Germany whistle through to the semi finals
Posted by DavidM in Argentina, Germany, World Cup | 30 June 2006
The first quarter-final is over and Germany won a place in the semi-final on Tuesday. And deservedly so.
I was fulsome of my praise of Argentina in their first 2 games, but since they've met sterner opposition they've failed to sparkle which is a disappointment.
The first half wasn't the most exciting 45 minutes of football I've seen - Argentina controlled the game but did nothing with it, Germany couldn't achieve the killer ball on the odd occasion when they had it. The Argentinian goal changed the game for the better. Germany started pushing more and in the second half looked very lively, though still didn't have as many clear goal-scoring opportunities as they should have.
However, instead of taking advantage of the more attacking German play to counter-attack and seal the game, Argentina remained too slow coming forward. And they paid for it.
Germany deservedly equalised and when it came to penalties were as clinical as ever.
If ever there was a game where the crowd acted as a 12th man, this was it. For most of the game the German fans kept up a constant jeering whistle at the Argentinians.
So Germany head to the semi's. I just hope that if England do meet them in the final it doesn't go to penalties, because they were ruthless.
