:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/35559952/452109938.0.jpg)
More than a month after Marcelo's own goal against Croatia opened the scoring at the 2014 World Cup, Mario Götze ended it with his extra-time goal in the Maracanã.
Surging down the left touchline in the 113th minute, Andre Schürrle played a pass to the 22-year-old Götze, who had snuck between the Argentine defenders. After controlling it on his chest, Götze calmly volleyed it past Sergio Romero to win Germany their fourth World Cup.
(Vine via @ActualFutbol)
After Götze's sweet finish, Argentina failed to make any real threat to the German goal, which was happened to be patrolled by the goalkeeper version of Terry Tate Office Linebacker.
Though Germany can make the claim of the tournament's best team, Argentina did have plenty of scoring opportunities to perhaps change our minds. Gonzalo Higuaín was given the most clear-cut chance of all when a stray German header gave him a clear path, but the ball rolled harmlessly wide of Manuel Neuer's goal.
The Napoli forward also had a goal disallowed for offside in the first half. It was a frustrating evening for the Argentine attack, with none of their ten shots on target, according to WhoScored.com
His replacement, Rodrigo Palacio, also wasted a huge opportunity when his attempted chip went awry in extra time. Mats Hummels misplayed a diagonal pass, giving Palacio a free path to the goal, but his chip bounced hopelessly wide.
Manchester City's Argentine trio--Martin Demichelis, Pablo Zabaleta, and Sergio Aguero--all played in the loss. The two defenders continued their solid play, with Pablo again leading Argentina in tackles. Aguero, who replaced Ezequiel Lavezzi at halftime, in my eyes still does not look fully fit, but Higuain's more obvious wastefulness might also spare him a good bit of criticism.
Another player who has donned the sky blue at one point, Jerome Boateng, performed quite strongly for the German defense, whose only two knockout round concessions--against Algeria and Brazil--came with the games already decided.
In somewhat of a surprise, Messi was given the Golden Ball following the match, an award he looked none too happy to receive in consolation. He performed well this World Cup, but I had figured that award was headed elsewhere in the event of a Germany win.
Because Thomas Muller failed to score in the final, Colombia's James Rodriguez took home the Golden Boot for his fantastic six goals in Colombia's five games. Manuel Neuer's Golden Glove and Paul Pogba's Best Young Player rounded out the tournament's awards.
The only solace I can find for the end such an intriguing World Cup comes from how quickly the club season is approaching: just 34 days until Manchester City kick off against Newcastle.