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RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil -- Mario Goetze produced the piece of individual skill that Lionel Messi couldnt muster. Babe Herman Jersey . With two quick, deft touches, Goetze ended Germanys 24-year wait for another World Cup title with an extra-time winner against Argentina on Sunday -- denying Messi the one title he needs to forever take his place among the games all-time greats. It was the moment of brilliance that ensured Germanys 1-0 victory in a tight and tense final. Goetze, who wasnt born when West Germany beat Argentina in the 1990 final, controlled a cross with his chest in the 113th minute and in one fluid motion volleyed the ball past goalkeeper Sergio Romero and inside the far post from five yards out. It delivered Germany its fourth World Cup title, equal second with Italy on the list of all-time champions and just behind Brazils five. "Its an unbelievable feeling. I dont know how to describe it. You just shoot that goal in, you dont really know whats happening," Goetze said. "And then at the end of the match, having a party with the team, the whole country ... it is for us, a dream come true." At the final whistle, Germany players fell into a pile in a mid-pitch celebration. Messi walked past them with his hands on his hips -- still in the shadow of his compatriot Diego Maradona, who led his country to the 1986 title. The 22-year-old Goetze went on as a substitute for Miroslav Klose near the end of regulation time and his fresh legs made the difference. Andre Schuerrle broke down the left flank, sending his cross into the area, and the Bayern Munich midfielder did the rest with a clinical finish. The goal echoed that of Andres Iniesta four years ago, when the midfielder scored in similar fashion but from the other side of the area to give Spain a 1-0 extra-time win over the Netherlands. It went entirely to script, according to Germany coach Joachim Loew. "I said to Mario Goetze, OK, show to the world that youre better than Messi and you can decide the World Cup. You have all the possibilities to do that," Loew said. "I had a good feeling with him." Germany became the first European team to win a World Cup in the Americas, and the victory ends a string of near misses since winning its last major title at the 1996 European Championship. The team lost the 2002 World Cup final to Brazil, the Euro 2008 final to Spain and was eliminated in the semifinals in both 2006 and 2010. Argentina had not been back in the final since that 1990 loss, and has now been beaten by Germany in the last three World Cups. "This was our chance, and we felt that way. We couldnt do it. We have to lift our heads and suffer the pain," Argentina midfielder Javier Mascherano said. "Obviously, the pain is tremendous." It is Germanys first World Cup title as a unified nation, having won as West Germany in 1954, 1974 and 1990. The Germans faced Argentina in both the 1986 and 1990 finals, during Maradonas heyday. This time, they were up against Messi, the four-time world player of the year who has set a slew of scoring records in leading Barcelona to every major club title and is widely considered the best player since Maradona. But in the biggest game of his career, Messi came up short. He had one good chance to score when he was sent free in the area just after the halftime break, but sent his shot wide. It was a difficult angle, but still the type of chance he so often converts for Barcelona. Messi threatened intermittently throughout the match, but was effectively smothered by the German defence. His free kick in the 120th minute went well high. Messi, who scored four goals in the group stage but none in the knockout rounds, then had to trudge alone up the stairs of the Maracana Stadium to accept the Golden Ball award for the tournaments best player, shaking hands with German Chancellor Angela Merkel along the way. "At this moment I dont care about this prize -- only lifting the trophy matters," Messi said. "Im hurt for losing the way we did. ... I think we deserved a little better, we had chances. As well as they controlled the ball, we still had the clearest chances." After Messi received his award, the German team made its way up the stairs for captain Philipp Lahm to raise the hallowed 18-carat gold trophy. Until Goetzes winning goal, the game was more notable for top-class defending than creative attacking, but both teams had their share of chances. Gonzalo Higuain fired wide when gifted a chance in a one-on-one with goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, and later had a goal ruled out for offside. Germany defender Benedikt Hoewedes hit the post just before halftime with a header. Germany had entered the game as the favourite after its 7-1 semifinal drubbing of Brazil. But Argentina proved to be an entirely different proposition. "Im very proud of the team. They played a great game against a great team," Argentina coach Alejandro Sabella said. "I salute the players, they made the country proud." After Germanys last win in 1990, then-coach Franz Beckenbauer predicted that a unified Germany would be "unbeatable" in the future. It took 24 years to prove him right but with young players like Goetze, the next wait may not be as long. "We, I think, deserve this trophy," Goetze said. ------ Lineups: Germany: Manuel Neuer; Philipp Lahm, Mats Hummels, Jerome Boateng, Benedikt Hoewedes; Christoph Kramer (Andre Schuerrle, 31), Bastian Schweinsteiger, Toni Kroos, Mesut Ozil (Per Mertesacker, 120), Thomas Mueller; Miroslav Klose (Mario Goetze, 88). Argentina: Sergio Romero; Pablo Zabaleta, Martin Demichelis, Ezequiel Garay, Marcos Rojo; Lucas Biglia, Javier Mascherano, Enzo Perez (Fernando Gago, 86); Ezequiel Lavezzi (Sergio Aguero, 46), Gonzalo Higuain (Rodrigo Palacio, 78), Lionel Messi. Corey Seager Jersey . -- New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft wanted to keep Logan Mankins with the team for a long time. Fernando Valenzuela Jersey . Goins is the early favourite to win the starting job at second base. Pillar is an outsider to secure a role off the bench, which becomes an even more difficult spot to win if the number of back up jobs is reduced by one. That happens if the Blue Jays decide to start the season with an eight man bullpen. http://www.ladodgersprostore.us/Kirk-Gibson-dodgers-jersey/ . CBS Sports Jon Heyman is reporting that Santana will sign a one-year deal, likely in the next two days with one of a trio of suitors, with the Toronto Blue Jays believed to be heavily involved.EDMONTON -- The Edmonton Oilers seem to have solved their problems in net and have been getting