Sports News of Saturday, 12 July 2014

Source: goal.com

Muller: Argentina will be out for revenge

Thomas Muller has warned Germany that Argentina will be desperate to atone for back-to-back quarter-final defeats against his side by winning on Sunday.

Die Mannschaft secured a 4-0 victory over the South Americans in the last eight of the 2010 South Africa World Cup after attaining a 4-2 win on penalties over them at the same stage in the 2006 tournament in Germany.

Muller stressed that Argentina would be especially keen to avoid a third failure in as many World Cups against his team, adding that all Germany's previous wins would quickly be forgotten if they finished as runners up on Sunday.

"That makes the task more difficult," the 24-year-old told the Times of India when questioned on Germany's recent successes against la Albiceleste.

"They will be more eager to make it count in the most important match of the World Cup. And if they can win it, nobody will remember what we did in the previous two tournaments.

"In fact, the final is such a match where if you lose, people will not remember what we did in the previous match, too! It's always a nothing-but-win match and, again, we are preparing ourselves in the best way possible.

"Germany did not reach the final of a World Cup since 2002. Twelve years is quite long for Germany, not to be in another final. We reached the semi-finals of the last two editions but were eliminated there.

"So, we all were quite anxious to reach the summit this time. And we are glad we did it."

Muller is also looking to achieve a personal milestone and add to the Golden Boot he won in South Africa by becoming the top scorer in Brazil, currently sitting one goal behind James Rodriguez's tally of six.

"It is always satisfying to score goals and contribute to the team's cause," the Bayern Munich forward said.

"At the same time, it is not only about scoring goals, it's all about winning for the nation.

"Yes, it gives me immense pleasure whenever I score, especially in the World Cup. If anybody would have said that I would score five and receive the Golden Boot in South Africa, I would not have believed it."

Argentina and Germany face each other in the World Cup final at the Maracana on Sunday, the third time they have met at this stage of the competition.