Before Mario Götze went on in the 2014 World Cup Final, Joachim Löw gave him one instruction: "Show the world you are better than Messi." That is a heavy thing to hand a 22-year-old substitute. Götze treated it as a job description.
The final against Argentina was goalless deep into extra time. In the 113th minute André Schürrle sent in a cross, Götze took it on his chest, let it drop and volleyed past Sergio Romero with his left foot. It was the only goal of the match. Germany won 1-0 after extra time, and the Argentine end of the Maracana went quiet.
What the goal meant for Germany
It gave Germany their fourth World Cup title, won at the Maracana in Rio de Janeiro. It was also the first World Cup won by a European team on South American soil, which had been a closed door for every European side before them.
The technique deserves its own paragraph. A chest-and-volley is hard enough on a training pitch. Doing it in a World Cup Final, with a tired body and a whole continent watching, leaves very little room for error, and Götze left none.
The story after that is less happy. Injuries derailed his career in the years that followed, and the young substitute never became the player that night seemed to promise. It does not change what happened in Rio. A replacement came off the bench, scored the winner in a final and gave the Germans a script they could hardly have written better themselves.
Coming up tomorrow: number 14.
