ARG vs. GER, 3-1
The last time Argentina met Germany, they were trounced 0-4 in the 2010 World Cup. Today, with several of Germany's top players including Neuer, Gomez, and Schweinsteiger off the call sheet, they had a chance to even the score.
There was some quality football in the first half, but you might not guess that based on this summary. Just a few minutes in, Gonzalo Higuain and X collided during a three-way header, leaving the Real Madrid forward groaning on the ground. Both came back on to play, but the German was soon subbed off, leaving Higuain to play the remainder of the half with a big bandage around his bleeding head.
Next, German keeper Zieler tried to snatch the ball from under an Argentinian attacker's feet, tumbled him over, and got a red card for his troubles. Without Neuer, Joachim Lowe was forced to replace Muller with rookie international keeper Ter Stegen, whose first job on the pitch was to face Leo Messi's penalty shot. No pressure or anything! However, while Messi may be the world's greatest football player, he is not particularly renowned for his penalty shots, and he did a particularly unimpressive job with this one.
Argentina stepped up their attack after the substitution left Germany down to 10 men, but the first half probably still would have ended 0-0... if Sami Khedira hadn't accidentally kicked Di Maria's corner into his own goal. Whoops.
Less than five minutes into the second half, a German player took a hard shot from deep that rebounded off the crossbar. It fell to Khedira on the left, who efficiently passed it back into the box for Mesut Ozil to knock in. Unfortunately, Khedira was offside when the initial shot was taken, so the goal was deemed invalid.
And just a couple of minutes later, "Kun" Aguero passed the ball up to Higuain and chased after him. Without even looking back, Higuain passed the ball back deeper - right into the path of the advancing Messi, who slammed it home. 2-0.
In the 65th minute, Higuain used an amazing backheel to get the ball up and eventually to Messi, who looked certain to score with one of his trademark chips over the keeper. A defender leaped into the goal to block, but the shot went just wide. But then, unexpectedly, just after Kun had given away the ball, Di Maria recovered it and blasted it straight down the center into the back of the net. 3-0.
But despite being three goals and a man down, Germany didn't give up. In the 82nd minute, a pass from substitute Schurrle was crossed back by Gotze and met squarely by the forehead of Howedes. 3-1. Messi tried to respond by sending the ball through to Higuain, but the Real Madrid forward sent it just wide. That was the last serious play of the evening.
And just to top off a truly entertaining match, a fan with a fistful of red and yellow ran onto the field in the last minute of regular time... in order to touch his hero, Leo Messi. (Leo had this adorable incredulous smile on his face.) He was escorted courteously off the field by security.
P.S. Now Spain is playing Puerto Rico. Perhaps to level the playing field, about half of the Spaniards appear to be assigned to a totally different position. (It's hard to know since ESPN isn't providing any audio.) Let's see how well Xabi does as a striker and Torres does in defense!
There was some quality football in the first half, but you might not guess that based on this summary. Just a few minutes in, Gonzalo Higuain and X collided during a three-way header, leaving the Real Madrid forward groaning on the ground. Both came back on to play, but the German was soon subbed off, leaving Higuain to play the remainder of the half with a big bandage around his bleeding head.
Next, German keeper Zieler tried to snatch the ball from under an Argentinian attacker's feet, tumbled him over, and got a red card for his troubles. Without Neuer, Joachim Lowe was forced to replace Muller with rookie international keeper Ter Stegen, whose first job on the pitch was to face Leo Messi's penalty shot. No pressure or anything! However, while Messi may be the world's greatest football player, he is not particularly renowned for his penalty shots, and he did a particularly unimpressive job with this one.
Argentina stepped up their attack after the substitution left Germany down to 10 men, but the first half probably still would have ended 0-0... if Sami Khedira hadn't accidentally kicked Di Maria's corner into his own goal. Whoops.
Less than five minutes into the second half, a German player took a hard shot from deep that rebounded off the crossbar. It fell to Khedira on the left, who efficiently passed it back into the box for Mesut Ozil to knock in. Unfortunately, Khedira was offside when the initial shot was taken, so the goal was deemed invalid.
And just a couple of minutes later, "Kun" Aguero passed the ball up to Higuain and chased after him. Without even looking back, Higuain passed the ball back deeper - right into the path of the advancing Messi, who slammed it home. 2-0.
In the 65th minute, Higuain used an amazing backheel to get the ball up and eventually to Messi, who looked certain to score with one of his trademark chips over the keeper. A defender leaped into the goal to block, but the shot went just wide. But then, unexpectedly, just after Kun had given away the ball, Di Maria recovered it and blasted it straight down the center into the back of the net. 3-0.
But despite being three goals and a man down, Germany didn't give up. In the 82nd minute, a pass from substitute Schurrle was crossed back by Gotze and met squarely by the forehead of Howedes. 3-1. Messi tried to respond by sending the ball through to Higuain, but the Real Madrid forward sent it just wide. That was the last serious play of the evening.
And just to top off a truly entertaining match, a fan with a fistful of red and yellow ran onto the field in the last minute of regular time... in order to touch his hero, Leo Messi. (Leo had this adorable incredulous smile on his face.) He was escorted courteously off the field by security.
P.S. Now Spain is playing Puerto Rico. Perhaps to level the playing field, about half of the Spaniards appear to be assigned to a totally different position. (It's hard to know since ESPN isn't providing any audio.) Let's see how well Xabi does as a striker and Torres does in defense!