German fans Simon Dittmar, Markus Mutscheller, and Jens and Kirstin Glass, were hardly about to gloat, although they savoured every minute before those final parting words from Maracana Stadium before settling down to the last cup breakfast of sauerkraut and german sausages.
Mr Dittmar wanted to thank the "Argentinian guys," and the boss at Wynand Masonry for being a bit relaxed about when he might have to be at work.
It seemed so much a Kiwi way of doing things, as if it were a couple of captains doing the honours in the clubrooms on a Saturday afternoon.
There is, however, passion behind the scene, as both Mr Mutscheller and Jens Glass reveal, although neither have been to a World Cup game.
Mr Mutscheller has watched all three of his country's World Cup wins in his lifetime, the first by West Germany in 1974 as a 12-year-old schoolboy in his home town of Isny, when the game was about an hour away in Munich.
"My family didn't have a TV, I watched at a friend's place," he said, before providing the first evidence of his recall of every goal his teams have scored in the series of cup triumphs.
"Oh, I've also seen them lose every time," he notes, to be fair.
"Today," he said, "it could have gone either way, this match.
"Sometimes it just comes down to luck. That's the drama of football."
Jens Glass, his wife beside him excitedly "skyping" and texting back home, has all the "books" from the World Cups, and remembers the 1974 1-0 win over the Netherlands, and 1990s 1-0 win over Argentina as if they were yesterday.
At the Provincial Hotel in Napier's CBD, it was quiet.
The Chatham Islands-Irish-Polish barman in his Argentine shirt showing the only sign of nerves as he ducked outside for a smoke at 0-0 with 30 minutes of ordinary time to go.
Across the road, taxi drivers chatted, observing it was rather quiet business for just after 8am on a Monday morning.
"Everyone's at home watching the game," said one. Editorial, p12 World cup wrap, p32, 33, 36
