Final Score - WC2010 Quarterfinal, Argentina vs Germany

Friday 2nd July 2010 - Soccer City, Johannesburg - Att. 84,017
Referee: Olegário Benquerença (Portugal)

LINEUPS:
Argentina (442): Romero, Otamendi, Heinze, Demichelis (Gutierrez 60'), Burdisso, Mascherano, Rodriguez, di Maria, Higuain, Tevez (Aguero 101'), Messi (Milito 74')
Germany (451): Neuer, Lahm, Boateng, Friedrich, Mertesacker, Schweinsteiger (Trochowski 118'), Oezil, Khedria (Jansen 67'), Klose, Podolski, Mueller (Gomez 86')

Sergio Romero was the hero in the first half for Argentina, limiting the Germans to a one-goal lead at halftime, and his great performance would extend throughout the match. The Argentine team had little to build on after forty-five minutes with their opponents enjoying a large slice of the possession generating chances for Klose and Mueller who were both denied by Romero and Podolski sliced his late shot wide.

The breakthrough came early though when in the 14th minute Friedrich intercepted a pass and started the Germans on a break. Khedira ran with purpose down the touchline and his far post cross was met by Miroslav Klose to head home a rocket for his fourth goal of the tournament.

After the interval Argentina quickly sorted themselves out and soon made a real game of it when just after the hour mark Otamendi roofed home a defence splitting pass from Mascherano. Minutes before Gonzalo Higuin was denied by Neuer at his post but things developed into a stalemate after the equalising goal.

The next big chance fell to Germany, sub Michael Jansen's improvised bicycle kick clipping the top of the bar after Mueller had put a cross behind his teammate. Mueller then had the chance to be a hero in stoppage time when Friedrich's corner kick was met by the forward at the near post only for his header to go over the crossbar.

So Argentina take another game to extra time where they had to rely on Romero to stop Jansen, Schweinsteiger and Podolski as the German team continued to pass the ball smartly. Argentina's game-winning chance came in the second half of extra time when Burdisso ran past two opposing players and fed Aguero to put him clear on goal, but the substitutes shot was very poor and proved easy pickings for Neuer.

The penalty shootout was a demonstration on how to take spot kicks with twelve of the thirteen penalties finding the back of the net. The tension increased exponentially after each goal and it may have proved to much for Nicolas Burdisso who slammed his high shot against the crossbar, moving the pressure over to Phillipp Lahm who dispatched his kick past Romero to put Germany through to the semifinals where they will face the Netherlands.

Argentina 1 (aet) 1 Germany, Germany win 7-6 on penalties
Goalscorers:
GER Klose 14'
ARG Otamendi 61'

Penalty Shootout:
ARG Heinze, Higuain, Aguero, Rodriguez, Otamendi, Milito, Burdisso
GER Klose, Podolski, Jansen, Boateng, Oezil, Gomez, Lahm

Discipline:
GER Schweinstiger 109'

Man of the Match:
ARG Sergio Romero

Final Score - WC2010 Second Round, Uruguay vs Argentina

Saturday 26th June 2010 - Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth - Att. 84,377
Referee: Wolfgang Stark (Germany)

LINEUPS:
Uruguay (442): Muslera, M Pereira, Fucile, Lugano, Victorino, Arevalo (A Fernandez 66'), A Pereira (Gonzales 101'), Perez, Suarez, Forlan, Cavani (Eguren 77')
Argentina (442): Romero, Otamendi (Garce 73'), Heinze, Demichelis, Bolatti, Mascherano, Rodriguez, Di Marla (Veron 73'), Higuain, Tevez (Palermo 90'), Messi

Uruguay returned to their first choice lineup with both Fucile and Victorino returning from suspension, but Nicolas Burdisso was missing for Argentina through injury. His replacement, Mario Bolatti, slots into his place.

The opening twenty minutes saw Alvaro Pereira buzzing around for Uruguay creating problems for their opponents, and the first chance of the match was on his head in the 6th minute but his effort flew wide. Once Argentina had settled their first real attack was a masterclass in passing. Heinze and Maxi Rodriguez exchanged the ball with flair before Rodriguez pulled the ball back to the edge of the area for Gonzalo Higuain to hammer into the back of the net; his second goal of the tournament.

