Heart Attack Central

I know this doesn't need to be said to anyone watching today's games, but they were just incredible. We started with the most highly anticipated out of all the quarterfinals, which is saying something considering we already watched Holland vs Brazil. The opening match was one of those "good enough to be a final" match-ups, at least on paper, with Argentina vs Germany. Both teams had been very impressive in their round of sixteen matches, with Argentina beating Mexico 3-1 and Germany beating England 4-1. Germany did suffer one lost during the group stage (a distinction that Argentina does not share), but it is tough to hold them to that as they did play with a man down for roughly sixty minutes. Both sides had shown an impressive talent in getting forward into the attack, so this was a chance to be a high scoring affair. It turned out that that prediction was true, but perhaps not quite in the way everyone expected.

Argentina vs Germany

Things started off quickly in the 3rd minute when Bastian Schweinsteiger took a free kick from the left flank and sent a nasty in-swinger into the box. Thomas Muller got the lightest of headers to the ball, but it was enough to change the direction and keeper Sergio Romero could do nothing but watch the ball glance off his shin and into the back of the net. Astonishing start the match, something that most people did not predict, I'd wager. Great ball in by Schweinsteiger and perhaps a general miss by Muller, but he did enough. Romero really can't be expected to stop that shot, by the way. I'm sure there's a keeper alive now that would make that world class save, but he would have had to have lightning hand or foot speed to have a chance. Just a great start by Germany, and they built on that start by maintaining possession after the goal and worked the ball around to keep Argentina on the move. Neither team generated much in the way of chances for a while in this game, as the German defense was strong enough to meet the Argentine attack while being careful that they didn't give the goal right back. The best chance for either side was in the 24th when Muller made a run down the right and Miroslav Klose smartly separated himself from his defender by fading back toward the top of the box instead of making a hard near post run. Muller gave the ball to Klose but his shot took the ball over the crossbar and Germany missed a golden opportunity.

By the 30th minute, Argentina had started possessing more and taking away chances from Germany, but they couldn't create any quality chances for themselves. They managed to get shots off, but never truly troubled the keeper, like in the 33rd when Angel di Maria opened up some space for himself to get a shot off but rolled it easily to keeper Manuel Neuer. Then in the 35th, Gonzalo Higuain turned Arne Friedrich around to create an opening for his shot, but his near post shot effort was saved by Neuer again. This continued on into the second half with di Maria getting free once again in the 48th to fire a ball just wide of the right post, a shot that Neuer most likely had covered regardless. Argentina was the better team during this time, but they were pressing their advantage very hard in an attempt to get the tying goal and that would eventually lead to the floodgates being opened.

In the 68th minute, Muller was on the ground but still managed to play a sliding ball to free Podolski down the left edge of the eighteen. Podolski kept the ball close to his feet to keep Romero honest and then put a sharp ball across the middle outside of the outstretched hands of the keeper and just short of a sliding Argentine defender. Klose gladly settled the pass first so as not to accidentally one-touch a shot over and then poked it into the back of the net, putting Germany up 2-0. Muller made a great play here to start Podolski down the side and Argentina was finally made to pay for their huge offensive push forward by the quick German attack. It didn't take much longer for them to add to that total against an even more desperate Argentinian side and in the 74th, Schweinsteiger made a fantastic run down toward the left post before touching it in front to a crashing Friedrich who finished just inside the left post despite a hard challenge from a defender. Schweinsteiger was a stand out player all game long and this was just the icing on the cake for him, plus Friedrich's first ever goal for the German national team. The match was over here, but the Germans still managed to pile on one more in the 89th minute when Ozil received the ball on the left wing during a German breakout and beautifully floated a pass over the defenders to Klose who volleyed it into the net to sit one goal behind Ronaldo for all-time World Cup goalscorer. Germany held on for as long as it needed to and then absolutely manhandled a tired, pressing Argentina team for an impressive victory.

