Thousands of innocent Porteños are spared this horror.
Chupa, Diego. Siga chupando!
Esteban Cambiasso must be having the last laugh.
How’s Martin Palermo working out there, Diegito? How about Juan Sebastian Veron? Was Mario Kempes unavailable? Daniel Passarella didn’t want to play?
I said from the beginning that Argentina was weak in defense. They were in a very easy group and they faced a weak team in the round of 16. Maradona took six forwards with the team. His keeper failed to impress me, especially with that first goal for Germany.
Germany didn’t just control the midfield, they owned the midfield. Maradona may have been a talented player, but he’s a crappy tactician.
How are you feeling about the puñeta you gave Maradona, now, Rob Hughes?
Let me assure you of this: for Brazilians Germany’s pasting of Argentina has taken a lot of the sting out of yesterday’s loss. Mercia was screaming “Not even a consolation goal!” at the television for the last 15 minutes.
The last senior tournament won by Argentina was the 1993 Copa America. That’s a long drought.
Cacti
Os Gringos are gone! :-P
The fat bastard is done! hahahahaha
valdivia
wow I had not even heard about the chupando incident! what an ass. has anyone heard how the press conference after the game went for him? dying to know!
SLKRR
The happiest city in Brazil today: Blumenau, Santa Catarina.
burnspbesq
I’m feeling a little insecure about my office poll. I have Spain and the Netherlands in the final, with the Netherlands winning. If the same German team that showed up today shows up Wednesday, it’s hard to see how Spain wins.
Cacti
Diego’s crushing humiliation tastes so yummy and sweet.
anon
Soccer.
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
[First and only warning. Subsequent comments like this will be deleted.]
Cacti
@anon:
Fascinating.
jacy
The SO was trying to hustle the boys and all their stuff out to the car for a trip to Florida (and a week alone for me – yay) but was also trying to watch his beloved Germans. Every time he walked out of the room, they scored. He’s somehow taking credit for the victory.
All I know was Heinz ( #6 for Argentina) was hot. I guess that makes me a really, really shallow sports fan.
SLKRR
Copa America will be held in Argentina next year. Sure would be nice for Brazil (and their new coach, whoever that will be) to continue the winning streak there… ;-)
Randinho
@burnspbesq: I believe Spain’s defense is better than any of the others that Germany has faced, assuming Spain gets through.
valdivia
@SLKRR:
hear hear.
Alex S.
RE: droughts
Ah well, the Netherlands and Uruguay have had longer droughts, and England, too, but they are still supposed to be a favorite for every big tourney.
Thlayli
As I mentioned last round: Argentina hasn’t beaten a Western European country in normal time since 1986.
Randinho
@Alex S.: Uruguay won the Copa America in 1995.
For Argentina that’s five World Cups and six Copas America. The last two Copas America Argentina lost in the final to Brazil.
You Don't Say
Why don’t they play the semis on the same day?
handsmile
@ Randinho: Not merely the good citizens of Buenos Aires, but the whole of humanity.
On the subject of streaking South Americans, however: while cheering for Spain as my pre-tournament favorite, the promise of Paraguayan Larissa Riquelme (see Huffington Post article from 29 June), certainly does tempt me to betray my allegiance.
Alex S.
@Randinho:
Ah thanks, I didn’t know about Uruguay. I thought they were pretty much gone for about 60 years.
Anya
@burnspbesq: I have Netherlands and Germany. I think Netherlands might surprise us. Spain was the favorite coming in but those expectations are now lowered. They haven’t performed as well as Germany.
Nat
Interviewed about the possibility of a Uruguay-Argentina World Cup final, Maradona said “Uruguay? Are they even in the World Cup?” Ha! Turns out they’re in semi finals and Argentina is gone. You can’t be that arrogant.
Randinho
@handsmile: A lot of silicone there.
JenJen
Ha! Terrific round-up of Maradona’s greatest hits!
Click here and turn up your speakers a bit. :-)
Getting stoked now for La Furia Roja! I’m going to be so torn on Wednesday, I’ll bet. If this plays out, Deutschland-España may as well be the final.
