Germany printed 5 million victory stamps before World Cup final even started (PHOTO)

Germany printed five million stamps commemorating their fourth World Cup title before the final against Argentina even started on Sunday.

The 60-cent stamps are due to go on sale this week after the first commemorative copies are offered to the players and staff.

While this bold decision ended up being a supreme example of German confidence (vertrauen), it could have been a regrettable embarrassment (peinlich) for the Deutsche Post. 

If Germany had lost the final, the stamps would have had to be pulped.

The stamps were ordered by Germany's Finance Ministry, which holds 21 per cent of Deutsche Post's shares through the state-owned KfW bank.

"This year I dared to hope very early on that our team would take the title," Finance Minister Wolfgang Scaeuble told AFP after understandably sweating out the extended play victory.

"It's wonderful that the team turned this dream into a reality. I hope that this stamp will remind many citizens of the immense joy the team has given us."

Argentina goalie kept crib notes on opponents in shorts before penalty kicks (VIDEO)

Argentina's win over the Netherlands Wednesday night in Sao Paulo apparently didn't just come down to the luck of the spot-kick. Goalkeeper Sergio Romero was reportedly able to guess correctly for two of Holland's penalty kicks in the 4-2 shootout win after suspiciously pulling out what looked like crib notes from his shorts before each of his opponent's kicks.

The pieces of paper Romero pulled from his own nether regions between each penalty kick reportedly had data on his opponent's scoring tendencies and helped the goalkeep make saves against Holland's Aston Villa's Ron Vlaar and Wesley Sneijder for the victory, according to the Daily Mail. 

The 27-year-old put the notes back down his shorts as he prepared to guess the correct direction of his opponent's kicks in each showdown. 

Romero's helpful cheat sheet paid off and put Argentina into their first World Cup final in 24 years with a 4-2 shootout win. 

Argentina scored all four penalties to earn a place in the World Cup final against Germany in the Maracana Stadium on Sunday.

And Romero didn't even have to study.

Argentina To Face Brazil In Soccer Match at MetLife Stadium

Argentina's national soccer team will play an exhibition game against Brazil at MetLife Stadium this spring.

The June 9 match-up pits Brazil— the sixth-ranked team in the world— against 10th-ranked Argentina which is led by Lionel Messi.

Yesterday, Messi was awarded the FIFA Golden Ball as soccer's best player in the world.  It was the third year in a row the Argentine player received the honor.  FIFA is the sports international governing body.

It is likely that Messi, who faced the U.S. with the Argentina team on March 26 at MetLife Stadium, will return for the game against Brazil.

Brazil faced the U.S. in a friendly in August 2010 after the World Cup.

Argentina will also play exhibitions against Saudi Arabia, Switzerland and Germany, according to the team's website.  A statement by the team did not say which players would participate in the matches.

International soccer matches at MetLife  Stadium have been huge draws in the tri-state area over the past few years.  This friendly should be unique and another big time attraction.

Mike Lamping, chief executive officer of the company that oversees MetLife Stadium, had no comment.

The East Rutherford, N.J. stadium is also hosting the Super Bowl in 2014.