some positive results because of it. Jordan Eberle had a pair of goals and an assist and Viktor Fasth made 28 saves as the Oilers continued to put crimps in other teams playoff plans, coming away with a 5-1 victory over the Nashville Predators on Tuesday. Sam Gagner, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Taylor Hall also scored for the Oilers (25-36-9), who have won two in a row and gone 10-4-3 in their past 17 games, and at least temporarily moved past Florida into third-last in the NHL. Much of the progress the Oilers have made of late has been since trading Devan Dubnyk and Ilya Bryzgalov away and bringing in Fasth and Ben Scrivens. "There are no soft goals with them," Hall said. "Im sure everyone around the room will tell you. You just play with more confidence. You arent afraid to make that little play that could turn into a big offensive chance when you know that you have guys like Viktor and Ben back there. It is a huge boost going into games knowing that we are going to give up chances, but we have good goalies in net." Oilers head coach Dallas Eakins said his new goaltending tandem has made an immediate impact. "Its been perfect," he said. "The great thing is I think they have become friends right away and are helping and supporting each other, which is so important. There is competition going on at the same time. The better the one plays spurs on the other and they are just going to keep pulling each other to the top. Our goaltending has just been fabulous." Gabriel Bourque replied for the Predators (29-30-10) who have lost two in a row and are in serious jeopardy of missing the playoffs for the second year in a row as they are nine points out of the last post-season berth in the West with just 13 games remaining on the schedule. "It wasnt a good effort, we didnt do too many good things out there, we turned the puck over," said Nashville assistant captain Mike Fisher. "We didnt do too many good things defensively and they buried them when they got chances. They played pretty well." Predators head coach Barry Trotz said it was not the kind of effort his team can afford to have right now. "I just thought that we didnt have enough urgency from enough guys and we need guys to step up," he said. "I thought our best players were some of our young guys. We have to give our goalie some run support, we have to be better defensively than that and our special teams have to be at least even every night." Nashville goalie Pekka Rinne allowed five goals on 26 shots and was pulled midway through the third period. "It was obviously not the best game for myself," he said. "Im disappointed for sure. Its the way it goes I guess once in a while, but its not acceptable. Its a little bit embarrassing too, but its over with now." The game started on a rough note just 48 seconds in as Predators defenceman Ryan Ellis pasted Eberle into the boards on a cross-check from behind, igniting a scrum. The Predators came close with five minutes remaining in the first period as they took a bit of a surprise shot on Oilers goalie Viktor Fasth that he got a piece of with his glove before looking like an offensive lineman and preventing Patric Hornqvist from getting to the rebound in the crease. Edmonton broke the scoreless deadloock with 35 seconds left in the opening frame as the rebound from a Martin Marincin point shot came to Gagner in the blue paint and he hooked a backhand shot past Predators goalie Pekka Rinne. Maury Wills Jersey. It was just Gagners eighth goal of the season. The Preds came close to tying the game four minutes into the second, but a Nick Spaling shot rang off the post. Edmonton made it a 2-0 game eight minutes into the second as Eberle made a long cross-ice pass through traffic on the power play to Nugent-Hopkins, who wrested a shot that went off the tip of Rinnes glove and in. It was the 16th goal of the season for Nugent-Hopkins, breaking a 15-game scoreless drought. The Oilers took a three-goal lead on a bit of an unusual play with five minutes left in the second period as Hall took a backhand golf swing of a shot that found the top corner and quickly exited the net. Play continued for 1:17 before the Oilers took a penalty and they were able to review the shot and determine it was a goal. "I thought I saw the net bulge," Hall said. "The ref was standing right there with a really good vantage point and I thought if it was in that he would have seen it. It was a weird shift keeping going after that when you think you have scored and you are just hoping for a whistle to blow to see if you have a goal or not." Nashville got on the board with 1:21 remaining in the second as Hornqvist took the puck behind the net before hooking it in front to Bourque, who sent a shot through traffic to beat Fasth. Edmonton made it 4-1 eight-and-a-half minutes into the third period with another power-play goal. Anton Lander picked up his first point of the season on a nice feed to Eberle at the side of the net as he lifted a backhand shot that ticked off of Rinne and in. Eberle scored his second goal of the game just 1:23 later, breaking into the Nashville zone with speed and scoring his 23rd of the season on a low backhand shot. "We have been trying to get some confidence in little things and tonight we started to bear down and found some ways to score, especially on the power play," Eberle said. "It definitely gives you some confidence and it was nice to get out of the hole there." Rinne was replaced by backup Carter Hutton for the remainder of the game. The Predators play the second match of their four-game road trip in Vancouver on Wednesday night. The Oilers welcome the Buffalo Sabres for the second game of their six-game homestand on Thursday. Notes: It was the third and final meeting of the season between Edmonton and Nashville. The Oilers also won the two previous games by a combined score of 8-1a Including the Nashville game, 10 of Edmontons final 13 games are at homea Edmonton goalie Viktor Fasth made his home debut in net for the Oilers after being acquired the day before the trade deadline from the Anaheim Ducksa Predators defenceman Roman Josi entered the game with four assists in his previous three games. ... Nashville had no reported injuries for the gamea Edmonton forward Jesse Joensuu (ankle) is likely out for the remainder of the season, as is defenceman Anton Belov (partially torn oblique)a Edmonton forward Nail Yakupov was a late scratch with an ankle problem after taking the pre-game skate. The Oilers dressed seven defencemen in his absencea Oiler forward Matt Hendricks left the game with a leg injury after blocking a Shea Weber shot and did not return. ' ' '