World Cup triumph could spark era of German dominance in football

Germany has a thing about denying Argentina glory. They did it to Maradona in 1990, and they have now done it to Messi.

The Mannschaft won their fourth world cup - only the third country to do so - and stamped its authority over the world of football.

When Spain won the world cup- and before it the Euro- it saw an era of tiki-taka dominance which mesmerised the world till they were cruelly forced off the throne by a determined Dutch team.

Now, Germany are on the verge of something similar.

Before the final Joachim Loew spoke about the future.

"We can play on top of the world for a good number of years, with some young players coming in to reinforce the team."

Loew knows what he is talking about. It was never about just this world cup. It is about capturing the pinnacle of world football and then staying there.

Goetze, Schurrle, Kroos, Hummels, Ozil are at their peak and could play two more world cups.

With the Bundesliga churning out a steady stream of local talent to feed the national team, Germany has exciting times ahead.

The foundations for this success were laid more than a decade back. The team that was started to be put together in 2000, reached the 2002 world cup final. In 2009 the Mannschaft won the 2009 European Under-21 Championship in Sweden beating England 4-0.

That team boasted of some young stars. Hummels, Howedes, Jerome Boateng, goalkeeper Neuer, Mesut Ozil and Sami Khedira. More names have joined the bunch - Toni Kroos, Thomas Mueller, Goetze, Ilkay Gundogan, Schurrle, Marco Reus and the twins Lars and Sven Bender. It is this 14 years of planning which has seen Germany dominate in Brazil.

After the match, as a few fans remained in the Maracana, Lukas Podolski stood in goal. His son Louis Podolski wearing full German kit, took penalty shots. Podolski dived this way and that denying his son the simple pleasure of seeing the ball hit the back of the net. The future of German football, it seems, is in safe hands.