Lionel Messi hasn't really lived up to his reputation: Peter Shilton

Did you think that Argentina would make it to the final?
Yes. I tipped them at the beginning of the tournament to win it. They have (Lionel) Messi, who is one of the three greatest players in the world. They have a strong team. In midfield, they have (Javier) Mascherano who would be in my team of the tournament. He controlled the game against Holland.

Messi wasn't allowed to play freely in the semifinal...
To be fair, I think that Messi hasn't really lived up to his reputation in this tournament. We've just seen flashes of him. He did score that goal against Switzerland. We've seen him score another couple of goals. I think against Holland he really struggled a bit. He didn't get space and lost the ball a couple of times. We're still waiting for that one great performance and hopefully, it'll be in the final. But at the same time, Germany are aware of the danger and they'll use similar tactics as the Netherlands.

Germany and Argentina have similar styles of playing. What can be the difference between them when they meet on Sunday?
The difference could be an individual goal or moment, say by (Thomas) Mueller or Messi, the star strikers for both sides. Actually any player could do something special. The goalkeepers making saves at the right time to keep their team in the game, or to win the game. You know there are so many things, but those two are big areas. Make goals or save goals. But ultimately, it's going to be team that's going to win the World Cup and not an individual. Germany have been a great team, but I think Argentina have been showing good teamwork. They work together, defend together and tackle together. Germany do the same, so I think it should be a fantastic game.

When you talk about Germany, you don't talk about an individual player as such, but somehow, Argentina seems to be about Messi...
You talk about Mueller, about (Toni) Kroos, (Mats) Hummels and even (Miroslav) Klose — he's 36, but he's still a goal scorer. Though people talk about Messi single-handedly winning it for Argentina, I don't think true. They've won their games as a team.

Germany have a great midfield, capable of upsetting any team. What tactics should Argentina use to contain them?
Germany have made mistakes in some games. Their saving grace was (Manuel) Neuer. He has been outstanding, especially in the game against Algeria. He was all over the place. He made good decisions to come out of his line when he could have been one-on-one if he didn't come out. He's made some terrific saves against France and I think they are just as good a team as Germany. France made a defensive error when they dropped deep to allow Hummels to get a close header in. The fact that Neuer has have to make saves means that the German defence isn't all that good. On the other hand, Argentina goalkeeper Romero has hardly been worked. And that means that Argentina have kept things much tighter. That's why I think Argentina have got a good chance.

At this World Cup, we've seen some great goalkeeping performances. You were one of the best goalkeepers. Can you describe the pressure of being a goalkeeper?
I've always said that as a goalkeeper, you can make five-six great saves and let one in that's a little bit dodgy, and you're just remembered for the mistake. Well a striker can miss four or five, but score one and he's a hero. As goalkeepers, you're in a position where you're judged more for the bad goals you've let it rather on the good saves you've made. But in this tournament, thankfully, there's been a lot of quality goalkeeping and some great saves and not too many errors.

Do you agree with Tim Krul's tactic of distracting the Costa Rican players as they came forward to take the penalty?
Well, that has gone on for many years. I thought that wasn't allowed any more and the referee would book the goalkeeper as that is against gamesmanship. But clearly it's still allowed. I thought it was against the rule. I'm not too sure. The referee told Krul to stop doing it. (Jasper) Cillessen tried to do it against Argentina. It didn't distract Argentina, but it did have a negative effect on the Costa Rican players

Do penalties favour the striker?
I think the pressure is on the striker. For a goalkeeper, you always want to save a penalty. Even if you don't, it's not as bad as missing a penalty.