Precision defending and quickfire raid

A third goal for Deutschland from Friedrich and it's game over for Argentina

Team Deutschland found themselves up against another major footballing nation and this time they were a much better deal than the English. Argentina has performed rather well in the tournament so far by winning all their games and defying the critics regarding the managing style of its enigmatic manager, Maradona. The atmosphere prior to kickoff was electricfying as both sides started to play mind games by mudslinging each other in the media. The Germans started the ball rolling by pointing out that the Argies were sore losers while the South Americans accused their European opponents of dishing out a lack of respect. The Argentinians were still agitated over the way they had lost to the Germans 4 years ago and were determined to make amends this time. It is a tight call but somehow before the match, I just had the feeling that the German tactical organisation would triumph again on a shabby plan of play Maradona had for his team. It is a well known fact that Maradona is no believer of tactics and he has even tell his players like Messi to do anything that he thinks fit on the field because that was the kind of freedom he wanted even when he was a player. As such, Argentina's victory as of far could only be attributed to the individual flair and talent and not the management skills of the coach.

This is quite unexpected but Deutschland stormed to a superb start within the first few minutes. Schweinsteiger delivered a superb free kick cross into the box which Mueller connected with a diving header. 4 goals now for the young lad whom many did not take notice before this World Cup. There were individual glimpses of Messi's brilliance in the first half but none of them could result in a goal. The Germans looked more likely the one to score the second goal in the first half but a glorious missed chance by Klose denied them the oppportunity. It was a narrow lead that the Germans held on with 1-0 at half-time. The second half saw a more desperate Argentinian side as they launch barrage after barrage of attacks and pinning the Germans in their own half. However, the Germans held their ground and in the 67th minute, a determined Mueller refused to let his fallen body hinder the opportunity to release the ball to Podolski who duly passed the ball to Klose for an easy finish. Kudos to the superb teamwork display and unselfish play there. The Germans had the time of their lives again at the 73rd minute when Schweinsteiger slither and waltz past several defenders (attackers actually..lol, how did Higuain and Di Maria ended up trying to close down Schweini instead of the defenders?). Schweini finished off his move by passing it to Friedrich to apply yet another cool easy finishing. To send Argentina in the dumps, a counter attacking move in the late minutes of the game enabled Klose to raise his tally 14 World Cup goals, equalling Gerd Mueller's record and one shy of Ronaldo.

The scoreline was just mind-blowing. Neither Michael Ballack nor Angela Merkel would have thought that such a scoreline was possible but it happened. The Argentinians were made to look like amateurs in the face of cold, hard clinical finishing of the Germans. It's not just their finishing that's impressive. I would say that their defensive is top-notch precision as they intercepted balls in a timely fashion and the tackles were cleanly executed. Ball distribution was wisely done in that eventhough they had less time in possession, they made sure that their passes count. In facing such organised gameplay from the Germans, Maradona's slipshot approach to tactics management and organisation was exposed. Individual talent fell short as the Argies ran out of ideas in breaking down the solid German defence that seems to be impenetrable. On the other hand, the Argentinian defence failed to organise themselves well and I lost count of the number of times where Lahm could crept up unmarked and unapposed down the right wing and had a free cross into the box. Schweini was particularly outstanding in pulling the strings as the midfield playmaker/general with his 2 assists and deservedly so named as man-of-the-match. He may not be free-scoring as he did like in the past, but his holding midfield role nevertheless ensured that the ball distribution to the attackers is in top condition. The class of 2006 is showing maturity over here.

The Germans clearly did their homework in restricting their opponent's talisman Messi either on the wingside or have him shoot outside the box. The calmness and composure displayed by the Germans whenever they needed to get rid of the ball out of their own half deserves applause and it was the same calmness that enabled them to aim accurately for the killing blow. The performance of Deutschland in this match echoes ever more resoundingly that there's no 'I' but the star player is actually the whole team collectively working as a unit with clear communication and understanding with each other. The way they are passing the ball seems to show that they are not desperate for personal glory but are happy to let their better positioned teammates to seal the deal. To provide a total 4-0 demolition job of an Argentinian team that seemed to be on high morale is no ordinary feat and they have indeed deserved their spot in the semi-finals for the wonderful football that they play.

Der Mannshaft had indeed exceeded everyone's expectation on how far they would go and now the only team that stands in their way for the final berth is Spain, their opponent from the European final in 2008. I think that Deutschland would have a better chance this time considering that the Spanish weren't playing their best football around in this tournament especially with Torres misfiring and the majority of the deliverance of goods depended solely on David Villa who had rescued them time and time again from the past two knockout matches by scoring the winning goal. Deutschland on the whole, I would say, would be the more complete team but questions are raised in that one possible weakeness is that the inability to score first for Deutschland may be damaging for their morale as shown by the Serbia match. Nevertheless, after observing Spain in their match against Paraguay, I would say that while the attacking range of talent is impressive, Deutschland may just expose the lack of speed in the backline 4, especially Puyol who looked like he's gonna struggle like Matthew Upson in keeping up with the speedy German counterttacking moves. Here's hoping that Deutschland would turn out triumphant to have another chance at being Weltmeister :)