After 64 matches, the World Cup is over and Germany are the deserving winners.
The only goal (pic below) came with only eight minutes left in extra-time and you’d be forgiven for thinking the previous minutes were that of a scoreless snore-fest. Far from it. It was a brilliant World Cup Final and befitting of one of the best tournaments in living memory.
Overall, I think nobody can have complaints that Germany were the rightful winners in the end and we cannot wait for Ireland to take them on in their own backyard on October 14th in a European Championship qualifier. Honestly.
Rihanna is a German, who knew?
The Germans celebrated with Angela Merkel and Rihanna. Eh? One, a sultry temptress, the other used to go out with Chris Brown. Boom! Rihanna was pictured celebrating with the victorious Germans and managed to get to hold the famous trophy.
She went Twitter crazy last night and posted numerous pictures which we documented here. No umbrellas are featured in any of the pictures.
Scarlet for Scolari
Beleaguered Brazilian boss Phil Scolari (pic below) felt the ire of the Brazilian supporters during the 3rd/4th place play-off against the Netherlands on Saturday night. Coming so soon after the demolition by Germany in the semi-finals, Scolari was booed in the stadium every time he appeared on the large video screens.
He had insisted that he would remain at the helm, but following the defeat to the Dutch, he has announced that he is resigning and let’s be honest, it’s the honourable thing to do. Any man who insists that Brazil should kick their way to the World Cup is a man who has fallen out of love with the game and is in need of replacing. Scolari’s time has come and gone and Brazil need a new direction.
We’ve a huge World Cup shaped hole in our hearts here in JOE and we will miss this wonderful tournament, but we have plenty of treasured memories to take away with us. For now, all roads lead to France and qualification for the European Championships in 2016. Mon Ireland!
