Argentina vs. Germany: World Cup Preview

Posted July 3, 2010 – 1:08 am in: Soccer

Germany and Argentina features two soccer powerhouses who have a budding rivalry in Saturday’s quarterfinal match.

From the 2006 World Cup in the quarterfinals, Germany eliminated Argentina on penalty kicks in a game that ended with players and staff from both teams clashing. Contentious match between two of the world’s best, a war of words has preceded Saturday’s match, and fans will be treated to a hard-fought.

German midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger has criticized them for their apparent ability to influence officials and accused Argentina of a “lack of respect” for the game. “You see how they gesticulate, how they try to influence the referee. That is not part of the game. That is a lack of respect. They are like that. We should not be provoked by them,” Schweinsteiger said.

To win Group D, Germany played just well enough, winning against Australia and Ghana but suffering a loss to Serbia. However, they started the knockout stage very well, defeating England 4-1. Their young stars have been tremendous in the tournament. For Mesut Ozil and Thomas Mueller overcoming doubts that this World Cup was too soon, as they have been magnificent. Ozil has played so well that Werder Bremen general manager Klaus Allofs has stated that he has outshone Argentina midfielder Lionel Messi, who is widely regarded as the world’s best player.

For Germany, Argentina represents a much bigger challenge than any other team they have faced. To win all four of their games, they are one of two teams and they feature the always-intimidating Messi. In addition to Messi, Argentina has joint top scorer Gonzalo Higuain who has scored four goals in the tournament.

Saturday’s match should be something special. The two teams feature some of the world’s best young play and both teams are very evenly matched. As the international soccer giants seek to advance to the semifinals, Schweinsteiger’s words will certainly be in the minds of both teams.

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