MatchDay 17 saw two not-to-be-missed Round of 16 matches:
It was seen as a battle between Germany's army of youngsters against England's vastly experienced Premier League superstars. Ultimately, youth won, in a display that was so refreshing and lustrous that Germany seemed to score at will. Of course, any knockout match involving England in a World Cup has to have its fair share of controversies and there was a huge moment in this match when Lampard's lob beat Manuel Neuer, Germany goalkeeper, and crossed the goalline but unbelievably, the referee and his assistant both missed it and ruled the ball had not crossed. If this goal was allowed to stand, the score at that time would have become 2-2 and the match, already testing nerves, would have reached a fever pitch. After the break, England went close, but on one occasion when Lampard lined up a freekick only to hit the defensive wall, the Germans broke in the blink of an eye and before England could regroup at the back, 'keeper David James was picking the ball out of the net, with Mueller starting and finishing a lightning-fast counter-attacking move. England paid for it again three minutes later, when Mesut Oezil (he is a fabulous talent to watch, with his lazy elegance reminding me of Manuel Rui Costa in his heyday) glided past a clearly unfit Gareth Barry and squared the ball for Mueller to seal a spot for Germany in the quarterfinals. Bizarrely, Capello declared that his side played well (not sure what match he was watching, since Rooney and Defoe were pathetic throughout) but captain Steven Gerrard had the decency to accept that they were second-best by a considerable distance. Thankfully, with this early exit, England's fans will now shut up and stop boasting about their side being the best in this competition.
Just like the previous match, this one had a bit of controversy as well. When Tevez headed the ball to put Argentina in front close to the half-hour mark, he was clearly offside just as he received Messi's subtle lob. Mexican tempers flared at the wrong judgement and for a moment, it looked as though the assistant referee may have convinced the main referee, Roberto Rosetti (who, incidentally, officiated the Australia-Serbia match and missed Cahill's handball late in the 2nd half) to overturn the initial decision to award the goal to Argentina. The Argentine players became agitated at this and things nearly boiled over before the goal stood, much to the chagrin of the Mexican dug out. Argentina's second goal was all due to a monumental defensive blunder by Ricardo Osorio, whose mishit backpass was snatched upon by Higuain and in a flash, Argentina's number 9 had twisted the keeper this way and that and rifled his drive into the net to put them 2-0 up at the break. The Mexicans hadn't forgotten the poor decision of the first goal though, for when the half-time whistle blew, there was a scuffle near the technical area where the managers prowl and shout orders, with Maradona in the thick of things. However, once the 2nd half started, things eased out a bit in terms of emotions, but it was still one-way traffic. Tevez unleashed an unstoppable rocket seven minutes after the restart, which looked to have rendered the game academic. However, Maradona's decision to replace Tevez with Veron changed things a bit and Argentina looked a bit lethargic up front with Messi continuing to take potshots on goal and Higuain looking to poach increasingly unlikely chances. Manchester United-bound Mexican prodigy, Javier Hernandez scored his second World Cup goal nineteen minutes from time with a fine turn against a lumbering Martin Demichelis (who is having a mixed tournament) and a rasping shot past Sergio Romero, Argentina's goalkeeper. It was too little too late, however, as Argentina set up a truly ravishing quarter-final clash with Germany in Cape Town on July 3 (another repeat of their 2006 campaign).
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