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Shockers in South Africa
Germany trounced Argentina 4-0
It seemed like Germany had found their rhythm heading into their KO stage of the World
Cup. They destroyed England 4-1 in the Round of sixteen and surprised everyone with a
big 4-0 win over Argentina in the quarter finals. It was a totally different German team at
the KO stage. They defeated Ghana 1-0 in its last match to win Group D and advanced
into the round of 16 KO stage. Their offense was opening up large gaps in opposing
team’s defenses before putting the game away. But as it turned out the Germans outsmart themselves in the
semi final against Spain by moving away from its offensive strategy based on Spain’s ball possession.
Germany tactical mistake against Spain
The Spain-Germany semi final game was anticlimactic due to Germany coach Joachim Loew making what I
thought was a big tactical error by letting his team sit back. It allowed Spain to control the flow of the game
and neutralized Germany’s offense. Germany had disposed of England and Argentina with four goals out-
puts and, the strategy backfired and nullified the number one scoring offense in the tournament in return.
Germany coach
Joachim Loew
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Germany
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