Germany 4 - 0 Argentina


Paraguay vs Spain

This was a classic match-up of defense vs offense as this Paraguay side had only allowed one goal in the entire World Cup going into this game. On the other hand, there is Spain, the leading team in percentage of possession held going into the game. And let's not forget that the Spanish have a secret weapon in striker David Villa, who was tied for the Golden Boot lead going into this match with four. Early on, however, Paraguay was the more interesting team as they pressed Spain up high and put a lot of pressure on the reigning European champions. Jonathan Santana got the first chance of the match for Chile, or for anyone, in the 1st minute when he was played through at the top of the 18 but put his shot directly at Spanish keeper Iker Casillas. The Paraguayan defense did the job for quite a while on Spain, keeping them from looking comfortable on their passes and never letting them get into a rhythm. In fact, this match was probably the worst I have seen Spain pass in recent memory, mostly due to Paraguay's pressure I would presume, but also due to their own botched touches and deliveries. Xavi had Spain's best chance of the first half in the 29th minute when he struck a volley from almost dead center around twenty-five yards out, but the shot dipped hard once it was already over the crossbar. The most controversial moment of the first came in the 41st minute when Paraguay striker Nelson Haedo Valdez looked to put in the match's first goal, but offsides was called on Paraguay. The problem is, the replay clearly showed that Valdez was not offside. The offside rule is tricky to interpret: some officials say that any offside player may not touch the ball, some say that any offside player may not participate in the play. There was a Paraguay player that was offside and he did occupy a defender by challenging for a header, but he did not touch the ball. It's a tough call for the officials, but I am in the camp that believes that the offside player did impact the play by drawing an attacker to him while going up for the cross, so Valdez's goal should not have counted. But I was rooting for Spain, so take that how you will.

The second half was, bar none, one of the craziest halves of soccer that I have ever seen in my life. Everything started in the 57th minute when Gerard Pique pulled down Oscar Cardozo by his arm in the box on a corner kick, and the referee yellow-carded Pique and awarded a penalty kick. Excellent call by the referee as Pique clearly was at fault here and all of the in-the-box shenanigans, with the grabbing and holding and pushing, really needs to stop. Cardozo stepped up to take the PK, but took it poorly and Casillas went down to his left to stop the shot and save Spain from going down 1-0. On the Spanish counter attack in the 59th, Villa carried the ball into the box and was pulled and pushed down from behind by Antolin Alcaraz, earning Alcaraz a yellow and giving Spain a chance to go up from the penalty spot. Just an absolutely crazy turnaround and one of the weirder things I've seen in any soccer match. To make things even more weird, Xabi Alonso stepped up to the ball and buried his penalty kick in the left corner. But wait. The referee waived off the goal for encroachment on a Spanish player, which the replay showed to be accurate, so Alonso had to retake the kick. This time, he put a poor quality shot to the right side of goal, similar to Cardozo's shot, that keeper Justo Villar knocked away. In the ensuing melee for the rebound, Cesc Fabregas was obviously taken out by Villar, but no penalty was given, possibly because Fabregas had just passed the ball on to Sergio Ramos, who had his attempt cleared off the line by a Paraguayan defender. Absolutely unreal. After all of that, we were still tied at 0-0.

With all of this ridiculousness, the game opened up and Spain took advantage, pushing forward well and almost finishing off Paraguay. I don't know if it was tired legs, or just all of the excitement of the penalty kick sequence, or Spain finally getting their full attack working, but Paraguay could simply not keep their perfect defensive shape any longer and Spain kept knocking on the door for the go-ahead goal. That goal finally came in the 83rd when Andres Iniesta made an outstanding run straight down the middle of the field and then laid a pass off to the right for substitute Pedro. Pedro collected the ball well and lined up his shot... off the left post in an agonizing moment for any Spanish fan. But much like the very end of the US vs Algeria match, the go-to man jumped on the end of the rebound. David Villa collected the rebound off of Pedro's shot and got his own shot off just before two Paraguay defenders came sliding in front of him. Villa's shot went off the inside of the right post, then off of the inside of the left post, and then finally went in. What a sequence. What a goal. Spain finally broke through the tough, tough Paraguayan defense and took the lead in this match. Paraguay would only get one good chance to level, which would come in the 89th minute when Lucas Barrios came in clean on goal and loosed a shot that Casillas did well to save. He did give up a rebound though and had to be incredibly quick getting back up and coming out to successfully close out Roque Santa Cruz, whose shot hit off of Casillas' right calf and deflected to safety. Spain held on through three minutes of stoppage time and won one of the strangest, craziest, heart attack-inducing matches that I have ever seen. Just amazing.

Spain 1 - 0 Paraguay


I long ago gave up trying to convince people who didn't like soccer to like it. If it's not your thing, then fine, I can't and won't fight your preferences, especially if you've taken the time to watch some high level matches and experience real quality soccer. But this is one of those matches that makes me wonder how anyone can fail to find soccer entertaining, even if you don't love it like hardcore fans do. I'm not going to go all evangelical here, so don't worry. I just really, really enjoyed this match and would love everyone else to as well. Anyway, now we're on to the semifinals and have two amazing matches in Uruguay vs Holland and Spain vs Germany. I already can't wait for Tuesday and Wednesday. This has been a fantastic World Cup and I find myself wanting more every time I think about it. I hope everyone else is enjoying it just as much. Take care.