2010 FIFA World Cup: Ten Observations From the Germans' Dismantling of Argentina

The final result was one which nobody expected. Germany 4-0 Argentina.

The Match

Germany started brilliantly and scored a very early goal through Thomas Mueller following a Bastian Schweinsteiger free kick. Argentina then dominated possession but couldn't find a breakthrough. Germany punished them duly and scored in the 68th minute.

Lukas Podolski fed a ball to Miroslav Klose, which he then tucked into an empty net. Arne Friedrich added a third after brilliant work from Schweinsteiger. Mesut Oezil's cross was netted by Miro Klose to complete the demolition.

The Observations

1. The German defence silenced plenty of its critics today. They cleared every ball which entered the penalty area. The team as a whole defended very well. Lionel Messi wasn't really given any space to create an opening.

Angel di Maria tried and tried but couldn't do much against Jerome Boateng. Per Mertesacker and Arne Friedrich both put in very good shifts and Philipp Lahm did his job well. Friedrich even scored a goal!

2. Joachim Loew must know something about Lukas Podolski that his club coaches do not. He not only gave Nicolas Otamendi a torrid time; he even went back to defend with the rest of his team. Despite, not scoring, he put in a very good performance today.

3. The Germans didn't have too much of the ball today. When they had the ball, their attackers knew what to do with it. Mesut Oezil put in a very good shift as well. Mueller not only scored the goal; he passed while sitting on the floor to Lukas Podolski to set up the second goal for the Germans.

4 . The Germans have nerves of steel. They lost the ball in midfield a couple of times but went back to defend it every time. They didn't move forward in numbers when they had the ball at times but sat back to defend in order to prevent an Argentina counter-attack.

5. Joachim Loew is a genius. Michael Ballack, Simon Rolfes, Rene Adler, Heiko Westermann, Christian Trasch and Robert Enke were supposed to play in this tournament. None of them played at the end. Somehow, Loew managed to make a team out of a bunch of youngsters and experienced heads. He has done a marvellous job. He got his tactics, especially for the second half spot on today.

6. Argentina needs to improve on their defence. The defence was torn apart by the German attackers. Schweinsteiger managed to go past three Argentine players; Argentina need to defend as a team. Maybe this loss will teach them this very important lesson.

7. Miro Klose played quite well today. He managed to score two goals and reach Gerd Muller's total of 14. He has two matches to score once more and join Ronaldo at the top of the scoring charts if not break the record. The partnership between him, Lukas Podolski and Oezil was there for all to see today.

8. Philipp Lahm really knows when to sit back and watch. Except for a few occasions, he sat back and defended calmly. When he got forward, he made sure he didn't leave his defense exposed. He put in a brilliant tackle today to prevent an Argentine goal to add to all the tackles he has made in this tournament and deny the opposition any goals.

9. There was no evident weakness in the German side today. Manuel Neuer had a few "moments" but his defence was always prepared to help him out. This team is really a contender. The loss of Thomas Muller will be a big blow; but Toni Kroos, Marcell Jansen and Marko Marin are all waiting to take their chance.

10. Finally, all the previous performances in the group stage showed that Germany were very good in an attacking sense but didn't say much about their defence. Today, Germany proved that when required, they can even put up a "defensive masterclass."

I will end with a quote from Thomas Mueller:

"Germany's rocking right now, and rightly so. This is madness, what's happened here today."