Muller: I expect Final to be tight

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Thomas Muller has warned Germany fans not to expect Sunday's 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™ Final against Argentina to be as easy as their semi-final win over Brazil. The 24-year-old was joint-top scorer and named Best Young Player at the 2010 World Cup and he has made another major contribution this time around, scoring five goals to help Germany through to final.

One of those goals came in the astonishing 7-1 thrashing of the host nation in the last four, but he insists nobody in the Germany camp is getting carried away by that result. "I don't know what kind of a game it will be (on Sunday), but I don't expect it to be 5-0 at half-time," the Bayern Munich forward said at a press conference. "That would be nice, but it's probably going to be tight like it was against Algeria or France."

Germany led Brazil 5-0 at the break on Tuesday with many members of Joachim Low's team admitting they had to pinch themselves to see if it was really true. "It was about not trying to humiliate our opponents or showboating," he said. "We wanted to carry on playing normal football and not get arrogant, but that's quite normal - it was the players' initiative."

As a result, Muller says Germany were able to "concentrate on preserving energy and avoiding injuries" in the second 45 minutes against Brazil, a game that was also played 24 hours before Argentina's 120-minute encounter with Holland, which was decided by penalties. Germany could therefore be fresher on Sunday, but the real difference in the eyes of captain Philipp Lahm is likely to be their experience.

I don't know what kind of a game it will be, but I don't expect it to be 5-0 at half-time.

Germany's Thomas Muller on the Final

"Experience is important," said the 30-year-old, who has lifted eight trophies for Bayern Munich in the past two years. "I think if you look at club level, many of us have already been involved in big games. Whether they were positive or negative is not important, but we all have experience in a Champions League final, DFB-Pokal final, or whatever. "We're always playing at the very top level and when you go through our squad, you'll see we've all got that experience and it's certainly an advantage for us."

Lahm is therefore also very confident that he will be lifting a trophy into the air for the ninth time since August 2012 on Sunday, and he already has plans for afterwards. "I think I'll just have an early night," he said. "By that, I mean in the early hours."

Should Germany triumph in Rio, they will return to Germany for a reception in Berlin on Tuesday, along the so-called fan mile linking the Brandenburg Gate and the Siegessaule. "We're very grateful for the support of our fans," said the national team's general manager Oliver Bierhoff.

"In the past, we'd been faced with the question of how we would celebrate with our fans. After the 2006 World Cup, we did that after finishing third. In 2008, after coming second at the European Championships. This time, we've decided only to celebrate together with our fans if we win the title, and we are absolutely adamant that we will do it."

Muller versus Messi in numbers

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On track for a second consecutive adidas Golden Boot, Germany’s Thomas Muller is the leading light in Joachim Low’s side. With his fifth goal of these finals against Brazil, he took his place among a fabulous five of his countrymen (Miroslav Klose, Gerd Muller, Jurgen Klinsmann and Helmut Rahn) to reach double figures at the FIFA World Cup™.

There is one undisputed star for Argentina. The four-time FIFA Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi hopes to take his place among the pantheon of World Cup greats with an Argentina win in the Maracana. Will it be La Albiceleste’s No10 or Die Nationalmannschaft’s No13 who take the honours? FIFA.com takes a look at the numbers behind the stars ahead of their World Cup Final showdown.

Height
Thomas Muller: 186cm
Lionel Messi: 169cm
Muller towers above Messi, standing at a little over 6ft tall, and he is also above the average height for players at Brazil 2014 (182cm). The diminutive Argentinian maestro famously took growth hormones on his arrival at Barcelona in his early teens, but still grew to just 5ft 7ins. This makes him two inches taller than his idol and Argentina’s last legendary No10 Diego Maradona, who knows all about handling the biggest of pressures despite the shortest of frames. “Is the pressure of carrying the hopes of a nation overpowering?” Maradona asked the Times of India recently. "No-one knows it better than Messi.”

Date of birth
Thomas Muller: 13 September 1989 (24 years old)
Lionel Messi: 24 June 1987 (27 years old)
Incredibly, Muller made his Germany debut just three months before South Africa 2010 kicked off and, at the age of 20, picked up the adidas Golden Boot and Hyundai Young Player Award at that tournament. This time around, he brings a wealth of experience, having won most major trophies in the domestic game with Bayern Munich. Almost three years his senior, Messi is playing at his third World Cup, having made his international debut in 2005. It was widely discussed before Brazil 2014 that Messi, who will turn 31 at the next finals, is in the prime of his career and will never have a better opportunity to truly shine on the global stage.

Squad number
Thomas Muller: 13
Lionel Messi: 10
Germany’s No13 this year will be hoping to follow in the footsteps of his namesake Gerd, who not only won the Golden Boot but also won the World Cup during his time as the main man in the German line-up. Thomas was handed the jersey after previous incumbent Michael Ballack was injured in the build-up to South Africa 2010. He relished having the shirt on his back, with that adidas Golden Boot in his first global finals. Messi also feels the weight of expectation due to previous occupants of his chosen number. Diego Maradona and the current Albiceleste No10 are the topic of much discussion as to which is the top player to have worn the coveted jersey. Maradona holds the advantage in the eyes of plenty of Argentines due to his World Cup win in 1986. Can Messi match him this year?

Record in Brazil 2014 qualifying
Thomas Muller: 4 goals in 10 games
Lionel Messi: 10 goals in 14 games
Germany scored the highest number of goals in European qualifying, with 36 shared out between ten different scorers. Muller was joined on four goals by Mario Gotze, Miroslav Klose and Andre Schurrle while Marco Reus and Mesut Ozil were the only Germans who scored more than Muller. Messi got the second-highest tally of goals in the entire Brazil 2014 qualifying campaign with only Deon McCaulay, Robin van Persie and Luis Suarez bagging more qualifying strikes than the prolific Barça man. It was no surprise that La Pulga grabbed a brace in the 5-2 win over Paraguay that saw his side book their ticket to Brazil.

