Even the Losers...

Okay, last futbol post for a while.  The World Cup is over, and I am coming to terms with the fact that I just don't have the energy or the interest to become a full time soccer fan.  I'm not going to record the Premier League, or La Liga, which generally happen in the middle of the night, and American MLS just doesn't have the appeal because they don't have Messi, Ronaldo and Neymar.  In other words, I'm going to pay attention via headlines and Sportscenter highlights until the next World Cup, when I'll let my inner global person out again.
Germany won the final against Argentina.  After absolutely destroying Brasil in the semifinal match, Germany was the heavy favorite.  Argentina, despite having Lionel Messi, had not scored much in this whole tournament and had made it through based on a virtually impenetrable defense.  In fact, they advanced to the final by virtue of penalty kicks against the Netherlands (another team that had made it to the semis by not losing rather than by winning).
Argentina doesn't fit the mold of Latin American Futbol.  Mexico, Brasil, and Columbia, who play the beautiful game with a certain flair and with exciting offense had been knocked out one by one, and here was Argentina.  Argentina seems to have a lot more in common with Europe than it does with the rest of South America when it comes to futbol.
Argentina and Germany played a solid 90 minutes of defensive responsible futbol, they were tied 0-0 after regular time, and you started to wonder if maybe this whole tournament was going to go to penalty kicks, so much had been decided that way up to now.  Then Germany scored.  A substitute, who had come in the 88th minute, scored a virtuous goal, he controlled a high centering pass with his chest and, before the ball hit the ground he nailed it with his foot, into the Argentine goal.
There was nothing that anyone could have done.  It was pure, it was skillful, it was a little bit lucky, but it was unarguable.  There was no question.
There was also nothing the best player in the world could do about it.  Lionel Messi started to look even more solemn and serious than normal.  There were a few flashes, almost moments where you thought he might, but he couldn't.  It reminds us that futbol is a team game.  As much as we would like to make it a celebrity driven sport, it's about team.  The Germans were the best team in this tournament.  They could be overwhelming as they were against Brasil, but they could also play nip-tuck for 90 minutes and wait patiently for their break as they did in the games against the US and Argentina.  They seemed equally comfortable with either option (well at some point in the Brasil massacre, I do think they felt a little more at ease, but probably not until they had a four goal lead).
Messi, in what seemed more like an insult than an accolade, had to walk up to the award platform and accept the trophy for being the best player of the tournament.  I think he would rather have had someone kick him in the head.  He looked positively morose, and you wonder if the selection committee couldn't have spared him that.  He is one of the best players in the world, and he is a goal scoring artist, but he was playing on a defensively oriented team.
This happens in team games.  An analogy from our version of Football: Trent Dilfer, and Joe Flacco have won more Superbowls than Dan Marino.  Team is important, as much as we want to believe that it's all about the superstars, except for sports like Tennis and Golf, you need other people.
Which is why I feel a bit bad for Messi (not too much, because that guy is still living the life), but at least a little.  He was carrying the hopes of his country on his shoulders.  People would say: "It's Germany versus Lionel Messi."  Now that's just not fair.
All things considered Messi could very easily have been in the place of Mario Goetze as the man who broke the ice and scored that artful goal to win it all, but he wasn't, a man who came off the bench for the other team was the one who got the glory.  But I suspect that no one is making the mistake of naming "Super Mario" the best player in the game.
We would all do well to remember that we're not in this thing alone.