Diego drowns his sorrows
SATURDAY 3 JULY
Argentina v Germany in the first Quarter Final of the day was eagerly anticipated in that we’d finally see both sides get their defences tested. It hard to watch though when you watch both teams to lose – who do I hate more, The Germans or the Argies – tough one. I found myself wanting the Germans to win because they didn’t have a hate figure on view. Argentina of course had Maradona but Germany didn’t have a Klinsmann, a Matthaus, a Schumacher or a Beckenbauer. It didn’t take long for the first goal to arrive and the Germans got it when Schweinsteiger swung over a free kick and Tomas Mueller (again!!) ran in front of static defender and diverted it past Romero who barely moved. Klose fired over when it was easier to score from a Mueller pull back before Argentina had the ball in the net as Tevez square for Rodriguez to tap home. Unfortunately, when Tevez received the ball, he was one of four players who had been caught in a Vorsprung Durch Technik German offside trap.
The second half started with more Argentine pressure with de Maria hitting a cross shot that was on target until the Jubulani decided to turn left and miss the far post. Then came the incident that showed that it wasn’t going to be Argentina’s day when Tevez connected sweetly with an on-target volley from 12 yards which hit Mertersacker straight in the face and bounced off for a corner. Up the other end and Schweinsteiger put Podolski through who waited, drew the keeper and slipped it to a suspiciously offside looking Klose for a tap in and 2-0. Five minutes later it was all over and Schweinsteiger set off on a mazy which took him past four defenders and to the by-line, from where he rolled it back into the path of Freidrich to slot home. Brilliant run and my new favourite goal of the tournament. The Argies gave up at this point, leaving just one more opportunity for the Germans to show how the counter attack works and Podolski broke, passed to Ozil who crossed beautifully for Klose to despatch on the volley for 4-0.
Goodbye El Nutjob, I have enjoyed your press conferences and your enthusiasm but it’s still fun watching your team crash out. I guess the big compensation for Maradona is that I like him more than I used to, which will be really important to him, I know. It could be arguesd that the 4-0 scoreline to the Germans puts England's performance in a new light - it doesn't really as England were still terrible and today, Argentina were just as bad.
The 7.30 game was Spain v Paraguay. A shit first half can be summarised by saying that Paraguay worked incredibly hard, closing Spain down high up the pitch and Spain couldn’t string three passes together. Passing the ball to Fernando Torres was the footballing equivalent of pissing in the wind – nothing happens and you end up feeling unhappy. Paraguay in fact had the better chances without ever looking like scoring. The opening 10 minutes of the second half was all Spain until Paraguay got a free kick and tossed the ball into the mixer, where Pique grabbed Cardozo on the arm and threw him on the ground like a wrestling throw. Absolutely ridiculous and a definite penalty given away by a player who, no matter how many medals he wins for Barcelona and Spain, will always be a bit dodgy. Cardozo picked himself up and as he was waiting to take the pen, you could see fear in his face and it was no surprise to me that he missed, though it was a pretty smart stop from Casillas. Spain went straight up the other end which sparked one of the worst sequences of refereeing I think I have ever seen.
1. David Villa breaks through, gets into the penalty area and dives – the ref gives a penalty
2. Having given a penalty, it has to be a red card – the ref gives a yellow
3. Alonso takes the penalty and scores – the ref orders a re-take, there is maybe one Spain player a foot inside the box. Technically a correct decision but daft.
4. Alonso retakes and Villar saves it, Fabregas gets to the rebound first and Villar carts him up in the air for a clear penalty - ref gives a corner.
Spain were the only team who seemed intent on winning it and there was an air of inevitability about the goal which arrived on 82 minutes. Following a lovely bit of triangles between Iniesta, Fabregas and Xavi, Iniesta rolled in Pedro who hit the post with the rebound falling to Villa who curled it onto the inside of the opposite post, along the line, onto the other post and in. Paraguay had one chance when Casillas spilled a tame long effort into the path of Santa Cruz who really should have buried the rebound but his shot hit the keepers foot and Paraguay were out.
A look back at my Quarter Final predictions reveals the following:
I said – “Uruguay to beat Ghana 2-1. Could well go to extra time and deep down, I hope I’m wrong here and Ghana go through.” – Pretty close really though they won on penalties instead of with the extra time goal. There had been the predictable bellyaching about Suarez being a cheat and all that which is true but a bollocks thing to complaining about. I have to admit though, I found his parading about the pitch on the shoulders of his team mates a bit distasteful.
I said – “Brazil to beat Holland 2-0 as the Brazilians look very good when they have their full side out, which of course, they will have in this game” – Totally fucking wrong, FAILED.
I said – “Argentina to beat Germany 2-0. Like with Holland v Brazil, I can’t see the European side defending well enough to stop the South Americans scoring. The German defence looks dodgy when got at and you can be sure that Tevez, Messi and Higuain will get to it. You can also be sure that Argentina won’t defend like England did.” – Ho, ho, ho…Argentina completely defended like England did and I hang my prediction head in shame.
I said – “Spain to beat Paraguay 1-0 in a similar game to Spain v Portugal, right down to David Villa scoring the winner.” – Well I couldn’t have got his more right if I tried.
So, we have Semi Finals of Uruguay v Holland and Spain v Germany. Prediction time.
Holland to beat Uruguay 2-1. The Dutch should have enough to beat the Uruguayans but both teams are steady rather than spectacular. Both have good forward players and both are a bit dodgy at the back but I feel that Uruguay will miss Suarez up front, especially if they replace him with Abreu, who is a big immobile lump.
Germany to beat Spain on penalties. The Germans have proved that they are the best counter attacking team in the World Cup and make no mistake, Spain will have a lot of the ball and be doing most of the pressing. I anticipate Spain playing Fabregas instead of the dreadfully dreadful Torres and thus having more midfielders to counter this particular German threat. Busquets will be very important, trying to keep a lid on Ozil and Schweinsteiger and I wonder if he’s good enough to do that. Again, both defences are not all that great so it could be a case of who cracks first. Too close to call really and if it goes to penalties, you know who is going to win….
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