Lionel Messi, one of Argentina's greatest players, couldn't save his team from defeat at the hands of the German National Football Team for the FIFA World Cup. Missing his free kick in the closing moments of the match, Germany managed to squeak out a victory over Argentina to win the World Cup for the first time since 1990. Mario Gotze scored the single goal to secure the win.
There has been much discussion of Argentine forward Messi, who has struggled to gain universal acceptance by his countrymen (think Jordan vs. Kobe, etc.) as their national football hero over Diego Maradona. Many younger fans, however, are starting to adopt Messi as their hero, though today's loss may set his legacy back slightly (via NY Times):
"'Messi is St. Peter, but Maradona is God,' said Mariano Capretti, 39, whose family owns a clothing factory in Buenos Aires.
"'Messi was four times the world player of the year,' said Ivan Ramadan, 15, of Buenos Aires. He added: 'If Messi wins the World Cup, he will be the best player of all time. Maradona is famous around the world, but some people don't like him. I don't know anyone who doesn't like Messi.'"
The stakes were even higher for Germany, who claimed they would accept nothing less than total victory (via DW):
"The national team has promised to deliver - not to be satisfied with anything less than the title. Miroslav Klose even said he couldn't enjoy his World Cup goal-scoring record if it weren't capped with victory in the final. The aspirations could not be higher. In communications terms, it's a dance on a knife-edge."
Gotze's goal secured the World Cup Trophy for the first time since the reunification of Germany.
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