Germany damages its World Cup trophy during team celebrations
It took the Germans a month of grueling matches to win the World Cup, but it took them only about a week to damage their coveted trophy.
The 2014 tournament winners chipped off a piece of their replica World Cup trophy during wild celebrations in the aftermath of their 1-0 extra-time win against Argentina, Wolfgang Niersbach, president of the German Football Assn., told German newspaper Die Welt.
The real, 18-karat gold World Cup trophy, which the German players celebrated with immediately after their win over Argentina, remains safe and unharmed at FIFA headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland.
It is unclear exactly who damaged the gold-plated trophy, Niersbach said.
“We have researched persistent and investigative, but the investigation was terminated without result,” said Niersbach, translated, to Die Welt.
Mario Goetze scored the World Cup final’s single goal 23 minutes into extra time giving Germany a title it has been chasing for 24 years.
The current World Cup trophy replaced the famous Jules Rimet trophy after it was permanently given in 1970 to Brazil after they won the tournament for a third time.
Follow @theryanparker for breaking news
Get our high school sports newsletter
Prep Rally is devoted to the SoCal high school sports experience, bringing you scores, stories and a behind-the-scenes look at what makes prep sports so popular.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
