This one is going to be an interesting affair, especially since Maradona claims he is eying the WC trophy itself.
 
With a team that barely managed to reach the finals, and with such poor displays it’s almost laughable to even think of Argentina as genuine contenders, but there’s still room for improvement and –maybe- he can somehow bring back the team to what it ‘should’ be. After all, he does have the best player in the world in his squad, doesn’t he?
 
Germany are typically a team with super cannons upfront and weak defenses. They always play offensive football and know next to nothing about defensive tactics. In other words, the Manschaft defend through attacking.
 
Yet again, if you watch the Bundesliga often, you would see a trend to change that style to something more balanced by many teams, especially towards the top. Bayern for example are learning to slow down the play and have more ball possession in the midfield. Leverkusen are a solid side defensively, and so are Hamburg ‘occasionally’, while Schalke are traditionally the only team in Germany that knows something about defense and maintain that knowledge.
 
The Argentine are creative upfront, but their efficiency rate is not what it should be. They do not score as many goals as the number of created chances suggests they should, especially when you have strikers like Tevez, Higuain and Aguerro in your squad.
 
Argentina also is infamous with ball possession in the midfield through multiple passing from one side to another. It could take them 3-4 passes just to get the ball from left to right (or vise versa) without gaining a single yard towards the opponent’s goal.
 
Unless Maradona has a magical stick and he knows how to use it, I would be surprised if they avoided a defeat here. Goals on both sides are a certainty.
 
 
Picks:
 
Germany win
Over 2.5 goals