Germany 1-0 Argentina: World Cup final player ratings

Manuel Neuer 8

Some people think/wistfully dream that when Neuer’s big calamity comes from charging out of his goal, it will be a mistake of such biblical importance that it will forever tarnish his whole career. Again he lived dangerously, and again he got away with it - no such mistakes tonight, in what was a very solid performance.

Benedikt Howedes 4

If Germany were going to lose this, Howedes was probably the source. Failed to do anything to stop the torrent of attacks coming down Germany’s left flank all evening, and missed a sitter to boot. A lucky boy indeed.

Mats Hummels 6

A good but not great display from Germany’s main centre-back, although he was caught badly under the high ball for Rodrigo Palacio’s terrible miss. Looked uncomfortable with more nimble players attacking him, but that’s what his partner is for...

Jerome Boateng 8

A good display to cap off a good World Cup for a player previously thought to be a weak link for club and country. He was excellent at mopping up and using his pace well, and did very little wrong all evening. Probably Germany’s best defender, which is a major surprise.

Philipp Lahm 8

Eight out of ten, like every single performance Philipp Lahm has ever given (at full-back at least.)

Christoph Kramer 6

Not really much to say - took an awful clattering to the head and thus had to go off shortly afterwards. Germany coped reasonably well in midfield without him despite having to play Toni Kroos in the pivot.

Bastian Schweinsteiger 8

Schweinsteiger put on a brilliant display of classic box-to-box midfielding. He’s still one of the best around.

Thomas Muller 6

Didn’t score, and thus did the other things he’s good at -- annoying opponents, whinging, feigning injuries, crossing it to the goalkeeper. A slight disappointment, but he had already done more than enough to have had an excellent tournament.

Toni Kroos 7

Played some decent passes for most of the evening, but struggled to provide a real clinical edge when Germany attacked, and missed one big chance. Bayern Munich will still be loathe to lose him but there are clues as to why they weren’t breaking the bank to prevent his departure.

Mesut Ozil 6

Had a couple of nice touches, but was involved in little that was tangible -- something of a nothing performance from a player who is giving them on a worryingly regular basis now. His place in the team will surely soon be under threat.

Miroslav Klose 7

Looked dangerous, kept the ball well, worked well with his teammates, and did everything as you might expect apart from scoring. The lack of a goal aside, it was a good send-off.

Andre Schurrle 6

Had chances to win, and didn’t take them. The debate of whether he is one of the best crap players in the world or one of the worst great players in the world continues to rage.

Mario Gotze 8

Gotze might look like a spoiled child, and he might often flatter to deceive, but he took his goal brilliantly, and that goal was the only one scored in a World Cup final. He’s not quite deserving of a 10/10, but it would have been unreasonable in the extreme to expect much more.

“A titanic display of Germany’s spiritual captain, Mertesacker intimidated the Argentine hordes into withdrawing into their shells at the exact moment it looked sure that they were about to overrun the Germans’ defence. A simply superhuman performance which should see him granted the Golden Ball post-haste.”

Well, there you have it.

Sergio Romero 8

A couple of fine saves, and could do little about the goal. For a player who has hardly had a stellar club season, he stepped up well and couldn’t have done much more for his country.

Marcos Rojo 7

Got up and down, rarely looked particularly dangerous in attack, rarely looked particularly troubled at the back. A true centre-back-playing-at-full-back’s performance.

Ezequiel Garay 7

Made up for his intense slowness with some committed, disciplined and sensible defending which restricted Germany’s chances for most of the evening. He has matured into a very fine centre-back.

Martin Demichelis 7

Looked decent and didn’t really do anything stupid, much as was the case, surprisingly, for most of his domestic season. He’s still extraordinarily lucky to have had the career he’s had, but he seems to be getting something of a second wind in his dotage, and tonight was one more solid display among many.

Guilty of wasting one big chance with a terrible ball, but mostly contributed well to Argentina’s attack and was solid in defence. Like Lahm, he was and is perennially solid and unspectacular.

Javier Mascherano 7

Really, Mascherano should get 10/10 for even stepping onto the pitch with a torn anus, but nonetheless he managed to put in a good display despite it. One particularly heroic tackle on Kroos capped off a good performance and a great World Cup. Along with Germany, confirmed to Pep Guardiola and his acolytes that playing people in their actual positions is sometimes a pretty good idea.

Lucas Biglia 6

As ever, tackled well, put himself about, contributed next to nothing in attack and was just sort of ... there. You need players like that to win a World Cup, but Argentina already have Mascherano.

Enzo Perez 6

Started well, but faded badly as any intricacy from Argentina’s game rapidly diminished into extra-time.

Ezequiel Lavezzi 7

A bonkers decision to take him off in favour of Sergio Aguero from Sabella, as the forward was having comfortably his best game of the tournament and causing severe problems for Howedes.

Lionel Messi 7

It seemed much of the world was willing him to put in a superhuman shift, and it was perhaps more the fault of his teammates that he couldn’t bag a couple of assists, but as a performance needed to turn an ordinary team into a great one, lead by example, and carry his team through adversity, this was a long way off what was required.

Gonzalo Higuain 6

Should’ve scored and didn’t. That’s what he’ll be remembered for in this final, and that’s all he really deserved to be remembered for, as he did very little else.

Sergio Aguero 4

Didn’t look fit, as he hasn’t done all tournament, and thus made no impact whatsoever and game a completely hollow performance. It was clearly through little fault of his own, but we have to say what we see.

Rodrigo Palacio 4

Palacio is a strange player in combining his lack of end product with not having a great deal of beginning product either and being suspiciously thin on middle product too. His one big chance, which he fluffed spectacularly, will cause a lot of questions over how right it was to leave Carlos Tevez out of the squad.

Fernando Gago 6

Sat there, tackled a bit, passed it a bit, didn’t really do anything memorable. Fernando Gago.