Day 15:-

USA vs. Germany:-





With the constant speculation as to whether or not both teams would play out a drab draw, not one single player from either side showed such an intention in an interesting match!

There weren’t any major tactical changes in both teams’ set-ups; as Coach Joachim Löw once again began the game with a “false nine” system, while US head Coach Jürgen Klinsmann stuck with his formation and tactics from the previous 2 games.

It was all about Germany in the opening stages of the first half; taking full control of the game, constantly exchanging short passes in midfield and switching play from one side to the other as the US defended deep.

The US were having difficulties imposing themselves on the game; due to Germany’s high-press game whenever they lost possession and the fact that they kept closing down spaces at the back.

The Germans were pretty straight-forward in their offensive approach; coming in from the sides and sending one low cross after another into the box.

The game’s tempo became rather subdued as time passed by, with the US team looking dangerous on the counter, all the while still defending fairly deep. Germany were somewhat lacking accuracy in their passing; losing possession, more than once, in crucial areas as they seemed unable to do much with the ball.

It is worth noting here that Coach Löw’s insistence on playing a false-nine striker hindered Germany’s chances of being able to find spaces in the opposition’s box; as there was almost no central German physical presence in the final third.

Germany struggled more and more to launch proper attacks as the half drew to a close. They were playing with too much width but no real penetration into the US’ box!

Meanwhile, Team USA were relying on long vertical play; looking to send high balls behind Germany’s, somewhat, static backline and catch them off-guard.

It was a tactical first half more than anything else. The US defended deep, but not too compact, aiming to counter-attack the Germans and play long balls.

Germany had the upper hand in terms of ball possession but were not very productive on it; hurt by the lack of physical offensive presence in front of the US’ goal.

Coach Löw decided to immediately address the aforementioned issue at the start of the second half by sending on Miro Klose to play in the center of Germany’s attack.

The game restarted with pretty much an encore of the first half. Germany were in full control; passing around to probe for spaces as Özil dropped deep and began playing from more central areas.

Despite the US defenders playing a more compact game at the back in the second half so far, Germany were able to take the lead courtesy of a Thomas Müller curling shot after Tim Howard had done brilliantly well to save Per Mertesacker's header following a corner.

The game became more open after the goal as the US began to push further forward hoping to grab the equalizer. The Germans, on the other hand, began to play with more freedom; comfortably passing the ball around and interchanging positions in midfield.

Slowly, the match’s tempo began to drop once more; Germany seemingly unable to get a proper passing sequence going, while the US were not urgent enough with their attacks.

The closing stages of the match saw the US play in such a way as if they were content with the 1-0 score-line; as they were not committing any extra bodies forward and still defending fairly deep.

On the other hand, the Germans were rather passive in their attacking approach; showing signs of fatigue from all the running amongst the harsh rainy conditions.

To sum it up, it was another fine defensive US performance, opting for a physical game and limiting themselves to playing counter-attacks; which might have been more fruitful had they played with more urgency.

The Germans did not perform too bad in defense either, and proved that they are more than capable of closing out a game when needed. They were somewhat ineffective in front of goal at times, with some wayward passing affecting their forward momentum.

One wonders how many more games Coach Löw needs to witness before he finally realizes that his “false nine” system is just not as good as he would like it to be, given the current crop of German players at his disposal!


Man of the match: Omar Gonzalez: A great solid display at the back as he put his body and soul into the game; preventing several dangerous German chances.

Day 14:-

Nigeria vs. Argentina:-





A match that was, more or less, literally defined during the first 5 minutes of each half!

There weren’t many changes from both teams’ previous games in terms of their formations or tactical set-ups. The only thing worth mentioning would be Coach Alejandro Sabella’s decision to play Messi as a pure center-forward behind the striker duo of Agüero and Higuaín (in comparison to the right-wing role from their last match); as Coach Sabella looked to fully utilize Messi’s attacking abilities.

The game saw one of the best starts to a match at the WC so far, with a goal from each team in the opening 3 minutes; as both sides still had not gotten accustomed to the tempo and rhythm of the match yet.

Nigeria were not defending as deep as was expected from them; however, Argentina were the ones in constant possession of the ball.

The Argentinians were pressing Nigeria back into their own half, going at their defense from all sides of the pitch; a tactic further aided by Nigeria’s continued disability of holding onto possession for long enough to get themselves out of such a situation and build something forward.

The game’s tempo began to drop significantly as time passed by; as Argentina were too slow in creating chances from open play and sometimes deliberately subduing their own pace in a feeble attempt to use the increased possession they were enjoying to literally pass their way through Nigeria’s defense.

It was a rather poor tactic; as Argentina were unable to create any real chances from open play and ended up constantly wasting possession in crucial areas, further diminishing their urgency in attack. The Nigerians were defending well but were too static in their forward play; barely offering anything of notice up-front.

The half came to an end shortly after Messi’s efficient free-kick-goal, onto which, for some reason, Enyeama decided not to pounce; even though he was moving with the correct pace in the correct direction!

In summation, it wasn’t such a great first half by any standards from either side. Argentina put in an insipid display of football as they were seemingly playing without a clear offensive plan; not knowing what to do with the ball for all the possession they had and, instead, depending on set-pieces and long shots.

Nigeria played a compact and well-organized game at the back; but did not offer anything threatening, besides the goal, on the counter and, sometimes, gave away possession too cheaply.

The second half began in a somewhat similar fashion to the first as Nigeria grabbed a quick goal after Musa exchanged a brilliant one-two with Emenike from a rather deep position. Admittedly, it was bizarre to see how Argentina’s defenders were left, somewhat, WATCHING Musa run through on goal to score!

Shortly after that, Argentina regained the lead from a corner amidst some poor Nigerian marking; with Rojo being rather fortunate to flick the ball into the back of the net.

Argentina’s game in the second half had a real element of width to it; as Lavezzi (on for the injured Agüero) constantly ran the channels for them and offered a crucial dimension to their play which they clearly lacked in the first half.

The Argentinians were better in attack in the second half; fully utilizing the entire width of the pitch to get their long and through balls in behind Nigeria’s defense.

Nigeria seemed flustered and still struggling to regroup after that 5th goal; but it did not last for long as they began to attack more and more as time passed by, with Argentina playing on the break this time.

The closing minutes of the match saw Argentina defend fairly deep as they looked to close-out the game; but they were lacking a bit of precision in front of goal every time they quickly counter-attacked.

Nigeria’s lack of urgency in their build-up play and actual attacks, probably due to exhaustion, did not aid them at grabbing a late equalizer as the game came to an end.

Given the way the match went, it would be an understatement to say that Nigeria did not hold anything back from Argentina and were brave in their offensive approach; even though they lacked real urgency at certain times. Their defense under-performed in the set-piece-department as they were too static; but on a whole, they were more organized and compact than Argentina’s back-line for most parts of the game.

Argentina were largely subdued in the first half; lacking creativity and width in their forward play. They slightly improved in those areas in the second half and also showed a flexible side to their game; as they opted to play on the break for the latter stages of the game. All in all, it was not an entirely convincing performance from them though (story of their WC campaign so far)!


Man of the match: Ángel di María: Did NOT lay back for even one second during the entire match; constantly running between Nigeria’s lines and looking to exploit spaces!