The highlight of the World Cup to this point has arrived – a quarterfinal clash between Argentina and Germany. Trash talk has been the theme of the build-up, as the two teams dished up plenty of verbal activity with the man himself – Diego Maradona – producing his best German accent.
German midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger accused Argentina of being disrespectful and influencing the referee.
In turn, Maradona responded to Fox Sports: “What’s the matter Schweinsteiger? Are you nervous?,” in a German accent.
Double scorer against Mexico, Carlos Tevez, even said his team was more worried about the Mexicans than the upcoming game against Germany.
Fun for the football fan, but it is time for this game to be played on the park rather than off it.
The Argentine boss has ruled out switching to a 4-4-2, the formation that beat Germany in their last meeting, meaning he will stick to his 4-1-2-1-2.
There has been flu worries over Lionel Messi, but you can’t see the superstar missing a Cup quarterfinal because of a cough. The tactical battle in this game is unprecedented in this tournament.
Argentina has attacked, and with great effect. When you have the likes of Messi, Tevez and Gonzalo Higuain at the top, attack would be your number one game plan.
As is becoming a common feature at this tournament amongst the top teams, the defensive midfielder pairing of Schweinsteiger and Sami Khedira will have an important job to do.
Maradona might be right – Schweinsteiger could well be nervous with Messi coming his way. One can’t help but feel the Barcelona star is due – for a goal, for a world eye-catching performance.
Also, the movement and pace of Tevez and Higuain has the potential to cause the centre of the German defence plenty of problems.
The central defensive duo of Per Mertesacker and Arne Friedrich are good players, but they aren’t quick enough to contain Tevez and Higuain.
Then again, they aren’t quick enough to contain Wayne Rooney and Jermaine Defoe either.
The difference – Argentina’s midfield will play the ball around and work the German defence over, instead of hitting the long ball. Dependant on how they approach it, Germany could hit Maradona’s men on the counter, like they did to England.
The quality and youthful pace of Mesut Ozil and Thomas Muller combined with Lukas Podolski shows plenty of potential. Let us not forget World Cup goal scoring machine Miroslav Klose up front.
Again, captain Javier Mascherano has the important gig in the holding role. Whether Maradona is forced to move five into the midfield will be known as the game develops.
The Germans have had too much in the middle for their opponents until now and only Serbia changed tactics to deploy five in midfield.
It’s the pace of the German attack that will be of most concern to Maradona. The pairing of Martin Demichelis and the returning Walter Samuel are experienced, but they are aging at 29 and 32 respectively.
The way Mexican Javier Hernandez turned Demichelis in the area in the quarterfinal was simple and too easy. The Manchester United recruit caused havoc in the Argentine defensive area.
A pair of potentially breakable defensive walls will be on show, which could lead to a quarterfinal goal fest special.
Argentine experience to overcome youthful Germany for mine – just – attacking flair to prevail for the South Americans.
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