FIFA World Cup 2010: Quarterfinals, Day Two

A New Low

Argentina   0-4   Germany

Germany continued their unstoppable march to the World Cup final on Saturday in Cape Town. Jogi Low's team thoroughly dismantled Diego Maradona's Argentina despite being the slight underdogs beforehand.

Argentina had steamrolled their way to the last eight, wiping the floor with their group opponents and even Mexico, although with the help of an assistant referee, fell to their power. Their attacking improvisation was no match for Germany's calculated approach this time, however, as El Diego's luck finally ran out. The South Americans were finally shown up for what they are once they came into contact with a worthy adversary.

For four games, Argentina had been impressive going forward, but suspect at the back. While they may have gotten away with it against Nigeria and Greece, a team with no right-back and no Walter Samuel was always going to struggle once formidable opposition presented themselves.

It only took three minutes for Die Mannschaft to unlock the door. Tomas Muller has been ever-present for Bayern Munich over the past season, even playing in a Champions League final, but they jury was still out before the tournament. Now anymore. The German forward headed home Bastian Schweinsteiger's free-kick unchallenged from no more than 10 yards out. Argentina's defensive failings had been exploited before the game had even got going.

Maradona must have thought that his attacking options were capable of prevailing against whomever they faced. In dropping Juan Sebastian Veron for Maxi Rodriguez, the 1986 winning captain threw caution to the wind, assuming his star studded attack could compensate for any goals conceded. He assumed wrong.

With no method to their madness, the striking triumvirate had no answer to falling behind. Leo Messi was forced to drop deep into his own half to get moves started, which took him too far away from the areas where he is most dangerous. Carlos Tevez huffed and puffed but to no avail, and Gonzalo Higuain has been no more than a goal poacher in this tournament and had no scraps to feed off on this occasion. 

Between the first and second goals an hour passed, a period in which the albiceleste had a lot of possession but did little with it. Despite raising the tempo at the start of the second half no real chances were created. Messi and Tevez were restricted to shooting from range but as seen throughout this tournament, such a tactic is regularly pointless.

With their goal advantage, the Germans were able to soak up the limited pressure they were under and counter attack at will. A defensive lapse let Miroslav Klose in for the second. Schweinsteiger's dribbling opened up the Argentine defence for Arne Friendrich to score his first international goal and the scoring was rounded off by Klose in what was the move of the match.

The Bayern substitute has now scored 14 World Cup goals, an unbelievable achievement for a striker with such a modest club record. Klose now sits just one goal behind Brazil's Ronaldo and is level with countryman Gerd Muller, although matching his goal rate of 68 in 62 games is impossible. The Polish born striker will need to score twice in the next two games to usurp the Brazilians four year old record because a fourth World Cup appearance in 2014 is unlikely.

Once the third goal was scored, the Argentines fell apart. With absolutely no way back at that stage the Europeans were able to toy with their opponents. A chorus of oles accompanied every pass towards the end of the game, much as it did in the England game.

Any previous talk of revenge for 2006 had been forgotten. Diego Maradona's team was  truly beaten and could have no complaints this time. Maradona lit up the tournament with his pitch side theatrics and humorous press conferences but his abilities as a coach have been unveiled.   

 

Spain Ride Their Luck

Paraguay   0-1   Spain

Oscar Cardozo had the chance to put his country into a first World Cup semi final. His penalty after an hour could have put Paraguay in front, a position from which Spain famously fails to recover from. Conceding first to the US and Switzerland have resulted in Spain's only two defeats in their past 53 games, but Cardozo's miss was just the spur la seleccion needed.

David Villa has carried this Spanish team on his back. Barcelona's new signing has scored five of his country's six goals since that initial defeat to the Swiss. His 80th minute goal settled this game once and for all and without him, they wouldn't be facing the Germans on Wednesday. From that point, the European Champions passed the ball around confidently and didn't give the Paraguayans any hope for an equalizer as the minutes ticked away.   

Many thought that Paraguay would be spent from their endeavours to get to this stage, especially following the 120 minutes of boredom against Japan. Coach Gerardo Martino made six changes throughout and his side showed renewed vigour and energy from their second round game. 

The South Americans pressed high up the pitch and threw themselves into every challenge with confidence. Spain didn't get the chance to string any meaningful passes together. Andres Iniesta couldn't get into the game and Fernando Torres was as profligate as ever as Spain struggled to create openings. In fact, they were luck to go into the break level as Paraguay had a goal disallowed for no apparent reason.  

The penalty madness halfway through the second half will define this game in years to come and it could have decided this game had either team scored, especially the South Americans. Cardozo's tame effort was followed immediately by Xabi Alonso's at the other end. The Real Madrid midfielder scored his initial spot kick but had to retake it due to encroachment. He missed the second attempt.

A second look at the Paraguayan attempt shows the same infractions taking place. Perhaps the referee subconsciously felt guilty for awarding a penalty so soon after the first and hoped to even things out by making Alonso take his penalty again. If that was the case, his plan worked perfectly as both teams cancelled each other out. 

10 minutes after the madness, Villa popped up to slot home off both posts after Pedro's initial shot bounced back off the upright into the path of Villa. That goal signalled the end of what was a valiant effort from Paraguay and it was the first they conceded since Daniele de Rossi equalized for Italy in their opening match. 

Spain will need to improve if they're to conquer Germany once again, as they did two years ago. Reliance on one man will not suffice against such a potent attack. One gets the feeling the Spanish defence is always one step away from a disaster and no other team are as capable of exploiting those deficiencies than the Germans.