Argentina vs Germany – Match Preview
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Argentina will look to seek revenge over Germany in a quarter-final clash of two titans at the Green Point Stadium in Cape Town tonight.
La Albiceleste’s impressive 2006 FIFA World Cup run came to a halt in the last-eight encounter with Germany when the hosts suffocated Argentina’s flare before fashioning a late equaliser through Miroslav Klose – undoubtedly characteristic of the German style of play.
At 1-1, neither team could grab the required winner in extra-time leaving Die Mannschaft to go on and claim the spiteful clash 4-2 in penalties amid fiery scenes of a mêlée between both sides.
Nothing much has changed for Argentina in 2010.
Through diminutive playmakers in Lionel Messi and Carlos Tevez, Argentina has been producing entertaining end-to-end football which has brought about four convincing victories from its four matches.
Also, much of the thrilling build-up play has been finished off by Real Madrid striker, Gonzalo Higuain, who has four goals to his name, including a predatory hat-trick against South Korea in the group stages.
In Argentinean team news, there was a slight scare when Lionel Messi didn’t train with the rest of the group during the week.
However, unlike Inter Milan defender, Walter Samuel, Argentinean officials have stressed that he is only suffering from a common cold and will be fit to take on the Germans come Saturday.
Meanwhile, Germany has undergone plenty of change since its 2006 FIFA World Cup semi-final defeat to Italy.
The Europeans’ shift from grinding defensive stalwarts to swift counter-attacking specialists has resulted from the unearthing of youngsters, Mesut Oezil, Thomas Mueller and Sami Khedira.
As for Germany’s team news, Brazilian-born, Cacau, is expected to miss with an abdominal strain.
Also, Lukas Podolski has a slight muscle problem as the Germans have remained tight-lipped about his predicament; but the FC Cologne striker is expected to start against the Argentineans.
With the match anticipated to be evenly poised, both sides have resorted to mind games in the hope of putting off either opponent.
Unquestionably, the pre-match fireworks kicked off with Germany’s Bastian Schweinsteiger condemning Argentina’s lack of respect towards the referee claiming that the South Americans often gesticulate to the match officials in order to get their own way.
Diego Maradona responded to the criticism stating that the Argentineans are solely focused on seeking revenge for the quarter-final defeat four years ago and begged the question to Schweinsteiger in his attempt of a German accent, “are you nervous [about the prospect of facing the Argentineans]?”.
With a semi-final berth at stake, expect there to be plenty of feeling in this contest, which may again be separated by the odd goal.
Prediction: Argentina 2 – 1 Germany (AET).
Kick-off commences at 00:00 (AEST) on Sunday July 4.
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