. Since 1954, Germany has been the most consistent team in the World Cup This was their first win as united Germany. Since they can now draw players from former East Germany, they are going to eclipse Brazil as the top football playing nation in the world, if they have not already.
This has been a successful World Cup. With the whole world watching, the competition provided a goal-fest, matching France 1998 for the highest number of goals (171 in 64 matches) scored. The one area FIFA needs to improve is in refereeing. The referees missed several calls, including Uruguayan Luis "The Cannibal" Suarez's vampire bite on Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini. Yellow cards were shown for soft fouls, and not shown for dangerous ones.
This World Cup went according to form. All group leaders of the preliminary rounds won in the round of sixteen, and every higher ranked team won in the quarters. It was a repeat of 2002 World Cup Final in the first semi (Germany v. Brazil), and 1978 World Cup final in the second (Argentina v. Netherlands).
Compared to Pele or Ronaldo, Neymar is physically fragile. Unlike greats like Messi, Neymar has not learned how to protect himself. He rushes headlong into dangerous situations. He was kicked and pushed around constantly during the tournament. Neither the referees nor his teammates did anything to protect him. His teammates should have surrounded whoever fouled Neymar and threatened/castigated him. Since they did not, the Colombian player felt free to break Neymar's vertebra with his knee.
This reminds me of Wayne Gretzky, the greatest ice hockey player in history. If an opponent touched Gretzky, his "body guard" or enforcer, Martin McSorely, would flatten that player even at the cost of a major penalty. So the word went around, if you mess with Gretzky, you are going to get hurt physically. No such protective umbrella surrounded the hapless Neymar, who, along with team captain T. Silva (for a dumb foul) missed the semi against Germany. For him to be effective in the future, Neymar must bulk up.
It was clear after the first (Croatia) game that Brazil was overrated. However, no one would have predicted Brazil's 7-1 thrashing at the hands of the Deutsch in the semi-final. Germany scored five goals in an 18-minute span in the first half. That was a fluke, made possible by ghastly Brazilian defensive lapses. Both Brazil and Germany are in danger of drawing wrong conclusions from that one game: Brazil is not that bad, and Germany is not that good. The same German team nearly lost to Ghana, and barely beat the US 1-0.
This was a mediocre Brazilian side compared to their five World Cup winning teams. Because of the mass hysteria accompanying hosting of the World Cup, expectations did not match the calibre of the Brazilian team. Brazil does not need to overhaul its entire football system as some commentators were suggesting after the mayhem; they need to find new Ronaldos, if not Peles. This was an aberration. If Neymar and T. Silva had played, Brazil would still have lost, but by no more than one or two goals.
The second semi-final was dull. The Dutch went 240 minutes without scoring a goal, and deserved to lose the penalty shootout. Robben had only the goalkeeper to beat in the second half, but as usual waited too long to shoot, and when he did, the ball was deflected. That was reminiscent of the two breakaways he had against Spain in the final four years ago, when once again he waited too long to shoot, and then shot straight at the goalkeeper.
The difference between the likes of Lionel Messi and Christiana Ronaldo of Portugal on one hand, and Robben on the other is that the former two shoot first and ask questions later. Messi, Ronaldo and other great strikers of the past would shoot a split second earlier than the defense and the goalkeeper anticipated, catching them off guard. The second tier players like Robben would take forever to shoot, trying to make sure they have a good shot, and more often than not would be dispossessed, or make a poor, easily savable shot. With strikers like Thomas Muller and Miroslav Klose, Germany was loaded with "First Timers” who did not care if their goals looked pretty, as long as the ball went into the back of the net!
Germans are worthy World Cup Champions. Brazil has won 5 out of the 7 times they have been in the final. Italy has won 4 times out of 6 appearances in the final. Germany had the worst final record - 3 victories in 7 finals. Last Sunday, they made it 4 out of 8, certainly with more to come. The rest of the world can rejoice in the knowledge that the World Cup is in good hands.
The writer is a Rhodes Scholar.