BRAZIL: FOOTBALL / SOCCER - Germany fans celebrate World Cup victory at Copacabana

Record ID: 492345

  • Title: BRAZIL: FOOTBALL / SOCCER - Germany fans celebrate World Cup victory at Copacabana
  • Date: 14th July 2014
  • Summary: RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL (JULY 13, 2014) (REUTERS - NO ACCESS BRAZIL. NO USE 48 HOURS AFTER THE END OF THE MATCH) VARIOUS OF FANS WATCHING WORLD CUP FINAL FROM FIFA RIO FAN FEST VARIOUS OF WOMEN ON PEOPLE'S SHOULDERS CHEERING A MAN SITTING ON A FENCE WITH A LARGE DRUM AND SHOOTING FIREWORKS ARGENTINA FANS REACTING TO A NEAR GOAL RESCUE HELICOPTER FLYING BY AFTER PULLING SOMEONE FROM THE WATER WHO WAVES TO THE CROWDS ARGENTINA FANS REACTING TO ANOTHER NEAR GOAL FANS CHEERING ARGENTINA FANS REACTING AFTER GERMANY GOAL / A COUPLE OF GERMANY FANS CHEERING SURROUNDED BY ARGENTINA FANS GERMANY FANS CELEBRATING GOAL A MASSIVE GERMANY SHIRT HANGING FROM THE BALCONY OF A NEARBY BUILDING GERMANY FANS CELEBRATING WIN HUGGING AND JUMPING (SOUNDBITE) (German) UNIDENTIFIED GERMANY FAN, SAYING: "I can honestly say it was mega-exciting, a bit boring from the football side of things because Argentina played quite defensively, but now I am just happy that we won, it was a very tight match but it turned out as it was meant to be, didn't it?" GERMANY FANS CELEBRATING (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) ARGENTINA FAN, FEDERICO GONZALEZ, SAYING: "The truth is they (Germany) played very well in the first half, it didn't seem to me that either team played better than the other. They had that opportunity and they made the most of it, and there we go. But we go out with our heads held high, we fought until the end, so onwards and upwards Argentina." (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) ARGENTINA FAN, IVANA VERTA, SAYING: "They won by luck, they won by luck. They played without feeling, they won by luck only." FANS, MOSTLY DISAPPOINTED ARGENTINA FANS, LEAVING THE FAN FEST
  • Embargoed: 29th July 2014 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Brazil
  • City:
  • Country: Brazil
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVAB9Z5OX0H7Y2XXOLU3Y5ZYCQFM
  • Aspect Ratio:
  • Story Text: A world class Mario Goetze volley in extra time fired Germany to a fourth World Cup crown with a 1-0 victory over Argentina on Sunday (July 13), leaving the 70,000 Argentina fans who descended on Rio de Janeiro this weekend rather sad and downtrodden.
    A sea of blue and white clad Argentines at the Fan Fest on Rio's Copacabana beach hid the few who jumped for joy as a magical strike from substitute Goetze meant Germany became the only European team to win the World Cup in the Americas.
    The thunderous clash between Germany, Brazil's 7-1 semi-final conquerors, and their bitter rivals had seemed headed for penalties until Andre Schuerrle escaped down the left after 113 minutes and sent in a cross that substitute Goetze controlled on his chest before slamming past goalkeeper Sergio Romero.
    As much as all of Argentina hankered for a triumph on Brazilian soil, Germany were worth their win over a subdued Messi and his team mates who counter-attacked dangerously but lacked their opponents' more fluid passing moves.
    "I can honestly say it was mega-exciting, a bit boring from the football side of things because Argentina played quite defensively, but now I am just happy that we won, it was a very tight match but it turned out as it was meant to be, didn't it?" said a Germany fan after the match.
    One Argentina fan was happy to accept the German's precision in the first half of the game, but felt the game had been even and that Argentines maintain a cause for pride in second place.
    "The truth is they (Germany) played very well in the first half, it didn't seem to me that either team played better than the other," said a disappointed Argentina fan, Federico Gonzalez.
    "They had that opportunity and they made the most of it, and there we go. But we go out with our heads held high, we fought until the end, so onwards and upwards Argentina," Gonzalez added.
    For other fans, the marginal win was harder to accept, provoking frustration, rather different to the depression and humiliation expressed by the hosts after such an emphatic thrashing by new champions.
    "They won by luck, they won by luck," said Argentina fan Ivana Verta. "They played without feeling, they won by luck only."
    Messi, who generally had a subdued game without making much impact with his jinking runs, did have a good chance two minutes after the break when he escaped the shackles of the defenders but his angled shot went narrowly wide of the far post.
    As the half progressed there was an air of inevitability that the match would move into extra time, although Kroos could have settled it before then if he had struck an 82nd minute shot with greater accuracy instead of sidefooting the ball wide.
    Argentina could have broken the deadlock in the first period of extra time when exhausted defender Mats Hummels allowed Argentina substitute Rodrigo Palacio a chance to score but Neuer came out very fast and the substitute lobbed his effort wide.
    The game was finally decided by 22-year-old Goetze's great strike, a fitting finale with the 171st goal of the tournament that tied the record set in France in 1998.
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