That massive victory over Maradona's L'Albiceleste was Germany's third 4 goal victory: Australia, England, Argentina...perhaps España next?! There seems to be no stopping this talented team of youngsters as they power on through to the semis. This is the 12th time that Germany have reached the semis in 16 appearances in the World Cup. What a record.
As we advanced into the quarters it was looking to be a year to remember for the South American sides. There was at least 1 team representing that part of the world in each of the ties, but following Brazil's shock defeat against the Dutch on Friday, the pressure was on Argentina to try and progress further than their rivals. This was arguably, Argentina's biggest test of the tournament so far. They had passed through the group stages in relative comfort, without exerting any real effort and were able to see of Mexico fairly easily too after a little help from the assistant. Germany, had the more tougher of the group games, and as badly as England might have played, a tougher second-round knock-out tie.
Having seen the way England were, quite simply torn apart by a scintillating display, I expected Argentina to be a much tougher opposition. Their defence seemed to be a lot better than ours, and nothing more needs to be said about the calibre of their attacking forward players. However, I was soon made to think again as not even 5 minutes had passed before Germany got their first of the afternoon. At least England had managed to last longer than that. It was just a simple free kick that caught out the Argentinian defence. They lacked organisation and allowed not one, not two, but three German players to run away from them and get free but it was the impressive 20-year old, Mueller who headed in his first of the night and third of the tournament. The keeper, Romero, didn't cover himself in glory either as he only got half a palm to it. Argentina can have no complaints - they were quite simply poor in defending that free kick and Germany were already in the lead. It was a shock for the Argentinians but an amazing start for the Germans.
From that goal onwards, Argentina were on the backfoot for the best part of the first half. They struggled to get themselves into the game and involve the likes of Messi, Higuain and Tevez into the play. Not only were Germany great at going forward but they were also pretty solid at the back forcing the Argentinians to shoot from distance. Germany were comfortable in possession and passed with ease in midfield. There was no pressure from the Argentinians to get the ball back whereas Germany were quick to track back and hound the Argentinians as soon as they got the ball. Argentina were struggling and failed to get into any kind of rhythm. They were getting frustrated which only suited Germany more. Germany had clearly learnt from their mistakes at conceding those goals against England and had worked on them because they looked much better at the back.
Germany were so close in doubling their lead as Argentina left the back open, as they tried to equalise. Klose had the best chance when Mueller squared him the ball but he lashed the shot high and wasted the opportunity. Messi was seeing nothing of the ball as Schweinsteiger did his best to contain him and anytime he did get the ball, three Germans were immediately on him preventing him from working any kind of magic to get his side back in the game. It was only as half-time approached that Argentina began to knock harder with Higuain and Di Maria both forcing low saves from Neuer, who had largely been untroubled until then. Germany managed to see out that spell of Argentinian pressure and were probably glad to see half-time as Argentina were slowly beginning to impose themselves on the game and get themselves into some kind of rhythm. It seemed that it would only be a short while before Argentina scored to level things up.
Indeed, the second half began the same way the first half ended. Argentina were determined to give Germany a proper game and Germany just had their noses in front. There was a period of about 20 minutes in which Argentina pressurised...and pressurised hard. But Germany kept their cool, didn't panic and dealt with whatever they were thrown. You could see the spirit in the team as the whole team helped one another out and congratulated each other for every block, every save and every tackle made. Tevez's shot was blocked superbly by Mertesacker's honker (not that he knew all that much about it) and Neuer was alert and equal to everything that came at him. With Argentina busy up front trying to score, Germany did what they do best: counter-attack with blinding pace and score once again.
With Argentina struggling to get back, Mueller got a hold of the ball in midfield, passed to Podolski who burst into the box and squared it to Klose. It was put on a plate for the striker to walk the ball into the net. With about 20 minutes to go, Germany had delivered the sucker-punch. They had held out against all that pressure, and were now 2 up and totally in control. It was down to Argentina to get themselves back in it and I remember thinking in the first-half that I couldn't see how Argentina would get themselves back into it if they went 2-0 down. Then just 7 minutes later, it was effectively all over as Germany got their third. This time it was Schweinsteiger who again broke down the left, and with such ease skipped past the Argentinian defenders and passed to Arne Friedrich who scored his first ever international goal. It says a lot when your own centre-backs are scoring goals against one of the favourites - Argentina.
