Germany - 20100705

After thrashing England at 4-1, Germany once again demonstrated the art of counter-attack, by the vanquish against Argentina at 4-0 in the World Cup quarterfinal.

I was amazed by Germany's performance. The discipline presented was first class. The German side fully understand that they do not have any superstar comparable to Messi, thus no German player would possess the ball for any extra second. As a result, ball movement was exceptionally swift. Also, they must have struck to the game plan firmly. In the quarterfinal game, all four goals were coming from the left which Argentina's right back was the weakest link. It must have been directed by their manager, Joachim Loew.

Except his stunning figure and handsomeness, Joachim Loew is little-known to football fans. However, Germany's wonderful performance prompted me to google his background. Strangely, Loew's resume is not particularly impressive. He has been fired by several less-than-renowned clubs in Germany and Turkey. Before promoted to the present post, Loew was the assistant of Klinsmann in the Germany national football team.

Thus, it was quite a mystery regarding Loew's appointment. When we see teams belong to the same echelon, their coaches are high-profile, most notably Fabio Capello. So, how come a football kingdom like Germany could allow such a minnow to be their leader?

After the repeated feats, I could hardly see Spain's chance against Germany. Spain, to me, is just a weaker version of Argentina. So, Germany's chance of lifting the World Cup depends on their opponent in the final. They would prefer Holland to Uruguay. Against Holland, Germany could rewind their counter-attack. However, Uruguay may not dictate the play. Germany then would have to dominate, which may not be their best tactics.