FOOTBALL is a game played between two, 11-men sides; and, when the final whistle blows, the Germans have won. Aye, sometimes it is that simple.
Even before they stuck seven goals on a poor, mentally-shattered Brazilian team, it was obvious that Germany had brought the best TEAM to the World Cup Finals. Not that that guaranteed victory - the history of the World Cup is full of cases where the outstanding team didn't win the damned thing - think of the Austrian Wunderteam in 1934, the Magical Magyrs of Puskas and Co in 1954, the Dutch in 1978, or Brazil in 1982.
But, none of these glorious failures was a German team - when the going gets tough and German engineering is put to the test, it usually delivers, as Jogi Loeuw's team did in the final.
Mind you, on the back of some terrific defending from Mascherano and Demichelis, plus some unbelievable misses from their front men, even Messi, the Argentinians made it very hard, before that glorious Goetze goal - one as good as any ever to win the World Cup.
This was the best World Cup for a long time, roll on 2018.
Some final thoughts: Messi as Player of the Tournament (a sop to South America) -sure, he's still a fantastic player, but, he is playing in a team which is a wee bit off being the best. I thought Mascherano and Zabaletta were the best of that bunch, while in the knock-out phases Bastian Schweinsteiger was a stick-oot for the winners - he'd be in my team at Auchinleck.
As a former goalkeeper, I am a convinced Manuel Neuer fan. He plays a lot like I did all these years ago. Aye Right!!!!!
WHAT lessons can we Scots learn from World Cup 2014?
Well, we could start by the SFA and SPFL saying: "Win it or lose it, we go back to being Scottish. We will actively promote Scottish players for Scottish teams. Every Scottish team which takes to the park has to have eight Scotland-qualified players, and, there must ALWAYS be eight Scots per side on the park.
We will insist on teams playing the old Scottish passing game. Get it down and pass the thing.
That will do for starters. We can then set about getting rid of the "diddy" senior clubs who are only clinging on to senior status, because: "We've aye been a senior club".
Not that they should be shut down. We cut the SPFL to a maximum of 20, full-time clubs. Below that, the emphasis should be on player development, at a local level, with a presumption towards Under-23 players.
I am not saying implementing this would be easy - or, that it would be a quick fix, but, just maybe, my grand-children could enjoy seeing Scotland in the World Cup Final.
ONE sad aspect of Scottish football - albeit one we would be better-off without, was all-too-clear in the aftermath.
I logged-on to the website of one of Scotland's two supposed "quality" newspapers which is published in Scotland. What I found was an excellent World Cup final report, written by one of the top two football writers currently working in Scotland, but the readers' comments - oh dear!
It was mainly, the usual whitabootery between followers of the current Scottish Champions and the tribute act which won the SPFL First Division last season.
In the on-going Independence debate, some of the Yes-supporting cyber warriors have been named "Cybergnatz". In fitba terms, these Old Firm cyber-warriors are maybe: "Cybermidges" - Scottish, more of them, and more-irritating.
But, none of these glorious failures was a German team - when the going gets tough and German engineering is put to the test, it usually delivers, as Jogi Loeuw's team did in the final.
Mind you, on the back of some terrific defending from Mascherano and Demichelis, plus some unbelievable misses from their front men, even Messi, the Argentinians made it very hard, before that glorious Goetze goal - one as good as any ever to win the World Cup.
This was the best World Cup for a long time, roll on 2018.
Some final thoughts: Messi as Player of the Tournament (a sop to South America) -sure, he's still a fantastic player, but, he is playing in a team which is a wee bit off being the best. I thought Mascherano and Zabaletta were the best of that bunch, while in the knock-out phases Bastian Schweinsteiger was a stick-oot for the winners - he'd be in my team at Auchinleck.
As a former goalkeeper, I am a convinced Manuel Neuer fan. He plays a lot like I did all these years ago. Aye Right!!!!!
WHAT lessons can we Scots learn from World Cup 2014?
Well, we could start by the SFA and SPFL saying: "Win it or lose it, we go back to being Scottish. We will actively promote Scottish players for Scottish teams. Every Scottish team which takes to the park has to have eight Scotland-qualified players, and, there must ALWAYS be eight Scots per side on the park.
We will insist on teams playing the old Scottish passing game. Get it down and pass the thing.
That will do for starters. We can then set about getting rid of the "diddy" senior clubs who are only clinging on to senior status, because: "We've aye been a senior club".
Not that they should be shut down. We cut the SPFL to a maximum of 20, full-time clubs. Below that, the emphasis should be on player development, at a local level, with a presumption towards Under-23 players.
I am not saying implementing this would be easy - or, that it would be a quick fix, but, just maybe, my grand-children could enjoy seeing Scotland in the World Cup Final.
ONE sad aspect of Scottish football - albeit one we would be better-off without, was all-too-clear in the aftermath.
I logged-on to the website of one of Scotland's two supposed "quality" newspapers which is published in Scotland. What I found was an excellent World Cup final report, written by one of the top two football writers currently working in Scotland, but the readers' comments - oh dear!
It was mainly, the usual whitabootery between followers of the current Scottish Champions and the tribute act which won the SPFL First Division last season.
In the on-going Independence debate, some of the Yes-supporting cyber warriors have been named "Cybergnatz". In fitba terms, these Old Firm cyber-warriors are maybe: "Cybermidges" - Scottish, more of them, and more-irritating.
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