World Cup College

An early chance fell to Holland in this semi-final: an Arjen Robben cross was punched by Muslera only as far as Dirk Kuyt who was 12 yards from goal. But Kuyt failed to keep his powerful shot down. However, this was no indication of how the first-half was to progress: it was a cagey first period with Uruguay preventing the Dutch attacking players from attaining any momentum.

It took an amazing strike from Giovanni van Bronckhorst to break the deadlock. He struck a fierce left-foot shot from well outside the area which found the net via the post. It then continued to be a tense and uneasy encounter with neither side creating clear chances. Holland had most of the possession but seldom looked like they would convert this into anything productive. The score was levelled before half-time by another long-range strike: Diego Forlan struck a curling shot past Maarten Stekelenberg, but a stronger hand from the keeper could have prevented the goal.

For the second-half, Holland replaced Demy de Zeeuw with Rafael van der Vaart and switched to more of a 4-1-4-1 formation in the endeavour to prompt some attacking thrust. The second period promised little though until Diego Forlan demonstrated his mastery of the Jabulani once more, with a decent free-kick which required a diving save from Stekelenberg. This seemed to ignite the Dutch somewhat and almost immediately they contrived a good attack: Robin van Persie held the ball up well and played a neat ball to van der Vaart whose shot was saved ‚ the rebound fell to Robben but his attempt at goal was wild. The lead was regained just minutes later when Wesley Sneijder made space for himself in the box and his deflected shot found the net (with van Persie arguably in an offside position.) The lead was then increased, and the game won, when Kuyt’s cross from the left was headed home adroitly by Robben.

Uruguay pulled a goal back with full-time approaching when Pareira scored following an intelligent short free-kick. This made for a nervy final couple of minutes, but the Dutch held on and will feature in their first World Cup final since 1978 on Sunday.

Holland laboured for periods in this game and struggled to break the shackles of the pressure imposed by Uruguay. The Dutch set up as a secure unit but also field influential individuals in attacking areas. However, their approach contrasts with the more fluid approach of Germany for whom Memut Ozil oscillates between support striker and attacking midfielder, whilst Sami Khedira is slightly more advanced than Bastian Schweinsteiger in central-midfield. The German approach therefore morphs from 4-1-3-2 to 4-2-3-1. Although there is some positional exchange between van Persie, Kuyt and Robben, the Dutch play a fairly rigid 4-2-3-1. It required a substitution (the introduction of van der Vaart) to adopt a different approach in the second period. Could Sunday’s final pit the functional and workmanlike Dutch against the total football of Germany!

Before this quarter-final fixture had time to settle, Germany took the lead. On three minutes, Bastian Schweinsteiger swept in a free-kick which was flicked into the net by Thomas Muller. Germany looked strong during the initial exchanges: whilst Argentina put together some neat moves they failed to work a clear opportunity. Angel Di Maria found himself in dangerous positions on a couple of occasions but could not deliver a meaningful end product. Germany made life difficult for Argentina’s key attacking players with Schweinsteiger and Sami Khedira anchoring the midfield. The lead could have been doubled around the half-hour mark when Muller burst into the box and squared for Miroslav Klose, but he blazed over when he should probably have scored. Argentina’s best chance fell to Gonzalo Higuain after he turned inside Arne Friedrich, but his left foot shot was tame and it was saved at the near post by Manuel Neuer. Lionel Messi demonstrated his threat in sporadic bursts and almost played in Carlos Tevez, but Neuer was able to intervene. Argentina played a very attacking formation in the first-half, with Di Maria and Maxi Rodriguez advanced on the flanks either side of the Higuain/ Tevez/ Messi triumvirate. Germany also showed fluidity in advanced areas although Mesut Ozil saw little of the ball.

Argentina started the second-half well as they sought an equalizer. Di Maria put in a good cross from the right which was chested down by Rodriguez, but Tevez’s shot was blocked by Per Mertesacker. Gerrmany’s defending was resolute, and this was encapsulated by a Jerome Boateng challenge on Higuain as the Argentine forward broke into the German defensive third. The overall balance of play was consistent with the first-half as, whilst the Argentina players combined well, they didn’t carve out any clear goalscoring opportunities. Long-range efforts from Tevez and Di Maria were comfortably saved by Neuer. Slightly against the run of play, Germany doubled their lead on 67 minutes. Khedira managed to scoop the ball forwards and Podolski ran into the box to cross for Klose who had a simple finish. The Argentinean players seemed to lose a little heart after this second goal, and Germany accordingly increased their lead. Following a short corner, Schweinsteiger made an impressive (but unchallenged) run to the near post; his short pass to Friedrich gifted the German defender a simple goal. As full-time approach the score-line was further inflated by a smooth counterattack: Ozil crossed for Klose who scored his second with a controlled volley.

The final score may have flattered Germany slightly, as Argentina had the best of the game when they were a goal down. However, Germany certainly deserved to win, as they limited Argentina’s attacking game and were ruthless when contriving attacks of their own. I predict that Germany will win World Cup 2010: they have the organization to shut down opposition sides, and also sufficient flexibility and talent in advanced areas to win games. Argentina have performed well over World Cup 2010, but were outdone in this fixture. Perhaps the distinction between defence and attack was too substantial, with Maradona essentially fielding five attacking players, and five defensive players (with Mascherano sitting in front of the back four.) A creative midfielder, such as Juan Veron, may have provided an effective link between defence and attack.

And following another convincing display by Germany, does England’s second-round departure at their hands now look a little less disastrous?