[GERMANY-ARGENTINA] This World Cup’s most exciting team reassured us that attacking soccer pays off. The Germans scored 158 seconds after kickoff, never stoppedgoing forward, and routed Argentina 4-0 in Cape Town to advance to the semifinals.
What we liked …
— Germany reached the WorldCup semifinals for a record 12th time and for the second straight World Cup downed Argentina in the quarterfinals. On home soil in 2006, the Germans needed a penalty-kick tiebreaker. In South Africa,the Germans scored early when Bastian Schweinsteiger’s free kick was nodded home with a glancing header by Thomas Mueller. That left Coach DiegoMaradona’s team 87 minutes to recover, yet the Germans never let up, flying down the flanks with precise passing to set up easy finishes for Miroslav Klose (twice) anddefender Arne Friedrich, who had never scored for his country in nearly 80 appearances.
— Mueller, who scored twice against England in the round of 16, helped setup Germany’s second goal against Argentina. While on the ground, Mueller delivered a pass to Lukas Podolski, who sent a low ball through the area that found Klose in front of awide open net.
— Schweinsteiger is supposed to be a defensive midfielder, but he orchestrated Germany’s swift forays and he juked his way through the Argentine penalty area,evading three defenders, to set up Friedrich’s tap-in to make it 3-0 in the 74th minute. Mesut Ozil, who plays behind strikers Podolski and Klose, assured the Germans keptposition deep in Argentine territory and delivered the perfectly weighted cross that Klose side-footed past keeper Sergio Romero in the 89th minute to make it 4-0.
— Forthe third time this tournament, after a 4-0 win against Australia and a 4-1 victory over England, Germany scored four goals in a game. Its back-to-back four-goal games marked the first time a teamscored as many as four goals in both the round of 16 and quarterfinals.
— Klose’s two goals upped his total at this tournament to four and he is now tied with German GerdMueller with 14 goals on the all-time World Cup leading scorer list. Klose, who earned his 100th cap against Argentina, has two games to match or break Ronaldo’s record of 15.
What we didn’t like …
— Lionel Messi, coming off a season in which he scored 34 goals in Spain’s La Liga andeight in the Champions League for Barcelona, went scoreless for his country in five games at the World Cup. (German forwards Podolski and Klose have each scored more goals at this World Cup than theydid with their clubs in league play all last season.)
— The Albiceleste peppered the German goal with shots, especially early in the second half, and managed 20 shots to Germany’s 18.But the Argentine efforts were either wide, high or easily handled by Germany’s 24-year-old goalkeeper Manuel Neuer.
— In a dubious decision, referee RavshanIrmatov yellow-carded Mueller for a handball. Having been cautioned against England, Mueller will be suspended for the semifinal.
— The loss marked Argentina’s secondworst defeat in World Cup history after a 6-1 defeat by Czechoslovakia in the 1958 World Cup.
I guess Maradona needs a defense after all. Did Mascherrano happen to play in this game? I didn’t notice. If Argentina could get a point for each person they dribbled past, they would have won this game going away. Instead, Germany proved that, once again, a team beats a group of individuals every time.
I guess Maradona needs a defense after all. Did Mascherrano happen to play in this game? I didn’t notice. If Argentina could get a point for each person they dribbled past, they would have won this game going away. Instead, Germany proved that, once again, a team beats a group of individuals every time.
Maradona left out three powerhouse players in Cambiasso, Riquelme, and everyone’s favorite back Zanetti. You saw what happened to the right back in the game … he was non existant. Well done Maradona. Your decision making as a coach leave a lot to be desired. And bringing your son in law along for the ride was sickening. You let your country down. Well done. You may have been a good player, but a coach you are certainly not. And to run away in the middle of the night after all that smack talk … well that figures.
Maradona left out three powerhouse players in Cambiasso, Riquelme, and everyone’s favorite back Zanetti. You saw what happened to the right back in the game … he was non existant. Well done Maradona. Your decision making as a coach leave a lot to be desired. And bringing your son in law along for the ride was sickening. You let your country down. Well done. You may have been a good player, but a coach you are certainly not. And to run away in the middle of the night after all that smack talk … well that figures.