by Michelle Jones

They have failed to light up the tournament but Argentina have made it to the 2014 World Cup Finals.

It took a very dull 120 minutes and penalties but they saw off Holland in the semi-finals and are now one game away from being crowned world champions.

From their opening game against Bosnia and Herzegovina, it has been about just doing enough to win the game.

Manager Alejandro Sabella has set out his side to keep things tight at the back and wait for Lionel Messi to produce a moment of magic to win the game.

It is likely that Sabella will do the same in the final, especially after watching Germany easily put seven past Brazil, and will rely even more on the Barcelona forward to swing the game in favour of La Albiceleste.

Messi has had to be at his best to drag this side to the finals and he will need to do it once again tomorrow if they are to lift the World Cup for the third time.

It shouldn’t be this way though. They have the attacking talent that most teams can only dream about. 

Sergio Aguero, Angel di Maria, Gonzalo Higuain and Ezequiel Lavezzi are all world-class attackers but have failed to show it on a regular basis this tournament.

If they are to defeat Germany, Argentina will need at least one of that group of players to stand up and be counted while hoping that Javier Mascherano, Ezequiel Garay and Pablo Zabaleta can put in one final impressive defence display and stop the likes of Thomas Muller and Miroslav Klose. 

All the talk before the start of the tournament was if Messi could emulate Diego Maradona on the world stage and add the one trophy missing from his cabinet. 

And it just so happens that the last time Argentina lifted the World Cup, Maradona captained the side to a 3-2 victory over West Germany in 1986.

Four years later and Maradona was unable to prevent his side from losing to West Germany as they lost 1-0 in the final.

At the last World Cup in South Africa, Messi was helpless as Germany ran riot  in a 4-0 victory.

But if the Argentinian number 10 can push the team over the line tomorrow night, he will surely go down as the greatest player of all time to grace the world stage.