Argentina never showed up and Germany absolutely dominated in what ended up being one of the most impressive performances of the World Cup. Germany were able to expose the Albiceleste right side of the backline and Diego Maradona was completely outcoached by Joachim Löw.

Die Mannschaft took advantage of the Maradona's underestimation of the German starting XI.  This display in proper coaching and devastating team play ended up equaling the second worst defeat in Argentine World Cup history as the Germans came out on top 4-0.  Argentine fans had not seen this type of beating on this stage since back in 1974 when Johan Cruyff and the Clockwork Oranje trounced them by the same score.  Having Maradona not bring in an organizer in the middle evidently saw this black hole develop in the middle of the pitch.  There was no Pastore or Verón in there.

Germany had more men in the middle of the field, sometimes even outnumbering the Argentines in the midfield 4:1 or 5:1.  Javier Mascherano was left exposed and Maxi Rodríguez and Ángel Di María never came back to defend.  It was so bad, that Carlos Tevez was going back to defend. 

What went very wrong

For starters, Maradona mentioned during the week that Argentina were a different team compared to what they were back on March 3rd over at Allianz Arena when they beat the Germans 1-0.  What he forgot to realize was that the Germans were a better side without Michael Ballack on the pitch.  Germany were different as well.  They were a much faster team without the Bayer Leverkusen man and emblematic midfielder.

Nicolás Otamendi proved to not be a right back.  Everyone knew that he was not especially after seeing him play at Vélez Sarsfield.   An Argentine player has not looked so overwhelmed on the international scene ever.  He lost his mark on Müeller on the opening goal of the match.  He then was booked and the German attackers passed him like he was just standing on the pitch.

This forced Martín De Michelis to have to play to Otamendi's back.   That meant that he had to cover more space; frightening thought especially with the run of form that the Bayern Munich man has had all throughout the World Cup.

Overall we have to look at Maradona as a major factor for Argentina's failures.  We can all look at the players, but it was Diego's unwillingness to bring Javier Zanetti came to lightGermany.  If there were two players that Argentina missed, those were the ones that would have contributed more than the players that ended up being fielded. 

What was more upsetting for Argentina fans was the fact that Ariel Garcé was not even close to coming onto the pitch.

If there was a disappointment it was Maradona's misuse of Messi.  When the Barcelona star got the ball, his teammates either ran away from him or stood and watched him try to dribble through four Germans.  It was an unfair set  of circumstances.  Di María moved to the right, leaving the entire left open and the only one pushing up was Gabriel Heinze.

Argentina did not play as one team; instead they played like two separate units.  They played with five on defense and five on offense.  There was a Grand Canyon in between both ends of the team.  There was not that one player that could make the nexus between defene and attack.

This was a match designed for a Mario Bolatti or even a Javier Pastore to start.  These two have much more ball control and can go back to defend.  Maxi and Di María failed misearably in feeding the ball up top to Messi, Higuaín, and Tevez.  Those three had to go back and find the ball and hope against hope to generate an opportunity.  When they did, those shots usually ended up as easy shots that Manuel Neuer gobbled up. 

There was also talk about there being a mutiny of sorts in the Argentine dressing room.  Players like Juan Sebastián Verón, Diego Milito, and Clemente Rodríguez were the three most outspoken characters on the team.  Verón lost major points, according to many reporters and stories, after his attitude that "undermined" Maradona's authority.

Verón stepped away from the bench after the second Argentina goal and told his team to "push up" because they were falling back.   This was going on while Diego and his assistants celebrated on the opposite end.  When he went onto the pitch, his first indication was that there was a need to push up- going strictly against Maradona's orders.  Their obedience led to Mexico pushing into the 18 and scoring their goal late in the match.

Germany saw this and took advantage of what the Albiceleste offered.  Those would end up being the final 20 minutes of Verón's international career. 

Diego Milito dropped like BP stocks on the Argentine depth chart.  He played less than 90 minutes and was not pleased.  Although he understood the rules of the game, he expressed his displeasure. What did not help his cause was Martín Palermo coming in and scoring against Greece.  His attitude prior to the Germany match started to expose cracks in the supposed Argentine unity by saying,"(Maxi), you answer.  You play."

Another player that seemed to be put on the outs was Walter Samuel.  The Inter defender was declared healthy, but Maradona refused to use him and went with the suspect De Michelis instead.  Well I guess you know what happened.

Also Clemente Rodríguez was quickly taken out of the mix and was never even considered at left back.

What went very right
You truly have to consider the opponent, the ocassion, and the form by the Germans.  Bastian Schweinsteiger was an absolute tractor trailer in the middle.   The German beast of burden was able to clean up the midfield and clean up what little scraps were left by Maradona's scheme to clean up and leave it up to the rest of the boys up front to get the glory.   He was also sharp with the ball near his feet as he assisted Arne Friedrich after a brilliant run to the line; running past three Argentine defenders and going around Nicolás Otamendi in the process. He would find Friedrich coming into the six and made it 3-0.

Germany attacked and outnumbered. Germany defended and outnumbered. There were times that Argentina looked like they had eight on the pitch. There were instances when I thought the Albiceleste were about to forfeit when they looked like they were playing with seven.

There was a lull when Argentina did have possession and did generate some offensive opportunities, but that was when Germany struck again.   Sami Khedira was sprawled on teh ground and he found Lukas Podolski inside the box.  Once again Otamendi found himself in no-man's land and Miroslav Klose would score his 12th career World Cup goal with a bounding ball that he would tap in to make it 2-0. 

Podolski would also engineer the final nail in the Argentine coffin as he led the break out to Mesut Özil, who found Podolski in the area by himself.  That goal would make him the all-time leading scorer in World Cups for Germany, surpassing Gerd Müller.

So the Argentines can blame Maradona, Lionel Messi, or Mick Jagger but let's be honest, Germany was just the better team. You can point all the fingers and have all the voodoo and lucky charms working in full force.  But on this day, not even love would conquer all. Nothing worked against a team that is playing as well as Germany right now.

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