Uruguay relied on Alvaro Pereira to get them back on track and it was his shot that deflected off a defender for a corner nine minutes after they fell behind. The delivery was a good one and while Luis Suarez was unable to direct his header on goal, it did fall kindly for an alert Diego Perez and the scoreline was even again. At this point the match became rather cagey but right on the stroke of halftime Uruguay's Suarez ran on to his goalkeeper's clearance and fed it neatly through for Maximillano Pereira but he was unable to get around Romero at full stretch.

The second half continued the cagey motif with fifteen minutes of non-action with the next chances coming from Argentina who took a pair of shots from way out, both from Carlos Tevez. He came close both times with the second brushing the top of the crossbar just a few minutes after his first effort crashed against the frame of the goal from thirty yards out.

Normal time ran out with both teams playing it safe and the only real effort in extra time came from Alvaro Pereira whose long range shot deflected to force Romero to make a smart save and the second round begins with a penalty shootout. Uruguay won the toss and Luis Suarez took himself out to the penalty spot to start proceedings. His rather tame effort was save by Sergio Romero and the next seven penalty takers converted successfully for a 4-3 Argentine advantage. The fifth Uruguayan to step up was substitute Ignacio Gonzalez who blasted his effort over the bar leaving Argentina to progress on to the quarterfinals.

Uruguay 1 (aet) 1 Argentina, Argentina win 4-3 on penalties
Goalscorers:
ARG Higuain 23'
URU Perez 33'

Penalty Shootout:
URU Saurez, Perez, Forlan, M Pereira, Gonzalez
ARG Messi, Higuain, Heinze, Rodriguez

Discipline:
URU M Pereira 42'

Man of the Match:
ARG Maxi Rodriguez

Final Score - WC2010 Group B, Greece vs Argentina

Tuesday 22nd June 2010 - Peter Mokaba Stadium, Polokwane - Att. 38,891
Referee: Ravshan Irmatov (Uzbekistan)

LINEUPS:
Greece (442): Tzorvas, Vyntra, Torosidis, Papadopolous, Kygriakos, Papastathopoulos, Tziolis (Prittas 63'), Katsouranis, Gekas, Samaras (Salpigidis 63'), Karagounis
Argentina (442): Romero, Otamendi, Heinze, Demichalis (Samuel 82'), Burdisso (Pastore 9'), Mascherano, Rodriguez, Di Maria, Higuain, Tevez, Messi (Milito 70')

Argentina held their nerve in a rather uneventful match but Greece were not completely non-threatening when they manafactured a pair of good chances. The first came in the 8th minute when Karagounis climbed highest in a crowded penalty area to head the ball at Romero, and the second great Greek opportunity came late in the game when they were 2-0 down. Katsouranis wasted no time after receiving a pass from Prittas in crossing the ball for Gekas to shoot wide.

For their part Argentina did enough to secure victory and a place in the second round, but it was not until after a very dull first half that they truly threatened the Greek goal. A quick rush began when Pastore provided a great flick behind the defence for Gabriel Heinze to run onto. His shot was saved but the rebound went straight to Carlos Tevez for an easy finish five minutes into the second half. The insurance goal came twelve minutes from time, Tevez turning provider for Gonzalo Higuain to become the fifth different Argentine to score in the group stage.

