Face it. The German team has had a absolute cakewalk schedule till now.
Their first real test is tomorrow.
Yes, and I'm half German and love the country. But I'm rooting for England now that the US blew it.
Plus the English fans have caused a national panic in Germany having drunk almost all available beer. Now thats a accomplishment!
Head-to-heads
Germany have played Argentina on 16 previous occasions. The Germans have won five times and Argentina seven. Four matches have been drawn. The two nations have met on four previous occasions in World Cups including the finals of 1986 and 1990. Germany have the upper hand with two wins to one. The 1966 fixture was drawn.
Their most recent fixture was in last year's Confederations Cup and ended in a 2-2 draw. Neither of Germany's goalscorers, Kuranyi and Asamoah, will start this match. Argentina's two goals were netted by Riquelme and Cambiasso.
Team facts - Germany
Germany have reached seven World Cup finals in their 16 appearances, winning three (1954, 1974, 1990). Since the victory in 1954, Germany have only been eliminated before the semi-finals on three occasions, all against nations from Eastern Europe (1962, 1994 and 1998).
Germany have won seven of their last eight matches, including all four in this tournament, keeping clean sheets in each of the last three. Their record winning streak in World Cups is five between 1954 and 1962.
Team facts - Argentina
Argentina's best World Cup performances came in 1978 and 1986 when they won the World title. They've been eliminated from the competition at the quarter-final stage on two occasions (1966 and 1998). They also failed to progress from a quarter-final group stage in 1982.
Argentina are now unbeaten in their last five World Cup matches which is two shy of their all-time record of seven in 1986 when they lifted the silverware in Mexico.
Player facts - Germany
Torsten Frings will miss a potential semi-final match if he receives a yellow card against Argentina.
Miroslav Klose has a total of nine World Cup goals and is one away from becoming the 12th player in World Cup history to net 10 goals. Gerd Muller (14), Jurgen Klinsmann (11) and Helmut Rahn (10) are the other Germans on the list.
Player facts - Argentina
Both Gabriel Heinze and Juan Pablo Sorin will miss a potential semi-final match if they receive a yellow card.
Hernan Crespo has scored in the last four World Cup matches he has played in, and is the first player to score in three different matches in this 2006 tournament. Captain Roberto Ayala won his 104th cap in the second round match and is now just two away from his country's record of 106 held by Diego Simeone.
Miscellaneous Info
The hosts have won six of the previous 17 World Cup editions. Germany also hosted the World Cup in 1974, when they emerged victorious by defeating Holland in the final.
Germany's Arne Friedrich plays for Hertha Berlin, and therefore if selected will be playing in familiar surroundings, as this match is being staged in Berlin's Olympic Stadium.
LOL, I´m in Germany and we´ve still plenty of beer. Do you believe all the crap that´s in a British paper? :-) Seriously, neither we´re short of beer nor is there a "national panic". There may be a final England-Germany, I´d like that.
Oh, and if you say we had a cakewalk: SWE-ENG 0:0, GER-SWE 2:0.
BuHuHaHa! I still got some cans left. ;-)
"Face it. The German team has had a absolute cakewalk schedule till now."
True. However, they looked much better than England when playing the same teams (i.e. Ecuador and Sweden). If you look at the eight teams still in the tournament, Germany would certainly deserve a spot in the semi-finals.
To bad only one of either Germany or Argentina can advance.
True, Argentina and Brazil are still the favorites to win the cup, but I would rank Germany at least on par with Portugal (that is, if the team is complete) or France (judging by the impression they made during the last game, not the less-than-perfect games before that) and slightly above England, Ukraine (Wtf are they doing in a quarter final?) and the Italian team, which so far has played atrocious football.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6B3jt9HdVbw
This game is the Endspiel.
Let's rock.
No kidding. Even if England can't beat Germany in the World Cup they have done a much more important accomplishment! I'm so proud of the English fans!
I was a big England fan before the Cup, but they've been playing lacklustre footie -- I actually turned to rooting for Trinidad against England!