IN the latest installment of their historic World Cup rivalry, Argentina and Germany clash at the Maracana Stadium on Sunday for the third final between the two teams in the history of the tournament.

The two sides met in the showpiece of the tournament twice in four years, Argentina winning against Germany in 1986 and the Germans taking revenge for that defeat in 1990.

The two teams have met at each of the last two World Cups at the quarter-final stage. Germany prevailed on both occasions.

A penalty shootout win for Germany, after a tense 1-1 draw, at the 2006 World Cup was followed by a 4-0 mauling of Argentina at the last edition in South Africa.

Also read: Netherlands beat hosts Brazil 3-0 to claim third

Germany, though, failed to progress beyond the semi-finals in both tournaments. In the 2002 World Cup they lost to Brazil in the final.

A 7-1 thrashing of hosts Brazil in the semi-final in Belo Horizonte on Tuesday meant the Germans reached the final and they are confident of ending their wait for a World Cup title stretching back to 1990.

“We have a generation of players who are well versed. We have matured and developed together,” German captain Phillip Lahm told a press conference in Santo Andre on Friday.

“Confidence is very high and we have the perfect mix. The national team has shown we are good at preparing, but it remains to be seen if we can now reap the rewards.

“We have the chance to take the title back to Germany and are determined to repeat our semi-final performance.

“We’re here to win the World Cup. We all enjoyed watching the Argentina-Netherlands semi-final on TV and it didn’t matter to us at all who we’d play in the final.

“A lot of our players have experience in important final matches with their clubs and it doesn’t always matter if they won or lost. I think that deep experience everyone on our team has is definitely important for a tournament like this.”

Argentina had to scrape through against the Dutch. Following a goalless draw at the end of extra-time, Sergio Romero’s two crucial saves helped them win the shootout 4-2.

That meant the Germans are the early favourites and are largely expected to win their fourth World Cup title.

“At this point who is favourite, who is not, it doesn’t make a difference,” Argentine midfielder Maxi Rodriguez said at a press conference on Thursday.

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“Both teams feel a responsibility to go all the way. We’re going to do our part to make it.

“Germany are very strong, aggressive opponents, but if we are at our best we can beat anyone. What I am interested in is leaving as a champion. It is the dream all Argentines have.”

If Argentina were to win their third World Cup title on Sunday, it would seal Lionel Messi’s place amongst the pantheon of legends like Pele, Diego Maradona and Zinedine Zidane.

Largely criticised for not giving his best for Argentina, the Barcelona superstar has been vital to his team’s campaign this year, scoring four goals to help Argentina reach the final and it represents the best opportunity for the 27-year-old to finally get his hands on the trophy which has proved elusive for him.

While Argentina have been heavily reliant on Messi to deliver the goods, the Germans have had no shortage of goal-scorers. They are led by Thomas Mueller, who has five to his name.

Mueller, a goal behind World Cup top-scorer James Rodriguez of Colombia, said he was aware that scoring in the final will help him win the golden boot — an award he won in South Africa four years ago.

“It’s only relevant in that the more goals I score for Germany, the higher our chance of winning the title. “That will help in both competitions, but winning the World Cup is more important to me,” he said at a press conference on Friday, whilst giving his ideas on how to stop Messi from doing his magic.

“We’ve all got to stay on his heels and try to keep disrupting him,” he said. “As soon as he gets away from one of us, the next guy has to jump in and be on him and so on until we get the ball back.

“It’s important to defend collectively as a team against him, but without losing sight of the other Argentine players.”

Probable teams:

GERMANY: Manuel Neuer, Philipp Lahm, Jerome Boateng, Mats Hummels, Benedikt Hoewedes, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Sami Khedira, Thomas Mueller, Toni Kroos, Mesut Ozil, Miroslav Klose.

ARGENTINA: Sergio Romero, Pablo Zabaleta, Martin Demichelis, Ezequiel Garay, Marcos Rojo, Javier Mascherano, Lucas Biglia, Enzo Perez, Lionel Messi, Ezequiel Lavezzi, Gonzalo Higuain.

Referee: Nicola Rizzoli (Italy). 

Published in Dawn, July 13th, 2014