No papal partisanship

The word from the Vatican is neither Pope Francis of Argentina nor Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI of Germany will pray for their home country to win the 20th FIFA World Cup final at the 73,531-seat Estadio do Maracana in Rio de Janeiro early tomorrow morning (Manila time).

Vatican spokesman Rev. Federico Lombardi said “both would want the better team to win without taking sides.” Pope Francis has reportedly assured sports fans there will be no papal intervention in the final and he won’t be praying for Argentina to win. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI isn’t big on sports and probably couldn’t care less which team prevails. With the issue of Vatican partisanship settled, you wonder which side has a clearer line to the Man upstairs. Prayers will bombard the heavens for sure once the action begins.

Without host Brazil in the final, fans feel a little let down. The majority of experts picked Brazil to at least barge into the final if not go all the way. Of six experts polled by USA Today, only writer Jesse Yomtov chose Germany to win. “I expect Germany to be the first European country to win a World Cup on South American soil,” he said. “Germany’s road won’t be easy but it is the deepest team in the tournament and it has the experience and talent necessary to overcome all challenges.” Nobody gave Argentina a chance to make it to the final in the pre-tournament survey.

On the pitch, Germany is like a football machine, operating with precision on both offense and defense. Brazil found out how Germany manhandles a team with a shaky defense. Who would’ve imagined Brazil to be massacred at home only a match away from the final even without Neymar and skipper Thiago Silva? Germany was unforgiving in posting a massacre. Brazil never anticipated the juggernaut as Germany blasted its way to a 7-1 rout. It was a spanking that the disappointed homecrowd found difficult to swallow.

Germany’s advance to the final wasn’t as tough as Argentina’s. Germany opened with a 4-0 romp over Portugal then drew with Ghana, 2-2 and defeated the US, 1-0 in the group stage. In the Round of 16, Germany nipped Algeria, 2-1 and in the quarterfinals, Die Nationalmannschaft edged France, 1-0. The thrashing of Brazil in the semifinals installed Germany the hot favorite to win it all.

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As usual, Thomas Muller is leading thecharge for Germany. He took the Golden Boot in the last World Cup and is in contention for another award. Muller has scored five goals so far, one less than Colombia’s James Rodriguez. But the man who has gained a lot of attention on the squad is Polish-born Miroslav Klose. No player on either team has seen action in a World Cup final before and Klose, 36, is the exception. Klose was on the German squad that lost to Brazil, 2-0, at the 2002 World Cup. In this year’s version, Klose has scored two goals, one against Ghana and another against Brazil. He now holds the record for most World Cup goals with 16, one over Brazil’s fabled Ronaldo. Klose is only the third player ever to score in four different World Cups.

Klose is retiring from World Cup competition after the Brazil edition. He will always be remembered for his integrity on the pitch. During a club match in 2005, he refused a penalty that was undeserved and referees honored his sportsmanship. In another club encounter in 2012, the referees counted a goal by Klose but he asked to nullify it because of a hand ball. The goal was withdrawn on Klose’s admission. How often do you see a basketball player confessing to the referees that he had the last touch on a play?

Germany has won three World Cups, all as West Germany when East Germany still existed. As unified Germany, it went to the final only once, losing to Brazil in 2002. In all, Germany has registered 65 wins, 20 draws and 20 losses in 18 World Cup appearances up to this year’s semifinals. Germany won in 1954 (over Hungary, 3-2), 1974 (over the Netherlands, 2-1) and 1990 (over Argentina, 1-0). Germany has placed second in four tournaments and third in four other editions. Germany will make its eighth final appearance. In 12 previous semifinals, Germany has finished fourth only once – a remarkable feat.

It’s been 24 years since Germany won the World Cup. In South Africa four years ago, Germany was far from consistent even as it finished third. Germany scored four goals against Australia, England and Argentina each but lost 1-0 to Serbia and 1-0 to Spain in the semifinals. The consensus was Germany lacked the staying power to finish strong from a fast start. “We have to improve our play in the final third,” said coach Joachim Low quoted by Kim Hjelmgaard. “We have to be more efficient, more to the point. Perhaps, we are even sometimes missing the clinical precision that is needed at this level. When we create opportunities, we have to be able to finish them and score goals especially at the World Cup level. You may only get one or two chances in a game.”

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Argentina’s road to the final was rocky. In thegroup stage, Argentina struggled to beat Bosnia- Herzegovina, 2-1, Iran, 1-0 and Nigeria, 3-2. In the Round of 16, Argentina beat Switzerland, 1-0 and in the quarterfinals, it was 1-0 over Belgium. In the semifinals, Argentina eliminated the Netherlands, 4-2, in a penalty shootout after a scoreless tie in regulation and extra time.

Striker Lionel Messi is the central figure of Argentina’s attack. But he hasn’t scored or picked up an assist in the last two matches. Messi’s four goals came at the group stage. There is talk that Angel di Maria may play in the final after sitting out the Netherlands match to recover from injury. The return of Sergio Aguero is another plus.

Argentina won the World Cup in 1978 (over the Netherlands, 3-1) and 1986 (over West Germany, 3-2). Its all-time World Cup record lists 43 wins, 13 draws and 20 losses up to this year’s semifinals. Argentina wound up second in 1930 (losing to Uruguay, 4-2) and 1990 (losing to West Germany, 1-0).

Argentina hasn’t won the World Cup in 28 years and is returning to the final after a 24-year absence. For a country that has produced stars like Diego Maradona, Mario Kempes and Ubaldo Fillol, the wait has been excruciatingly long to climb back to global football prominence. Argentina claimed the gold medal in football at the 2004 and 2008 Olympics but at the World Cup, La Albiceleste has been absent for a while.

“Our identity is respect for the ball, trying to play from behind the field,” said Argentine coach Alejandro Sabella quoted by Ron Clements. “The sacrifice of everybody running to protect the ball and everybody running to keep the ball. We need to be stronger in the final meters of our attack. We have to be relentless in our attack, no matter the lead.”

Argentina and Germany have faced off in two previous finals. Argentina took the first match, 3-2, in 1986 with Maradona at the forefront while Germany got payback with a 1-0 victory in 1990. Tomorrow morning, their tie will be broken.