Maradona Focused on the Germans
Argentina manager, Diego Maradona, says he is already focusing on beating the Germans to make sure his team get a place in the World Cup semi-finals.
Maradona’s side have been arguably the most impressive team at the World Cup so far and a number of players are already firing on all cylinders ahead of what looks to be the best tie of the quarter-final stage.
He argues that Germany may have been a little bit flattered by the score they beat England with and it is fairly obvious to any football fan that Maradona does not expect his side to lose a single bit of the momentum that they have built up during the World Cup so far.
There are a few worries in the Argentine camp over the fact that Lionel Messi has not managed to score in the tournament yet. There are also a few fears that Messi is being treated very badly by opposition teams who are looking to be over physical in the way they approach playing against him.
Momentum
Whether you love or you hate the Argentine side you cannot argue with the fact that they have all of the momentum at this point in the World Cup. Their defence does look a little bit vulnerable but they have so far had enough fire power to cope with this at the other end of the field.
It is very important for a side to be fluent in the way they play in attack during a big tournament. This is because it makes them very imposing and intimidating to play against and defensive problems are something, which are much easier to sort out.
Maradona will not make many changes to the team that thumped Mexico 3-1 and he will be relying on his attacking players to get right into the Germans and make sure they cannot get forward and counter attack in the same clinical way that they did to the English.
Different Threat
Germany pose a different threat altogether. It has been very clear from the World Cup so far that the Germans do not play the most attractive football the world has ever seen but they defend well and do what they can to win matches. This will make them a different challenge for Argentina who will have to work harder to break them down.
Argentina are also likely to find that the Germans will pose the first genuine threat of the tournament to their defence who will have to work just as hard off the ball as they do on the ball because Germany can make up for any lack of quality with the work ethic they possess.
Germany will have players that Maradona cannot ignore. There would have been a few players that Argentina have played against so far that have warranted attention but the Germans actually have individuals who can change the shape of a match. This could mean that Javier Mascherano has a bigger role in the midfield in terms of getting stuck in and breaking up the play.
Advice
Argentina are the favourites for a lot of people and there will be no reason to change your mind if you are one of them. The Argentines have enough fire power in attack to blow away the Germans and they can probably just about cope in defence.
There are a whole host of players you can choose from to score first, to score last, to score at any time and to get booked during these games so lay out your other bets in a calculated way that will help you re-coop your losses if the team you back loses this game.
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