Greece 0 - 2 Argentina
Goalscorers:
ARG Tevez 50'
ARG Higuain 78'

Discipline:
ARG Demichalis 55'

Man of the Match:
ARG Carlos Tevez
 

GROUP B
Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
South Korea	3	3	0	0	4	0	+4	9
Argentina	3	2	0	1	5	1	+4	6
Greece	3	1	0	2	1	4	-3	3
Nigeria	3	0	0	3	0	5	-5	0

Final Score - WC2010, Group B, Argentina vs South Korea

Thursday 17th June 2010 - Soccer City, Johannesburg - Att: 82,174
Referee: Frank De Bleeckere (Belgium)

LINEUPS
Argentina (442): Romero, Otamendi, Heinze, Demichelis, Burdisso, Mascherano, M Rodriguez, di Marla (Bolatti 64'), Higuain, Tevez (Palermo 74'), Messi (Aguero 79')
South Korea (451): Ryong, Ri, Pyo, Hyung, LJ Soo, Yueng (Seok 77'), Woo (KN Il 66'), Hun, Young, PJ Sung (KJ Sung 66'), Yong

Korean goalkeeper Jung Sung Ryong was an easy choice for man of the match, stopping Argentina on multiple occasions and riding his luck on others. The opening thirty minutes was eventful if wasteful for Argentina with Mascherano, Demichelis, and Otamendi all failing to take their chances before Gonzalo Higuain hit the post. Between these Argentine attempts Pyo should have scored but his shot was a complete miscue as he raced onto the end of a hard and low cross from Young.

With ten minutes remaining in the first half a series of events involving Park Ji Sung gave South Korea a golden opportunity to score from the spot. A huge kick from Ryong found PJ Sung's run and as he headed towards the box was fouled for a free kick. The end result was multiple deflections and a handball in the area. Up stepped Sung who calmly dispatched the penalty and that effectively killed off the half as the teams played out the remaining time.

Korea came close to making it 2-0 with Woo shooting from thirty yards, testing Romero in his goal. Argentina then returned to dominating the game and Ryong displaying some excellent goalkeeping, stopping both Burdisso and Maxi Rodriguez. The game ended on one final chance for the South American side with Sergio Aguerro, fresh off the bench, forcing another save from Ryong as he barely tipped a hard shot onto the post.

Argentina 0 - 1 South Korea
Goalscorers:
KOR PJ Sung 36'


Discipline:
KOR Yeung 14'
ARG Messi 35'

Man of the Match:
KOR Jung Sung Ryong

GROUP B
Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
South Korea	2	2	0	0	1	0	+3	6
Argentina	2	1	0	1	3	1	+2	3
Greece	2	1	0	1	1	2	-1	3
Nigeria	2	0	0	2	0	4	-4	0

Final Score - WC2010 Group B, Argentina vs Nigeria

Saturday 12th June 2010 - Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg. Att: 55,686
Referee: Wolfgang Stark (Germany)

LINEUPS:
Argentina (442): Romero, Otamendi, Heinze, Demichelis, Burdisso, Mascherano, M Rodriguez, di Maria (Veron 66'), Higuain, Tevez (Aguero 80'), Messi
Nigeria (451): Enyeama, Odiah, Taiwo (Adeleye 58'), Yobo, Shittu, Etuhu, Haruna, Kaita (Kanu 58'), Ayegbeni, Uche, Obasi (Martins 80')

Argentina began their tournament with a dominating 3-0 victory over an outclassed Nigerian side that never looked like scoring. The skills of Messi, Tevez and Maxi Rodriguez turned the African defenders inside out on several occasions leading a 2-0 advantage at the break. A poor punch from keeper Enyeama on a Heinze cross allowed Lionel Messi to clean up with a neat volley, and Maxi Rodriguez doubled the lead when a corner kick ended on his foot and he rattled it home off the bar. It could have been worse with Higuin, di Marla and Heinze all misfiring.

Nigeria improved in the second half with more alert defending and a couple of good stops from Enyeama, but the blue and white tide eventually proved too much again when Nicolas Burdisso had a top-in after Veron's shot came back off the post.

Argentina 3 - 0 Nigeria
Goalscorers:
ARG Messi 13'
ARG M Rodriguez 40'
ARG Burdisso 78'

Discipline:
NGA Kalta 27'

Man of the Match:
ARG Lionel Messi

GROUP B
Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Argentina	1	1	0	0	3	0	+3	3
South Korea	1	1	0	0	2	0	+2	3
Greece	1	0	0	1	0	2	-2	0
Nigeria	1	0	0	1	0	3	-3	0