FIFA World Cup 2010: Germany shatters Maradona’s dreams in a 4-0 defeat over Argentina in Quarter-finals
The Germans humiliated the English in the second round of the World Cup; however, the English had reasons to put the blame on. On the contrary, Diego Maradona had no one to blame, but himself. Maradona dreamt of the record of becoming another man in the history of football, after Beckenbauer, to win the World Cup, both as a captain and a coach. However, Germany ruined the day for Maradona, as the Argentineans were embarrassed by the Germans 4-0, in their quarter final World Cup 2010, match.
Joachim Low prepared his German side well for the match, as they displayed another sublime piece of football against Argentina. The match started with the Germans attacking the Argentineans from the start, and soon the Argentina’s weak defence succumbed under pressure. In the third minute of the match, Thomas Muller scored a free-header in the six-yard box. After such a disastrous start, the Argentineans never looked comfortable, as they failed to threaten the Germans’ defence. The first half ended with a little bit of pressure on the German side, as Argentineans pressed hard to find an equaliser.
However, Argentina made the same mistake as the English, when they went all out in search of goal, leaving a lot of space behind. Thus, they were also exploited in the same fashion, as the Germans used their secret weapon in this World Cup, i.e. the counter-attack. The second goal came from the German all-time top scorer, Miroslav Klose, who finished a good move with a simple tap-in. In the 74th minute, the Argentinean defence got another blow, as Arne Friedrich scored the third for Germany. Although, the match had been won there and then, the Germans put the final nail in the Argentina’s coffin by scoring a fourth in the 89th minute, as Miroslav Klose found another easy tap-in. Thus, the dream run of Maradona ended abruptly in an embarrassing manner, while Germany, suddenly, has become the favourites to win the World Cup.
Argentina had the worst of the games in their World Cup history, as they were disgraced at such an important stage of the tournament. The game did not start well for Argentina, and they failed to come-back from such an early shock, after the 3rd minute goal. In addition, all the big names failed to show any kind of flare, as Carlos Tevez, Lionel Messi and Gonzalo Higuain had a nightmarish game. However, the biggest villain of this defeat would be the Argentinean defence, as they left a lot of open spaces in their defence, and seemed reluctant to close down on the players looking to shoot or give through balls. On counter-attacks, the midfield failed to get back in time for defence duties, which really out-numbered the Argentineans on certain occasions.
Nicolas Otamendi, the centre-back playing in the right-back’s position, had the worst of the game, as he failed to control both Lukas Podolski and Mesut Ozil. The only player who had a decent game for Argentina was their captain Javier Mascherano, as he did very well in attack as well as the defence. Despite all these problems, the credit goes to the Germans, who exploited the Argentineans and got a victory that would surely boost their morale and would help them go all the way.
This was the first real test for Argentina in this World Cup, and they failed miserably. Now, all the fuss about Maradona being a bad coach seems to make a lot of sense. The Argentinean mid-field was poor, as they were dominated by the Germans in the mid-field. On many occasions, Lionel Messi had to go behind the half-way line to get the ball, as the midfield failed to produce any quality in the attack. No one was even able to play the role of a holding midfielder, and the likes of Lionel Messi and Gonzalo Higuain were hardly felt by anyone. German defenders had a good solid game, as they largely kept the Argentineans out of the dangerous positions.
Germany would now face the Spanish in the Semi-Final. Spain was the favourite to win the World Cup, before the start of the tournament, but now Germans look brilliant and can cause a real upset against the Spanish.
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