Germany 1 – 1 Argentina
(Germany win 4-2 on penalties)
Plenty of people were looking forward to this being the match of the tournament, but it never really lived up to the hype. The quality of football was still pretty impressive, but both teams had replaced some of their full-blooded attacking spirit with an element of defensive caution, resulting in a more typical World Cup quarter final. Germany, in particular, looked a lot more solid at the back than they have done so far, with Mertesacker pulling off some cool-headed clearances under pressure. The speculative shooting wasn’t so much in evidence, but when Miroslav Klose is on such reliable form, why worry?
To be honest (and putting aside any traditional English prejudices) I think the tournament is poorer for losing either of these teams. I never thought I’d say that after Germany’s shaky start, but they’ve turned into an exciting team to watch. And I never, EVER thought I’d say that! Argentina have never quite matched the visual appeal of their performance against Serbia & Montenegro, but I’m sure they were good enough to win the competition. Unfortunately, they join a long line of World Cup also-rans (mostly consisting of Holland, it would seem) who had all the ability but none of the luck.
Like Germany, Italy are gradually finding their feet as the tournament progresses, in stubborn contrast to the scandal and tragedy back home. Reducing Ukraine to just a handful of meaningful attacks, Italy pulled out their best performance yet. Fabio Cannavaro, faultless at centre-back, was once again the key to the clean sheet, but Gianluca Zambrotta deserves to be in the reckoning for man of the match, for his ability to switch between lightning fast wing play and solid defending. And for us Fiorentina fans, it was great to see Luca Toni finally break his duck with two goals in ten minutes. Keep going, Luca, and I might not look such an arse for tipping you for the Golden Boot…
Was this a proper classic Italy performance or were they simply flattered by a particularly clueless Ukraine side? Ukraine certainly seemed to have regressed to something almost as bad as their form against Spain in the opening match. We won’t know for sure until Tuesday’s semi-final. Germany/Sweden… hang on to your hats!
Great football yesterday. I’d still rather face Germany than Argentina, though I watched the game as a passive.
Italy do seem to be hitting their stride, though as far as Ukraine go, “one man do not maketh a team”.
Did we ever find out why the violence flared on-pitch after the German/Argentinian game?
All I could see was that Heinze was really pissed off and that Oliver Bierhoff (weird to see him in a suit rather than a Milan kit) was trying to calm everyone down. The BBC has a more complete view HERE.
I believe Argentina had upper hand throughout the game, taking nothing away from Germans, But injury to goal keeper led to drastic measures from Pekerman who had to replace playmaker Requilme with defender Cambiasso, not having room to introduce neither Ayala nor Messi and that led to their downfall. And when it came to penalties you need support in those moments and Germans had support of 70k plus people…. and that says it all.
Yeah, it was a shame Pekerman didn’t get the chance to bring Messi on… I think his style of play could have worked well against the German defence. Good point about the German support during the penalties, too… I hate to imagine what it’s like trying to take a penalty with all those people whistling and booing at you.