Matchday Special – Germany vs Argentina

Max Morlock in 1954. Gerd Müller in 1974. Michael Ballack in 2006. And now Thomas Müller, in 2010, has added himself to the list of illustrious German World Cup heroes wearing the no. 13 jersey. After his brace against England in the last 16, the young Bavarian forward wrote himself into German World Cup folklore. After spending the first half of 2009 in Bayern Munich’s reserves playing in the German 3^rd division, Müller has experienced a meteoric rise to national stardom. He has been the talk of the country. The precocious young striker, with the maturity of a veteran, who plays with pace, skill and intelligence, and pops up with a goal or moment of magic just when his team needs it.

And so it was today in Germany’s quarter final clash with Diego Maradona’s Argentina. With just 3 minutes gone, the 20 year-old from the small town of Pähl in Bavaria rose to glance Bastian Schweinsteiger’s free-kick beyond the haplessly stranded Sergio Romero to send his country into raptures.

Mueller heads past Romero

Before the match, many (German fans included) believed Germany’s big moment in this World Cup had come with their thrashing of England. Maradona’s Albiceleste wouldn’t be so easy. Messi, Tevez and co would bring Joachim Löw’s young team down to earth they thought. Mueller set Germany on the way to proving that theory wrong with Germany’s fastest ever World Cup goal.

Throughout the remaining 42 minutes of the 1^st half Argentina rarely looked like getting back into the match. Whilst they controlled the majority of possession, Germany worked tirelessly off the ball to deny space to their attacking players. Schweinsteiger and Khedira did an especially good job picking up Messi and denying him the chance to operate between Germany’s midfield and defence. That, coupled with Argentina’s lack of natural width, meant there was no way through. A tame shot at Neuer by Higuaín and a rightly disallowed offside goal (again from Higuain), were the best the Albiceleste could muster.

Messi - frustrated

As well as being well-organised defensively, Germany were also a threat going forward. Mid-way through the 1^st half it was Müller again who pounced on an error by Gabriel Heinze to burst into the box and lay it off to Miroslav Klose, who should have sent the Germans in 2-0 at the break, but he wastefully fired it over.

With the score still at 1-0 at the start of the 2^nd half, Argentina fancied their chances and dominated the opening 20 minutes. A powerful Carlos Tevez shot was blocked on 54 minutes by the face of Per Mertesacker. From the resulting corner, Manuel Neuer had to parry a Di Maria cross to safety. Argentina had further chances through Messi and Higuaín in the 63^rd minute but, as they began to throw more men forward, Germany looked more and more dangerous on the counter.

Just as in their previous match, Germany grabbed the killer goal just when their opponents looked most like scoring. Again, Müller was involved. Having been brought down by Otamendi 25 yards away from the Argentina goal, Müller admirably stayed alert to swivel on the ground and stab the ball into the path of the onrushing Lukas Podolski. The Pole was left with little to do but roll the ball across to his ‘countryman’ Klose to tap into the back of the net. Cue delirium on the streets of Germany, a country today bathed in 37 degree heat. It would be interesting to know how many cases of heatstroke this goal, alone, caused among the many outdoor fan parks across the land. It was the strike that gave the Germans the genuine belief that victory was theirs.

The party didn’t end there however. With Argentina desperately throwing men forward in their increasingly hopeless attempts to salvage the match, Germany broke forward twice more to pick at the gaping holes in the South Americans’ defence. Both goals were similar to Germany’s 2nd, as they took advantage of slack defending on Argentina’s right side. First, man of the match Schweinsteiger slalomed brilliantly toward the byline to cut the ball back for Arne Friedrich to tap home. Then, as if not to be outdone, Mesut Özil rounded off proceedings with a touch of genius, expertly standing the ball up at the far post for Klose to volley home his 2nd goal of the match. A more sublime, perfectly weighted pass you couldn’t wish to see, Klose didn’t have to break stride, he barely even had to move, before stroking it past Romero.

Klose - World Cup legend

The final goal capped a stunning team performance by Germany. Once more, Joachim Löw came up with the perfect tactical plan to foil his opposition. Once again they were strong in defence and devastating on the counter attack. Schweinsteiger, in particular, marshalled his team expertly, keeping the shackles on Messi for much of the game but also getting forward to support in attack. The goal also brought Klose’s World Cup goal tally to 14, level with Gerd Müller and 1 short of Ronaldo’s all time record. All eyes will be on him in Germany’s semi-final against Vicente del Bosque’s (so far) unimpressive and beatable-looking Spain outfit. Unfortunately, they won’t be on Thomas Müller, who was harshly yellow-carded for an accidental handball in the 1st half and will be suspended.

Whether they win or lose against the Spaniards, one thing is certain: just like in 2006, Germany’s young team has made their countrymen, from the Chancellor to the salt of the earth fan, immensely proud, and given them at least one more big party to look forward to.

England fans should feel a bit better also – at least Capello’s men mustered one goal!