Germany meet Argentina, first Quarterfinal, June 30th, in Berlin at 5:00 PM German time (11:00 AM EST)
No, this is not the final. Although you would be absolutely forgiven if you thought that. These two teams have met twice in the World Cup finals, Argentina winning in 1986 and W.Germany in 1990. Since then none of these teams have won the World Cup, although Germany got to the 2002 finals only to lose to Brazil, 2-0.
Argentina has the advantage in head to heads having won 7 of the 16 encounters. Germany has won 5 with 4 draws.
Germany’s Jens Lehmann and Argentina’s Abbondanzieri should have their hands full with both attacks clicking, Germany’s led by Klose and Podolski and Argentina’s with Tevez and Crespo up front. Klose has also turned out to be a consummate playmaker as seen in the Sweden match with both Podolski goals due to his distribution. Both teams are not shy about hitting piledrivers with Ballack and Frings and Heinze and Rodriguez, providing the firepower.
At this point Klose is a more complete player than Crespo but Maxi Rodriguez offsets that advantage. The match sees the future of both teams, Lukas Podolksi and Carlos Tevez going at it.
The defensive edge lies with the Argentinians with Sorin and Ayala having done yeoman duty for the Albiceleste over many years. The defensive line of FRiedrich, Mertesacker, Metzelder, and Lahm have performed beyond expectations but they have yet to meet as potentially potent a strike as Argentina. Phillip Lahm for Germany remains a dangerous threat to the Argentines with his attacking forays down the left flank. His goal against Costa Rica remains as one of the highlights of this World Cup.
Germany: Lehmann, Friedrich, Mertesacker, Metzelder, Lahm, Schweinsteiger, Frings, Ballack, Schneider, Klose, Podolski.
Subs: Asamoah, Borowski, Hanke, Hildebrand, Hitzlsperger, Huth, Jansen, Kahn, Kehl, Neuville, Nowotny, Odonkor.
Argentina: Abbondanzieri, Sorin, Ayala, Coloccini, Heinze, Maxi, Gonzalez, Riquelme, Mascherano, Crespo, Tevez.
Subs: Aimar, Burdisso, Cambiasso, Cruz, Cufre, Franco, Messi, Milito, Palacio, Saviola, Scaloni, Ustari.
Referee: Lubos Michel (Slovakia)
Personal stakes:
Riquelme vs Lehmann
In the European Cup semi-final between Arsenal and Villareal, Jens Lehmann stopped Riquelme’s penalty kick, enabling Arsenal to beat Villareal on aggregate and advancing to the finals against Barca. I am sure Riquelme would love to have that one back.