He materialized out of nowhere, maybe not from the dugout of the German national football team that had been feared for its unforgiving regimented style of play.
A sweet-faced substitute wearing a baby beard stole his way between two frantic Argentinian chasers, collected a pass with his chest, and scored on a winged attack from the left of the box to win the World Cup for Germany, 1-0, over Argentina in Brazil Monday.
The golden goal came during the extra period, the 113th minute of the grinding final match, seven minutes away from a prospective penalty shootout.
* * *
Mario Goetze, 22, was praised for his calm and composure.
The shot was also called a product of perfect technique.
Great, indeed, but what apparently escaped the naked eye was the daredeviltry, the prodigious leap that helped the silent substitute score from a precarious angle.
Goetze was both cool and precise.
But he, above all, was magically creative.
* * *
Goetze, in fact, stood out as a fresh curiosity in the normally dry, mechanical German team set-up.
Anyway, at its perplexing best, it could seem that some unseen hand had plucked Goetze from somewhere up there and placed him in the right place at the right time.
It’s odd though because, if there was a team that could most likely benefit from faith or some unseen hand, it should be Argentina, mother nation of the well-loved Pope Francis.
For the record, not a few kibitzers had been overheard to wonder if the Pope, who had been rumored contemplating on possibly attending the World Cup Final, would also try “his Hotline to Heaven.”
* * *
Seriously, if Goetze did appear out of the ordinary, it must be traced to what German coach Joachim Loew had been claiming ahead of the championship about the complete transition for a group of emerging players.
“Ominously, match winner Goetze symbolized the next generation of German players that coach Loew declared would dominate for years to come,” the BBC noted.
That symbolic style, faintly German, was visibly thick with the magical Latino element patented by Pele for Brazil and next by Maradona for Argentina.
It could not be determined if coach Loew, once the record revelry subsides, would dare inject that pervasive ingredient permanently into the emerging breed of German winners.