mindless ramblings

Germany vs Sweden
Two early goals from Lukas Podolski effectively ended Sweden’s World Cup campaign earlier today. Moreover, Teddy Lučić got himself sent off in the first half. To make things worse, Henrik Larsson missed a penalty that would have injected some life into the Swedes. In the end the Swedes never really threatened and they have Andreas Isaksson to thank for saving a multitude of shots from Michael Ballack. Germany could have and should have added a third goal, but a win is a win and Jürgen Klinsmann will be pleased at his team’s performance today.

Argentina vs Mexico
I was expecting Argentina to show more magic today, but Mexico put up a good fight and it took something special from Maxi Rodríguez to end the Mexican campaign. The Mexicans took an early lead through captain Rafael Márquez in the 6th minute, but some good pressure on Jared Borgetti by Hernán Crespo forced him to put the ball past his own keeper just 4 minutes later. Wonderkid Lionel Messi should have had scored the winning goal with 30 seconds to go in injury time, but the referee (incorrectly) ruled for offside. Off to extra time then. Juan Pablo Sorín put a ball out to the right, Rodríguez took it on the chest and unleashed an unstoppable volley into the corner. Even Oswaldo Sánchez at full stretch had no chance at saving that. What a way to win the game!

Germany and Argentina now meet in the first Quarter Final… this promises to be an excellent matchup!