Gonzalo Higuain 'soiled himself' in 2014 World Cup final, claims former Argentina coach

Former Argentina coach Alfio Basile has blamed Gonzalo Higuain for their 2014 World Cup final defeat by Germany.

The then-Napoli striker was sent clean through on goal in the first half at the Maracana but fired a snap shot wide before having a goal disallowed for offside.

Mario Gotze went on to score the winning goal in extra time as Germany sealed their fourth triumph on the world stage.

And in the veteran coach's autobiography, titled 'Generacion Lio', he does not hold back in his criticism of the Juventus hot shot in that game.

'Of all the players, the one that was most singled out by the people for blame was Gonzalo Higuain.

'They do not want him in their squad because when that World Cup is remembered, the chance he missed at the start is what cost us the title.

'The truth is that it's difficult to explain what happened to him, because suddenly he was unmarked, had the ball at his feet and was 20 metres from goal with every option open to him and could place the ball anywhere, but instead the mist descended and he fired it wide.

'It's not good to say that he soiled himself, but that's basically what happened. He was weighed down by the responsibility of realising he was about to score the goal that gave Argentina the World Cup and would gain immortality.'