Watching the Germany - Argentina quarter-final was fun. Its a pity that the result was decided on penalties and in such close encounters it is not good to point a better side simply based on the result. The Argentines dominated the first 20 minutes of the game but there after things were different. I cannot say if the Argentines dropped guard or the Germans upped their game, but the teams were evenly matched until the Argentines scored in the 49th minute. However there after it was all Germany , they woke up from the shock of being one down as if they had been kicked in the wrong place.
Argentines aided thier cause by making some crucial tactical errors. Substituting Riquleme was a bad move which handed over the control of the game to the germans. Morever when the game was equaled by Germany, the argentines sorely missed a playmaker as the sub for Riq was a defender.
One interseting observation from the game was the physical war between Ayala and Ballack. The two were in constant argument with a lot of pulling-pushing and head to head bickering going on during corners. So seeing Ayala walk up to take the penalty immediately after Ballack scored, my reaction was , no way he is scoring, and he didnt. There was so much pressure on him and his ego was at war with Ballack that it seemed he was looking at mount everest as he walked up to the box. These are the little things that play a psychological part and the coaches shud tale a look at. I am not discrediting Lehmann , as he made some wonderful saves , but still! I am sure that Ballack wud have felt the same pressure had he walked after Ayala scored!
As for the Italy - Ukraine game there was never a doubt about the result, but the thing of interest for me was how Italy do it - and they did it in style. They seemed in a very positive frame of mind and personally I think the 4-5-1 combination suites the Italian game play very well. Ukraine had a a couple of decent chances but they had a wall, in the form of Buffon & Co, to cross . One has to score a goal to win a game of football and evidentally no one is doing that against Italy :)
Argentines aided thier cause by making some crucial tactical errors. Substituting Riquleme was a bad move which handed over the control of the game to the germans. Morever when the game was equaled by Germany, the argentines sorely missed a playmaker as the sub for Riq was a defender.
One interseting observation from the game was the physical war between Ayala and Ballack. The two were in constant argument with a lot of pulling-pushing and head to head bickering going on during corners. So seeing Ayala walk up to take the penalty immediately after Ballack scored, my reaction was , no way he is scoring, and he didnt. There was so much pressure on him and his ego was at war with Ballack that it seemed he was looking at mount everest as he walked up to the box. These are the little things that play a psychological part and the coaches shud tale a look at. I am not discrediting Lehmann , as he made some wonderful saves , but still! I am sure that Ballack wud have felt the same pressure had he walked after Ayala scored!
As for the Italy - Ukraine game there was never a doubt about the result, but the thing of interest for me was how Italy do it - and they did it in style. They seemed in a very positive frame of mind and personally I think the 4-5-1 combination suites the Italian game play very well. Ukraine had a a couple of decent chances but they had a wall, in the form of Buffon & Co, to cross . One has to score a goal to win a game of football and evidentally no one is doing that against Italy :)
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