FIFA World Cup 2010 South Africa: Ozil, Podolski and Messi, Miss Training
Podolski had completely missed Wednesday’s training session with the German national team, complaining about a muscle problem. Key play maker, Ozil, missed training and stayed at the hotel because he claimed to not be feeling well. However neither of the two are expected to sit out the highly contested match with rivals, Argentina.
Cacau on the other hand, has been nursing an abdominal muscle strain and even missed out on Germanys thrashing of England, last week. The German coach, Joachim Loew said the twenty nine year onld striker was very doubtful for the match.
The Argentineans have a few injury concerns of their own. Just forty eight hours before their match with Germany, Lionel Messi, pulled out of training because he was suffering from a severe cold. Messi however did manage to turn up to the training but coach, Diego Maradona, sent the World Player of the Year, back to the hotel as a precautionary measure. The twenty three year old forward is expected to be fit before the match, which will be taking place at the Green Point stadium.
Former Portugal international, Eusebio said that even though Lionel Messi hasn’t scored a goal yet he is easily the best player at the tournament so far. "I have no doubt that this little player who happens to be Argentinean, Messi, will be the best player of this tournament," he said in Johannesburg.
Messi who is the current FIFA World Player of the Year is still waiting to score his first goal in the contest but on the whole has played some breath takingly beautiful and brilliant football. He has come close to scoring repeatedly but has somehow managed to bring the best out of all the keepers he has faced so far. He has however set up his teammates on numerous occasions and this performance has helped Argentina cruise to the quarter final stage of the World Cup.
An Argentina that had a terrible qualifying campaign for the World Cup, seem to have picked up on form lately and have had a near perfect World Cup so far. Germany on the other hand who will be looking to stop the Argentineans from progressing have been fairly consistent so far and will hope to keep up this consistency, in order to progress.
The match is shaping up nicely with both teams looking for the win which would see their team progress. The winner of this game will face the winner between the match that would take place amongst Spain and Paraguay. The odds are in the Spaniards favor to come out of that match with a win, but the way the World Cup has been going so far, anything is possible.
Germany last won the World Cup in 1990, it has been twenty years since that day and this is the longest the German team has gone without lifting the trophy. The last time Argentina lifted the Trophy was in 1986 making it twenty four years without a World Cup title for them.
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