Match 59 (QF) - Germany v Argentina - Post-Match Thread [R]

Congratulations Germany. Utterly crushed them.

+2 South American teams gone, 2 left to go.

I don't hear that clown making fun of anybody's accent now.

I guess I should just quote myself :

Nothing else to say here.

That English commentator on ABC seemed a little too happy about the whole thing.

toobad uruguay got through by luck , so its 1 to go

but man oh man , Germany vs Spain will be CRAZY !!!!

Heilige Scheiße!!!!!!

I didn't expect a blowout comb.

I have so much respect for this Germany !!!

Congratulations guys... the World Cup will stay in Europe.

I think it has to do more than that. Samuel is injured, otherwise he would start. The player positions and the use of Messi didn't work, Maradona never changed once his team.

We just got embarrassed 4-0.

With a team of this talent.

No Maradona did everything right, even applying for the job.

The game was over when the first goal came so early. It forced Argentina to chase the game which played right into Germany's hands. The Germans were given the freedom to play very patient virtually the entire game.

Both Brazil and Argentina were sabotaged by former players who mistakenly believed that they were geniuses. As many expected, Maradona's fascination with players like Otamendi, Jonas and Veron and his refusal to call up or play genuine stars was eventually too much for Argentina's attacking stars to overcome.

As bad a decsision as having Otamendi on the starting lineup was, leaving him out there deep into the second half with a yellow was even worse. Even if Argentina had managed to equalize, there was a pretty good chance he would have been ejected and left them shorthanded for extra time.

The level of understanding between the German players is what you'd expect from a club, not a national team. Amazing.

Passing, nearly perfect. Each man seemed to know exactly where the other was, whither he was running and at what speed.

Precisely.

Are you trying to jinx your own team?

WC Fact: Germany has never gone 20 years without winning a cup. Last Cup 1990.

Congrats to the Germans, impressive display.

I think I need to redo the prediction I made at the beginning of the Cup.

Half the team is from Bayern or used to play there with Podolski so that probably helps.

What I don't understand is that Guitierrez was Maradona's pivotal player, and he stopped using him.

That was a serious beatdown.

The whole player selection process in Argentina was wrong. If you're going to take second-rate defenders like Heinze, Otamendi, Micho and Garce, at the very least take some solid CM/DMs. The only midfielders in the 23 who could defend were Mascherano, Veron, and a second-rate player, Bolatti.

Basically, Diego went with only 14 or 15 players. Over half of them attackers.

This is what happens when you have hardly any midfield. Combine that with playing with 4 centerbacks equals a disaster against an organized side.

Germany has really surprised me this World Cup. Despite a suspect defense they are the best playing side in this world cup. A shame that Muller will miss the semifinal, that is a huge loss.