Maradona, watching on from the sidelines, could do absolutely nothing to stir his side. The wonder that is Lionel Messi could do nothing on the pitch either. They tried in desperation to do something, but they knew that their time was up. Klose got his fourth of the tournament putting him joint second on the FIFA World Cup all-time goalscorers list, with the great Gerd Mueller, his fellow German. He's only one away from equalling Ronaldo and two from topping the list. What an achievement for the 32-year old who has had a miserable season for Bayern, scoring just 3 all season long. He's certainly found his form again. It was the everpresent Schweinsteiger who got the ball moving again, passing it to Oezil who launched a beautiful pass to Klose who just volleyed it in. What a result for the Germans, and what a way to go for Maradona's men, who now leave the tournament along with their neighbours, Brazil. Today, it was announced that Maradona was considering his future as to whether to remain manager of Argentina, so it will be interesting to see what happens next for him. But, it was yet another victory for Europe as Joachim Loew's team now become favourites to lift the cup once again.
Messi exited the competition without having scored a single goal. He was a disappointment like many of the "big stars" we expected to shine in this tournament. It was a shame, because this is the stage where they are expected to rise to the moment but Messi and his teammates were quite simply snuffed out by a German side, that were previously totally unfancied before the tournament got underway. What did I say before? You can never discount them. There's just something about Germany - they always come good in these kind of tournaments. It's like they live for these big competitions and truly come alive when they get going. Argentina were overcomplicating things far too much, taking too many passes of the ball and too many touches - trying to play fancy football in their attempt to score. Germany, on the other hand, played simply and won spectacularly. No fancy football here - just plenty of speed, few passes as possible, long balls and a magnificent counter-attacking style.
The Germans will surely go forward with a huge amount of confidence after defeating England and Argentina by such a big scoreline. They must be careful they don't become too over-confident but when you're winning life can be nothing but good. Loew will no doubt keep his side's feet on the ground as they prepare to face Spain in a repeat of the Euro 2008 final. What's so great about this German side is that Loew has studied the players hard and uncovered their strengths and he's used their strengths to their maximum advantage to build this team. The players are fast, so he's made sure that they use their pace when they counter-attack. Neither England, nor Argentina were able to catch-up with the youngsters as they ran with ease. Loew knows they can run at defenders, and set up gilt-edged chances, but they can also deal with things at the back. He has built up a great spirit within the team - none of the players are selfish in going forward as we saw against Argentina when Klose and Friedrich scored. This is what makes them able to finish off their chances and get such a big margin. In some teams, there are some strikers who are really prolific, and therefore do not look up to see if there are any better options, thinking that they would much rather shoot themselves, even if they are not in good positions.
Germany are able to exploit the weaknesses of their opponents - they have done their homework and practised hard, that much is evident. Before the tournament, Germany were criticised for their lack of experience because of the amount of young players in their team, but so far, nothing has been shown by those players to indicate that they are suffering from the pressure of being in such a big tournament - on the contrary, they look like they are really enjoying themselves. The football they are playing is a joy to watch for anyone and if they do go on to win the tournament, then they will most definitely be worthy winners. The other great thing about the youngsters is that because no one was expecting much of them, they are not really under any pressure - they don't feel the stress and play with no fear. That mentality is what saw them through against England and Argentina. If you have no fear then you are half-way to winning already.
But that's the big question, can they win it? They must now face Spain and this game will be an intriguing one indeed. Spain haven't won as comfortably as Germany have, but have been clinical in their ties and seen them off. I'm going to be open here and say that I think Germany will beat Spain. The only way I can see Spain winning is if the keeper, Neuer makes a mistake - he looked a bit unsteady at some moments against Argentina and he is very young. But that's the only chink I can spot. The other thing is that Mueller won't be playing but I think that Germany will have the strikers to cope without him - they have Klose and Podolski, and Cacau should be back from injury after missing the England game. They managed to cope without Klose when he was suspended for the game against Ghana. The only other way I can see Spain beating this German side is if they get decisions going their way. Germany were unable to come back against Serbia after they had been reduced to 10 men.
If they beat Spain, then I can see them lifting the cup for a fourth time. Having previously coming into this tournament as outsiders, Germany have done everything right so far to prove that they are most definitely in it to win it...
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