Argentina vs germany

Germany 3 vs 1 Argentina (AET)

Go Germany!!

Block Messi...!!

100% Germany. I think Argentina is without any chance.

Click to expand...

+1 Absolutely right!

Germany FTW
Was hoping for spain at the first but well,then netherlands,nvm..

jazzc said:

If you substitute "Argentina" with "Brazil", the same text is still valid Nevertheless, football is played in the field and not in words.

Click to expand...

But Brazil barely beat low tier teams like Croatia and Costa Rica this WC, didn't they?

Of course Brazilians are as passionate as we are regarding football, but it's not a valid example here, because they are clearly not the same team they were a few years ago.

Argentina, on the other hand, has been getting better and better not only on a year by year basis lately, but on a game by game basis on this WC. Anyone that has watched all the matches the Argentinian team played would notice that.

The last match with Neatherlands was overwhelming evidence of this. Till then the general opinion was that Argentina was a team that had only shown to rely a lot on Messi and that its defense was pretty ordinary, hence its weak point. Well, Messi wasn't particularly inspired on that match, while defense, leaded by Mascherano, was world class; just flawless. Hell, I would go as far as saying that not even the same German team that humilliated Brazil just a day before that woulnd't have been able to surpass the Argentinian defense that played against NL that day.Mascherano, Garay, Zabaleta and Demichelis were simply ON POINT that day. They were the saviors on that match, and not Messi.

I agree: technique beats passion, but again, when we talk about Argentina we are talking about a team that BESIDES technique it has also proven historically that they take it up MORE than a notch when the stakes are high (and there is nothing higher in stakes than a WC final of course), with a few exceptions.

I guess what I'm trying to say is this (which also should address the point brought up by someone else above regarding south american football teams and passion): don't expect to see the same Argentinian team tomorrow than the one you've seen till now. Many are basing their predictions on how both teams have been playing till now (which makes total sense, as only factual information can be used to draw conclussions about how a specific event could take place) and hence putting Germany as an almost certain winner. While I agree with how that factual information is being analyzed, I don't agree with not factoring in something that WILL make a difference tomorrow: the passion and the hunger this litter of Argentinian players have. Locally, everyone here is saying that they remind of that '86 team that took the world cup home. The question is: will it make a difference big enough to tilt the odds in our team's favour? We'll find out in 24 hours. But right now, taking into account that very important factor, IMO we are going to have a very close match and it wouldn't be accurate to put either one as an absolute favourite.

Argentina doesn't deserve to win with their Falklands political stirring in FIFA which is strictly disallowed and not the place - they should have been punished for that banner at the start but it seems clear at this point that the corrupt South American country bribed some officials.