Germany and Argentina were training for the World Cup final Friday.
With just over 48 hours to go before Sunday’s showpiece at the Maracana Stadium, both finalists were at their respective base camps wrapping up preparing to head to Rio de Janeiro.
The final is the latest in a series of World Cup encounters between Germany and Argentina which includes the 1986 and 1990 finals.
German team manager Oliver Bierhoff said he had warned his players to keep cool if tempers fray in the Maracana.
“The Argentinians are very warm people and great hosts, but on the pitch they have a bit of a personality change and get fired up,” said Bierhoff.
“They have fire in their eyes, which we will have to be ready for and not provoke them.
“They play hard, aggressive physical football, which means we can’t steer away from our football philosophy and must focus on what we have to do.”
Bierhoff said the Germans were preparing for a tougher challenge than their 7-1 thrashing of Brazil in the semi-finals.
“It will be a different game compared to the semi-final, they defend deep, leave little space to run into and wait for (Lionel) Messi to show a moment of magic,” said Bierhoff.
“We have to play our own game, run the extra mile and not give them the space they need.”
Argentina trained behind closed doors on Friday as they readied to head for Rio, where an estimated army of 100,000 Argentine fans have traveled ahead of Sunday’s clash
