DFB president Wolfgang Niersbach has confessed that the cup given to them this summer by FIFA did not survive the team's victory celebrations unscathed The chief of Germany's football association (DFB) has revealed that one of the team's triumphant players has damaged their World Cup trophy. Joachim Low's men defeated Argentina 1-0 in the final after extra-time to win the inter-continental tournament for the fourth time in their history, following on from 1954, 1974 and 1990 victories.
The Mannschaft were welcomed home from Brazil to jubilant scenes and toured Berlin with the trophy during midweek, however, they may have celebrated a little bit too hard as their World Cup trophy has been damaged by an unknown member of the Germany team. "At one point, a small piece of our World Cup trophy was chipped off," DFB president Wolfgang Niersbach is quoted by Die Welt as saying. "But do not worry! We have specialists on the case who can fix it. "We have investigated persistently who it was that damaged the trophy, but the investigation was concluded without a result."
Luckily for Germany, the cup they have been given by Fifa is just a replica of the World Cup trophy they were presented with at the Maracana on July 13, which is estimated to be worth over €10 million. Fifa - it would seem wisely - tends not to trust football associations with the trophy after the original World Cup award, the Jules Rimet trophy, had a history of being a target for thieves before being stolen for good in 1983 from Brazil.

The Golden Boot recipient at Brazil 2014 has picked up another accolade, this time for his sublime effort in his country's last-16 win over the Celeste James Rodriguez's first strike in Colombia's 2-0 World Cup win over Uruguay has been voted goal of the tournament, ahead of Robin van Persie's headed equaliser for Netherlands in their 5-1 win over Spain. The Monaco star who is expected to complete his €88 million move to Real Madrid this week controlled a looped header from Juan Cuadrado with his chest before turning and volleying home via the underside of the crossbar from 20 yards out to give Jose Pekerman's men the lead after 28 minutes of play. James doubled his tally with a tap-in from close range after the break to help Colombia to a quarter-final meeting with Brazil, which they would eventually lose 2-1. The 23-year-old was one of the undisputed stars of the tournament and netted six goals in five games to scoop up the Golden Boot award ahead of Germany forward Thomas Muller. James becomes the third successive South American winner of the goal of the World Cup award, which is organised by Fifa's official website, with Argentina’s Maxi Rodriguez having triumphed in 2006 and Diego Forlan collecting the trophy four years later.

As the World Cup finals come closer, Fifa has also announced the list of the final ten player contending for the Golden Ball award.For this year, Fifa has counted in Lionel Messi and Neymar on a 10-player list of candidates to be named the World Cup's best player. Seven out of the 10 players for the Golden Ball come from this year's finalists, Argentina and Germany. The winner will announced after Sunday's final. Argentina has three of the ten candidates namely: Messi, Angel di Maria, and Javier Mascherano. On the other hand, Germany has four including: Mats Hummels, Toni Kroos, Philipp Lahm, and Thomas Muller.
Nevertheless, the hosts provided one candidate in the face of Neymar, though he has been ruled out of the tournament early due to his injury. Another semifinalist who made it into the list is Netherlands' Arjen Robben, although they have been defeated by the Albiceleste in the semifinals. There is no surprise, too that James Rodríguez of Colombia, the tournament's top scorer with six goals, is included in the list, even though their team has been defeated by Brazil just in their quarterfinals.
Golden Ball:
Thomas Muller, Toni Kroos, Philipp Lahm, Mats Hummels (all Germany), Lionel Messi, Javier Mascherano, Angel Di Maria (all Argentina), Neymar (Brazil), Arjen Robben (Holland), James Rodriguez (Colombia) Best Young Player:
Memphis Depay (Holland), Paul Pogba, Raphael Varane (both France) 
Golden Glove:
Keylor Navas (Costa Rica), Sergio Romero (Argentina), Manuel Neuer (Germany)
The adidas Golden Ball winner is crowned as the best player for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. It will be decided by the Technical Study Group of FIFA.
It started in the 1982 FIFA World Cup. Some past winners include: Diego Forlan (2010), Zinedine Zidane (2006), Oliver Kahn (2002), Ronaldo (1998), Romario (1994), Salvatore Schillaci (1990), Diego Maradona (1986), and Paolo Rossi (1982).