Two of the best and most entertaining teams in the World Cup square off today in Cape Town as high-flying Argentina takes on young and dangerous Germany for a place in the World Cup semifinals.
Lionel Messi and Mezut Oezil will square off to see which of them can create the most magic, while Miroslav Klose and Gonzalo Higuain battle to see who can challenge for the tournament Golden Boot.
Here is my preview of today's match for Fox Soccer.
I am in Cape Town today for this high-profile tilt and will be providing commentary throughout the day. Please feel free to follow along here, and as always, you are welcome to share your own thoughts and opinions on the match in the comments section below.
Enjoy the action (Commentary is after the jump):
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FINAL– That's all for me. Please feel free to share your post-match thoughts in the comments section below. Thanks for following along and enjoy the rest of your day (and be sure to take part in the commentary on Spain-Paraguay, here on SBI.
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FINAL– The Germans showed what can be done when a team is committed to movement, passing, disciplined defending and giving every bit of energy to the cause. They're World Cup favorites now. No doubt about it.
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FINAL– Germany 4, Argentina 0. And the young and dynamic Germans put on a clinic, destroying Maradona's Argentina.
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90th Minute– Thoroughly beautiful stuff from Germany. Sad and pitiful stuff from Argentina.
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86th Minute– GOAL GERMANY!!!!! And it's Klose AGAIN. What a demolition job by Germany. Told you they'd pour numbers and go for the jugular.
Germany 4, Argentina 0. WOWWWW
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85th Minute– Messi shot right at Neuer. At this point it looks as though Messi will finish the tournament without a goal.
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82nd Minute– Mueller comes off to loud applause. He's the Man of the Match today. No question about it. Shame that he'll miss the semifinal on a questionable yellow card.
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81st Minute– Bad turnover by Messi, who has clearly checked out of this match mentally.
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80th Minute– Looking ahead to the semifinal. You have to think a Spain-Germany semifinal would be a dream to watch. Not to sleep on Paraguay, but they'll be heavy underdogs tonight.
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77th Minute– Mascherano yellow. Professional foul there. Poor guy. He deserved better from his teammates today.
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76th Minute– Toni Kroos comes in for Khedira. Another young prospect for Germany.
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75th Minute– Sergio Aguero is in the match now. A little late, don't you think Diego?
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74th Minute- GOAL GERMANY!!! And it's Arne Friedrich with the finish off a nice move by Schweinsteiger, dribbles past Argentina's defense to set up the veteran defender.
Germany 3, Argentina 0.WOW.
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73rd Minute– German fans with their own version of Ole as they pass it around. Argentina looks deflated.
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71st Minute– It might sound counter-intuitive but look for Germany to start taking more chances now and pushing numbers into the attack.
Marcell Jansen comes in for Boateng, who had a solid day today.
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70th Minute– What a pass by Mueller on the Klose goal, delivers the incisive pass from the ground. Great game for the youngster.
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69th Minute– Javier Pastore comes on for Otamendi. Too little, too late. And where on earth is Milito or Aguero?
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68th Minute- GOAL GERMANY!!! And it's Klose, who finishes off an easy set-up to make it 2-0. Germany rips ARgentina apart yet again with its passing as Podolski delivers the final one to set up Klose. WOW.
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66th Minute– It's a crime that Javier Zanetti isn't on this Argentina team.
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65th Minute– Argentina keeps settling for shots from outside the box. Neuer isn't giving up any soft goals today so they need to stop settling.
Otamendi with ANOTHER foul and another free kick in a good spot. He's been atrocious.
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63rd Minute– Argentina corner off a nice move by Messi. They're feeling it, but still no goal.
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61st Minute– Tevez takes a wasteful shot from distance. Was he hoping for a Robert Green moment? Neuer is slightly better than Green.
And he showed it again with the stop on Higuain.
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60th Minute– Argentina with a counter that falls one pass short. Better half from the South Americans.
Germany with a free kick about 30 yards from goal. Otamendi again. He's been bad today.
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58th Minute– While you're at it, you can tell Miroslav Klose he can stop hiding. Haven't seen him since that miss in the first half.
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57th Minute– Anybody seen Maxi Rodriguez? I could have sworn he was in this game.
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56th Minute– Close call on that Offside call. Argentina is getting closer.
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54th Minute– Argentina is stepping it up and you wonder what's up with Germany now.
By the way, ARgentina needs to give up on taking crossed corners. Take them short because you aren't winning balls in the air and Germany's counter is deadly off corners.
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52nd Minute– Germany hasn't had much of the ball yet this half. Argentina has stepped up the defensive effort. Now if only they could get the offside situation figured out they might be able to build something.
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50th Minute– Mascherano has been everywhere for Argentina. He's really kept them in this with his work in the middle.
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49th Minute– DiMaria goes WIDE!!! He was close on that one. Better from Argentina.
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47th Minute– Argentina with some possession now. They look a bit more energized. Messi is starting to find the ball.
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46th Minute– We're back.
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HALFTIME– No changes for either side. I wonder what Maradona's first move will be in the second half. His coaching ability will be tested now.