Brazil 2014 goals (up to and including the semi-final)
Thomas Muller: 5
Lionel Messi: 4
There was a significantly-sized monkey on Messi’s back going into the tournament. He had not scored a World Cup goal in eight years since his sole strike at the 2006 finals, in which he became the youngest Argentinian World Cup goalscorer. The impatient Maracana crowd watched on in his side’s opening Brazil 2014 game against Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Messi delivered after the hour mark, driving past several defenders before smashing in off the post. He then scored one of the most memorable goals of the tournament, a long-range curler which broke down Iran’s stubborn defence. On top of that pair, he grabbed a brace in his side’s final Group F game against Nigeria which included a sublime free-kick.

Muller started with a bang, grabbing a hat-trick in his side’s opening 4-0 victory against Portugal. The devastating attacking performance by Germany set the tone for the rest of the tournament, and Muller was at the forefront, converting a penalty, lashing home a left-footed effort and poking home from close range. He then grabbed the decisive strike in his side’s final Group G match against USA before getting the ball rolling in Belo Horizonte, scoring his side’s first in their 7-1 demolition of Brazil.

Check out the World Cup statistics centre to compare these two, or any other players at the tournament, with detailed comparison analysis, including passes completed and distance covered, at your fingertips.

Muller, Lahm focused on fulfilling their dream

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Thomas Muller may have a reputation as being one of the most light-hearted members of Joachim Low’s Germany side, but ahead of the 2014 FIFA World Cup™ Final against Argentina, even his seemingly permanent smile was replaced by an expression of steely resolve.

While cities across his homeland prepare for the tens of thousands of fans expected to attend public viewing events on Sunday, the attacker is focused on preparing himself for the "biggest" of big games at the iconic Estadio Maracana.

“In terms of prestige and importance, the World Cup Final is the biggest game you can play in as a footballer,” Muller said. And having found the net five times already at Brazil 2014, his objective is clear: to help Germany win a fourth FIFA World Cup after triumphs in 1954, 1974 and 1990.

There is, he explained, no time for anything else. "Unfortunately we've not managed a sightseeing tour of Rio de Janeiro to get to know the magic of this city," he said, "So for me there's only one reason to come back to Rio: to win the Trophy.“

Potent mix
The current squad is well equipped to do so, even if it has a rather different complexion to fabled teams of the past. The Germany side that lost the 1986 Final to Argentina at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City were famed for their fighting spirit; the ensemble that exacted revenge on La Albiceleste four years later at Stadio Olimpico in Rome to lift the trophy for a third time were renowned for their dynamism, while the Germany team at South Africa 2010 stunned the football world with their attractive, attacking style.

Yet the modern Germany assembled by Low is a squad that appears to be more balanced than ever before, combining all of those standout qualities of previous generations into a group led by players who realise this could be their last chance at glory.

“Now we’re just a step away from making our dream come true and achieving our common aim,” said Philipp Lahm, winner of a UEFA Champions League and FIFA Club World Cup. “When you’re this close there’s only one thing you can do: stay fully focused and just concentrate on the task at hand. That’s what we’re going to do on Sunday in order to bring the trophy, which we’ve worked so hard to win and which we’ve all been waiting such a long time for, back to Germany.”

The country’s media have described the team as being just moments away from immortality, ready to end the years of yearning for glory at the Maracana, where German Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Joachim Gauck will be in the stands to witness the occasion. For the 30-year-old Lahm, who is set to earn his 113th  international cap in Rio de Janeiro, it is an opportunity to be mentioned in the same breath as national legends such as Fritz Walter, Franz Beckenbauer and Lothar Matthaus. 

When you’re this close there’s only one thing you can do: stay fully focused and just concentrate on the task at hand

Germany defensive midfielder Philipp Lahm

“I’m certain that the team will mercilessly do what they need to do,” said general manager Oliver Bierhoff. “We’ve come so far and we don’t want to allow it to slip away now.”

Meanwhile, Low is satisfied that his charges have got the euphoria of their 7-1 dismantling of hosts Brazil in the semi-final out of their systems, and that Germany will be taking nothing for granted. “My feeling is that everyone has got their feet on the ground and are ready to take the last step,” Low said.

Striker Miroslav Klose, who was on the losing side in the 2002 title decider, commented that: “It will be a completely different football match. It’s the Final and of course I know exactly how horrible it feels to lose it.”

Teamwork the key
The 36-year-old veteran, who grabbed his 16th FIFA World Cup goal against Brazil to become the tournament’s all-time leading scorer, is expecting “a tense and heavily tactical” game. Fellow attacker Muller, 12 years Klose’s junior, agrees that another free-scoring display from Germany is highly unlikely.

“We need to build from the back,” said Muller, one of ten candidates to win the adidas Golden Ball at Brazil 2014. “The defenders need to play quick passes into midfield. We need to shift the ball from one side to the other frequently and we won’t have time to even take four touches of the ball at any moment. We need to find the spaces, make sure we bring the ball forward quickly and take one or two risks. We need to put Argentina’s defence under pressure.

As to the task of keeping Lionel Messi at bay, Muller said: “We know how to defend but it’s important to play as a team. Of course we need to be wary of Argentina’s talented individuals, but ultimately we need to defend against the whole Argentinian side, not just one player.”

That sense of maturity will serve Germany well on Sunday, but it is also the exact quality that has helped their South American opponents reach the Final too. The stage is therefore set for the tournament showpiece on what promises to be a magical night in Rio.