Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Diego Maradona - Argentina...

Revenge

It has been four years for Diego Maradona and his fellow Argentinians since they lost to Germany (fondly called as Germs by it's haters) in 2006. That was yet another quarterfinal clash. July 3rd is a day where no Argentinians or fans of Argentina all over the globe will ever forget. These giants met again in yet another quarterfinal. Germany trashed Argentina 4 - 0. Infact the term 'trashed' can be read as 'humiliated'.

The Road to Quarterfinal

There's no doubt that Argentina played like champions in both Group Stages and Knock-out Stage. Their performances were excellent, consistent and looked dominant. They were the clear winner of the Group B with clear 9 points. In Group Stages, they won Nigeria 1 - 0, trashed South Korea 4 - 1 and crushed Greece 2 - 0. As far as Knock-Out stage concern, they beat Mexico 3 - 1. Perhaps, all these resulted them to be over confident or overlooked their opponent, not to mention Germany's slip against Serbia.



What Happened

The tie was just two minutes 40 seconds old when the Bayern Munich man was allowed to skim across defender Nicolas Otamendi and glance Schweinsteiger's terrific curling free-kick into the net. I'm sure our players hadn't seen it coming. The first half ended with Germs leads 1 - 0. I was quite confident that my favourite team will make a come back in the second half.

After the first goal, desperate Argentinians were focusing more on physical tactics. They lost their calm, focus and their agressiveness was clearly seen which gained them nothing till the very last minute.

For the first time in the tournament, the likes of Javier Mascherano, Lionel Messi and Carlos Tevez struggled to impose themselves as Germany kept the trio under lock and key.

Maradona desperately required a moment of inspiration from someone, anyone. They had bagged 10 goals in four games on their way to the last eight - more than any other team. But Argentina rarely looked like penetrating the Germs defence before half time and their frustration began to show as their World Cup dream began to evaporate.

The German System

On the other had, Germs did what they do best - score an early goal and concentrate on tenacious defense. As expected, they adapted their style to effectively counter their opponent. They relied on counter-attack and they suceeded by adding three more goals. Germs maintained their strategy throughout the match. No doubt, they were more focused, co-ordinated, disciplined and most importantly, played as a team.

The Missing Messi Factor


Lionel Messi has not scored a goal in the World Cup 2010. That is not to say he has not made a contribution, as he certainly has, including a beautiful cross to set up Carlos Tevez's laser-like second goal to make it 3-0 that pretty well put away Mexico in the round of 16. And Messi has made a solid contribution on defense as well, but soccer is a game of goals and if Messi comes alive Germany better bring their A-game, as there are few better than Messi when his head and body are in synch.

Diego Maradona


I have been worrying ever since I heard Maradona is thinking of resigning. News are coming stating Maradona and his team got a warm welcome when they landed in Argentina which clearly means one thing. Fans still got high hope and regards on him. So do I. We will never ever lost hope in him. There is always a second chance and interestingly, there is Copa America next year held in their homeground. So, Diego Maradona can use up the opportunity in proving himself as a successfull coach by helping the team lifting the Copa America title. The living legend can certainly do it.

In Maradona we trust. Jai Ho Argentina...

4 comments :

  1. Argentina has a great coach and very skilled players. What they lacked was team effort, which was the strength for the German team... Lets wait and see.....

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  2. "Soccer is a game of goals"
    Rightly said, bro. Everyone forgets that in the spirit of the game.

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  3. @Chitra Ji

    Yes, Argentina didn't perform well in that match. Had they played like how they did in Group Stages and Knock-out stage, they could have easily beat Germany.
    Thanks for dropping by and please do come often. :)

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  4. @Rakesh bro

    Yep, rightly said. Lets see how our team performs in Copa America.
    Thanks for the read, please do come often :)

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