BRAZIL: SOCCER/FOOTBALL: Argentina sees dream come true in World Cup final vs Germany

Record ID: 449143

  • Title: BRAZIL: SOCCER/FOOTBALL: Argentina sees dream come true in World Cup final vs Germany
  • Date: 10th July 2014
  • Summary: VESPASIANO, BRAZIL (JULY 10, 2014) (REUTERS) WIDE OF TEAM STANDING ON TRAINING PITCH TEAM LISTENING TO COACH ALEJANDRO SABELLA MORE OF TEAM IN A HUDDLE LIONEL MESSI WALKING ON PITCH THEN SITS ON MAT PLAYERS SITTING ON STRETCHING MATS WIDE OF NEWS CONFERENCE JOURNALISTS TWO SHOTS OF MINUTE'S SILENCE AT THE START OF THE NEWS CONFERENCE FOR JOURNALIST WHO WAS KILLED IN CAR CRASH IN SAO PAOLO ON WEDNESDAY (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) MAXI RODRIGUEZ, MIDFIELDER, SAYING: "We are in the finals now. The most important thing now is to win. If I can play better, then that's good but if not, well it doesn't matter because the most important thing is to win this championship. This is our dream game. From the beginning when we were still in Buenos Aires we had been dreaming about this match. And now it's almost within our reach. Winning this championship is the most important thing for us." SABELLA WALKING ON PITCH WIDE OF TEAM PLAYING ON PITCH MORE OF TEAM PLAYING ON PITCH (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) SERGIO AGUERO, FORWARD, SAYING: "Germany has always been a good team and now we need to play against them. But we will stick to our strategy." TEAM ON STRETCHING MATS MORE OF TEAM ON MATS TEAM TRAINING ON PITCH MORE OF TEAM TRAINING ON PITCH
  • Embargoed: 25th July 2014 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Brazil
  • Country: Brazil
  • Topics: Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVA1NKP4V49WJPDHNZQ7PH8IE63D
  • Story Text: One day after reaching their first World Cup final in 24 years, Argentina was back on their training ground in Brazil's Vespasiano on Thursday (July 10).
    Argentina beat the Netherlands 4-2 on penalties after the first scoreless semi in the tournament's history, with old foes Germany awaiting them in Sunday's (July 13) finals.
    After a talk from coach Alejandro Sabella, players started their training with striker Lionel Messi watching on the sidelines.
    Sunday's match will be a repeat of the 1986 and 1990 World Cup finals, the first of which was won by Argentina before the then West Germany gained revenge four years later.
    For Argentina's midfielder Maxi Rodriguez, Sunday's match is a dream come true for the team.
    "This is our dream game. From the beginning when we were still in Buenos Aires we had been dreaming about this match. And now it's almost within our reach. Winning this championship is the most important thing for us," said Rodriguez who scored the decisive penalty for Argentina after their goalkeeper Sergio Romero had saved spot kicks from Ron Vlaar and Wesley Sneijder.
    Forward Sergio Aguero said they are expecting a tough match on Sunday.
    "Germany has always been a good team and now we need to play against them. But we will stick our strategy," said Aguero.
    At the start of the news conference at the team's base outside Belo Horizonte, Brazil's third largest city, players and journalists held a minute's silence for an Argentine journalist killed in Sao Paulo early on Wednesday (July 9) morning when his taxi was hit by a stolen car fleeing police.
    He was the second Argentine reporter to die in a car wreck while covering the World Cup.
    German Chancellor Angela Merkel is expected to attend the final on Sunday.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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