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HALFTIME– Germany 1, Argentina 0. The score could be much more in Germany's favor right now and Argentina can count itself lucky.
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45th Minute– One minute of stoppage time.
Messi wiggles free, but his shot from 30 yards out goes high. That shows you the lack of activity and lost confidence when Messi is settling for a shot like that.
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44th Minute– More good passing from Germany, but Mueller tries to squeeze one through the opponent's legs, earning a corner. Romero punches away the corner.
Maradona with a touch on the sidelines. I bet he'd make some off the ball runs if he was out there.
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41st Minute– Yes, I'm aware of the irony of South American teams being frustrated by diving.
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40th Minute– Argentina draws a second corner, too bad they don't do much with these.
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39th Minute– Podolski goes close with a blast, but it Jabulanis the wrong way.
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38th Minute– For the second straight day we're seeing South American frustrations at what they consider diving by Europeans.
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37th Minute– Argentine goal waived off for offside. The whole team was offside so they can't complain.
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36th Minute– Mueller handball and gets a card. He'll miss the semi if Germany wins. That's big.
Dangerous free kick for Argentina.
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35th Minute– SAVE NEUER! Higuain with a nice turn and near-post attempt, but Neuer is on it.
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32nd Minute– Better from ARgentina as DiMaria races down the right to collect a pass before hitting a weak shot. Argentina can create chances, they just need to move. Odd to have to say that about an Argentina team.
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31st Minute– Celeb sighting. Leo DiCaprio is in the house.
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30th Minute– Messi's shot goes well over. He couldn't get the Jabulani to, well, Jabulani.
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29th Minute– Tevez earns a dangerous free kick for Argentina. Can Messi hit this well?
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26th Minute– Messi beats three defenders but his cross goes out. His teammates need to run off the ball. It's even more glaring how little running off the ball Argentina is doing when compared to Germany.
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25th Minute– Germany is keeping close tabs on Messi,w ith Schweinsteiger doing a good job of shadowing him.
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23rd Minute– Klose MISSES!!! What a chance in front of goal set up by Mueller, but Klose's shot from near the penalty area goes over. Argentina lucks out there.
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19th Minute– Argentina's fans are singing, trying to urge their team on. Not helping yet.
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17th Minute– Argentina earns a corner. Their passing looks pedestrian by comparison, but you have to hope Germany's play inspires Argentina to kick it up a notch.
Corner headed clear.
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16th Minute– Pass-Run, Pass-Run, Pass-Run. The German movement in possession is just a joy to watch.
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13th Minute– The way Germany is playing right now you'd favor them against anybody. We'll see what Messi can do about that. He can't do it alone though.
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12th Minute– Otamendi gets a deserved yellow. He is struggling today. Will we see Jonas Gutierrez before long?
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11th Minute– Not sure about Maradona's lineup today. He went with an attack-minded lineup, but Mascherano is the only midfielder with good defensive qualities. It's showing.
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10th Minute– Messi sparked a nice counter, but the long pass to Higuain was too long, killing the possibilities. Argentina will have chances today. The question is can they slow down Germany.
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9th Minute– Germany corner after another smooth build-up. Argentina doesn't have an answer for Germany's dynamic runs in midfield.
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7th Minute– Argentina's fans are trying to urge their team on, but Germany is bossing the game right now.
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5th Minute– Germany is knocking it around at will, making great runs off the ball and leaving ARgentina scrambling. Wow, good stuff from them early.
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3rd Minute– GOAL GERMANY!!!!! And the set piece is headed home by Mueller. He was kept onside at the near-post by Otamendi.
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3rd Minute– Germany with good movement, switching the field and finding Podolski on Otamendi, who commits a foul, setting up a good free kick.
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2nd Minute– Germany with the first good passing sequence. They're not wasting time.
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1st Minute– And we're off.
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PRE-GAME– My pick before this match was Argentina, but I'm feeling a little less confident about that pick with Samuel out.
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PRE-GAME– It's a sunny day in Cape Town, but the field is covered by the shade of the overhang here, so heat and glare won't be an issue.
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PRE-GAME– Not a lot of love between these teams. There were no pre-game hugs and acknowledgements in the tunnel.
Captains are giving a speech about racism. Mascherano is in full Argentine accent (not Liverpudlian) and Phillip Lahm followed up by calling Argentine's crybabies (okay, he didn't, but he's talked enough trash leading up to this match).
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PRE-GAME– No Walter Samuel today for Argentina. He must still not be fully recovered from his hamstring injury. That's a big blow for Argentina as they try to slow down Klose.
Germany's lineup is unchanged.
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PRE-GAME– Here are today's lineups:
ARGENTINA
————-Tevez————Higuain———–
———————-Messi————————
–DiMaria——Mascherano——–Rodriguez–
Heinze—Burdisso—DeMichelis—–Otamendi
——————-Romero———————–
GERMANY
———————–Klose————————-
-Podolski————Oezil————-Mueller—
——Schweinsteiger—–Khedira————-
Boateng—-Friedrich—–Mertesacker—-Lahm
———————Neuer————————