IF CHRIST the Redeemer could have covered his eyes then he surely would have done.
Argentina fans made the presence known in Rio de Janeiro to see their team take on Germany[GETTY]At the base of the 13-storey high statue were scores of Argentinians and they were making one hell of a racket.
They had flags wrapped around their heads, were clad head to toe in blue and white and had one song to sing, again and again, despite the fact that it was only 10am on the morning of the World Cup final.
Blue Moon Rising has been Argentina's anthem during this tournament but the words are rather different.
'Brasil, decime que se siente' is the chorus - 'Brazil, tell me how it goes'.
Except now they sing siete rather than siente. So from the highest vantage point in Rio De Janeiro, perhaps the most famous landmark in the world, Argentina's fans were asking, 'Brazil, tell me how it's seven?'
That reference to the 7-1 mauling Brazil suffered at the hands of Germany in the semi-final will resonate through history and Argentina were not going to allow their neighbours to forget about it easily.
Germany supporters were loud despite being vastly outnumbered by Argentinians [REUTERS]In some ways, this has felt as much like Argentina's World Cup as Brazil. They have crossed the border in huge numbers - 150,000 in Porto Alegre for the game against Argentina, 175,000 for the two games they played in Sao Paulo.
While there was always a doubt over the Brazilian team, Argentina have long been convinced this would be their tournament and that they would inflict another Maracanazo on their hosts - winning the World Cup at the home of Brazilian football.
Yet there were some who thought all that rivalry would be put to one side for the final.
"I genuinely believe Brazilians want the World Cup to stay in South America and they will be supporting Argentina," a leading Argentinean journalist said this week and for much of the build-up it seemed that would be the case.
The driver of the old train that winds up the mountain to Christ the Redeemer was clad in an Argentine shirt. The ticket inspectors at Flamengo Metro station were wearing cheap replica Argentina kits with 'Messi 10' emblazoned on the back.
Perhaps there was a sense of South American kinship, of a desire to keep the trophy in the southern hemisphere.
That notion was knocked into touch as soon as Argentina ran out for their warm-up. The boos were deafening, Brazilian fans forming a bond with the team that had thrashed them in the semi-final.
A number of supporters in Selecao kits queued outside the ground to have their faces painted with the German flag. There were no split loyalties here and it felt like Argentina against the world.
When it came down to it, seeing Lionel Messi lift the World Cup at the Maracana was perhaps too much to bear. Uruguay were the villains in 1950, beating Brazil in the final and they could not bear for Argentina to do it this time.
When Gonzalo Higuain thought he had given Argentina the lead, half of the stadium went wild. When they saw it had been disallowed, the Brazilians joined the Germans in vociferous celebrations.
The Germans certainly welcomed the support. They were outnumbered by at least 10-to-one but in this vast, cavernous bowl they made themselves heard.
Indeed, this German side are rather like the Maracana; from the outside not much to look at, but something that ends up taking your breath away, a genuine achievement of both style and substance.
The best way to describe them is clinical, a team that has taken advantage of the key weakness in every opponent, most notably when they scored four goals in six minutes against Brazil as David Luiz, Dante and the rest lost their minds.
And although we think of them as the ultimate tournament team, their fans were not afraid to point out that they have not won anything since 1996, with their last World Cup coming six years previously.
Yet they are a team rather than a man. In many ways, this final was all about Messi. Four man-of-the-match awards out of six and a chance to ensure he will be remembered in the same manner as Diego Maradona was a wonderful undercurrent to a game that genuinely seemed too close to call beforehand.
There has been a sense that Messi has simply decided to make this his tournament, to prove to the Argentine people once and for all that he is one of them. Until 2012 there was a sense that Messi was more Spanish than Argentinian, a player who wanted to follow in the footsteps of Xavi than Maradona.
He has emphatically proven that nothing could be further from the truth.
And as we enjoyed a final that split loyalties in the Maracana almost perfectly down the middle, even Christ the Redeemer will know he has some competition.
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