the argentina scoreline is a bit misleading. The team was able to settle down and take control of the game, and were clearly the better team by the end of the first half. and 2nd up until the GER's second goal.They were SLOWLY beginning to make head way into opening lanes down the center and on the right flank, but a couple of things made this difficult. Maxi was practically wasted today...he was tracking back and forth down the right side, and with Mascherano running around the pitch putting out fires, they had no one to facilitate the ball into Messi and Higuian. Messi practically had to come out to midfield to even touch the ball. Di Maria should have been subbed out (or not have even started) for Pastore at the beginning of the 2nd half, and Veron for Maxi. What at moments took Germany 3 passes (get outside the box), took Argentina an eternity. By then, they faced a solidly planted German defense. This is the game when the exclusion of zanetti and cambiasso caught up to them. but damn, any half chance germany has gotten in the last 2 games and it has been game over. Young teams, with speed, skills, and no pressure are scary
2. If it werent for the fact that Suarez , Lodeiro, Lugano will be absent (lugano having a slight chance he might play), I would have taken Uruguay in this match without hesitating. The dutch were gifted a goal that paralyzed Brazil, and have yet to show much of anything that makes me believe they would have broken Uruguay's defense. Up to this point, Forlan has had to sacrifice and play much further behind than he usually does with atl. madrid, providing service for his teammates, namely Suarez. It will be interesting to see if he will go up front or assume the same midfield/creative role he has played so far in the tourney
