With Mikel Merino, Martin Zubimendi and David Raya plotting a way to beat a Lionel Messi-inspired Argentina in the World Cup final, they can take solace in the fact that eight years ago, another trio of Gunners did just that and returned to north London as world champions.
In 2014, Mesut Ozil, Per Mertesacker and Lukas Podolski were all part of the Germany squad that went all the way, lifting the trophy at the iconic Maracana after a famous run to the final that saw them dispatch the hosts, Brazil, 7-1 in the semi-final.
That set up a showdown with Messi’s Argentina, a repeat of the 1990 final, and the result went the same way, with Germany clinching a 1-0 win after extra time. That allowed our three stars to follow in the footsteps of Emmanuel Petit, Patrick Vieira and Cesc Fabregas in being Gunners who clinched the biggest prize in the game.
Since then, no Arsenal player has managed to get their hands on the famous gold trophy, but now our Spanish cohort can add their names to an exclusive club.
Back in 2014, Ozil started the showpiece occasion in Rio de Janeiro, and played 119 minutes before being replaced by Mertesacker late on. Six minutes beforehand, substitute Mario Gotze took down an Andre Schurrle pass and powered a shot into the net to ultimately settle the final and give Germany their fourth title.
The three would later share their experiences of reaching football’s pinnacle with Arsenal.com, and have plenty of words of wisdom for Mikel, Martin and David as they hope to be the ones whose dreams come true on Sunday.
“The moment when the final whistle was blown was difficult to understand,” Metersacke recalled in 2017. “To realise you are a world champion, you are actually on the pitch at the end. It seems very surreal to me, but it’s one of the best moments in my football career.
“You don’t know how to celebrate or with who, it’s just to let the emotions sink into yourself. It’s very difficult. You know what’s going to happen, but realising it takes years.
“The trophy is quite heavy, but everyone has got his moment. Everyone was lifting it and cheering for the guys. It explained how the team worked and functioned, so that was a huge team effort. Everyone had his moment with his hand on the World Cup trophy.”
“You don’t really take it in at first, even in the days after,” Ozil reflected in 2014. “As children, the whole team dreamt of that moment. You want to win the biggest tournament in the world and when you have the opportunity to do that, everything must fit. That’s happened with us.
“When I had the trophy in my hands, there were lots of emotions because you develop and work for four years – first to qualify and then to be at the tournament. But the feeling of winning it was incredible.
“We were all respectful of one another and we knew what we could do. We had fun and had many great experiences in Brazil. That makes our success sweeter.”
While he didn’t get on in the final, Podolski was a key part of the team throughout the previous decade, having been beaten in the semi-finals in 2006 and 2010.
“You don’t believe it [when you hold the trophy aloft],” he told us not long after returning to N5 that summer. “I always enjoy looking at the pictures and videos, but when you stand there with the cup, it’s something special. It’s amazing.
“As a child, you looked at other World Cups and the players who won it. Now we have done it, and that’s special and amazing. You don’t have words for it.
“We were together for eight weeks but we stuck together as a team, and that was the key reason for winning the World Cup. We were a team and won it as a team.”