SLKRR
@Randinho:
You say that like it’s a bad thing… ;-)
Randinho
@SLKRR: Nao e minha copa de cha . . .
John Cole
That was just a spanking this morning.
Anton Sirius
Has there ever been a more widespread, global eruption of schadenfreude? WHERE’S YOUR GOD NOW, DIEGO?
It wasn’t just Maradona though; Teves ran around all match whining about every single call that didn’t go his way, and the whole team played like they expected to just show up and be handed the victory. Good riddance to the lot of ’em, really.
handsmile
@ Randinho:
OT, but before it’s lost to sleep deprivation and the next match, I wanted to thank you for dredging up from my memory Wenders’ adaptation of “The Goalie’s Anxiety…” His films from the 1970s and up through “Wings of Desire” (with screenplay by Handke, IIRC) were crucial to the development of my cinematic sensibility. “The American Friend” remains one of my favorite films. Again, thanks!
Randinho
@handsmile: My pleasure. My degree is in film and I used to work for film distributors.
HumboldtBlue
So Mick Jagger is a world-class jinx. He sits with Clinton and the Americans get whacked. He cheers for England and they get run off the pitch like it was Dunkirk. He shows up today in an Argentina scarf and they are mobbed by the Panzers.
If I am an official from any of the remaining teams I put tail on Mick and make sure he does not decide to root for that side.
As for all of this “Diego Suarez cheated” hooey, he committed a foul, he didn’t cheat. Getting flagged for offside is a foul, not cheating. Making a hard tackle and getting carded is a foul, not cheating. Using your hand in a last-ditch desperate move to save a goal is a foul, not cheating.
Felanius Kootea (formerly Salt and freshly ground black people)
God have mercy, I was stunned watching Germany beat Argentina like a cheap tin drum.
Dr. Squid
Wonder if El Diego will whine about the offside call on the disallowed goal? You know, the four players offside call.
Turgid Jacobian
@Randinho: They’re prone to bone-headed mistakes, though. Have the Chermans done similar? I missed their game against England, so I don’t actually know if their goals were good or bad.
Turgid Jacobian
@Anton Sirius: *HAND OF GOD GIVES MARADONA THE FINGER*
mcd410x
Has there recently been a bigger flop than Messi? Hell, even Cristiano Ronaldo scored one goal.
Peter J
For someone who wrote a lot about the possibility of four South American teams in the semifinals, I have to say almost all of it ended rather horribly for the continent. I guess they weren’t good enough and their luck ran out (except for Uruguay).
I doubt that Paraguay is going to beat Spain, so Ghana’s missed penalty was the only thing that stopped South America being eradicated in the quarterfinals. And what was a crappy beginning for Europe and looked to end very badly now looks way, way better.
Randinho
@Turgid Jacobian: Arne Friedrich made a boneheaded mistake against Serbia that left Jankovic in front of an empty goal with no one including Neuer in front of him.
Turgid Jacobian
Ah, right, Serbia. Thanks!
valdivia
@Turgid Jacobian:
FTMFW!
frankdawg
@Peter J:
Noob question:
Other than cultural prejudices is there any reason to think in terms of ‘South American’ or ‘European’? I don’t see any style or trademarks that make me think one team plays like its region.
Is that just my inexperience or is the region as significant as AFC/NFC in football, an artificial division that makes for interesting arguments?
jwb
“How are you feeling about the puñeta you gave Maradona, now, Rob Hughes?”
If he had written this about politics, Hughes would now qualify as a very serious person(R).
Felanius Kootea (formerly Salt and freshly ground black people)
New song for Germany:
I’m getting higher, Klose to my dreams…apologies Goapele.
That's Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN)
Halftime Observation: These teams don’t look interested in beating Germany.
Geeno
@HumboldtBlue: It needs a sterner penalty. In Ice Hockey, if a goaltender throws his stick to deflect the puck, or any player does so in the goal crease, it’s a goal. It doesn’t matter that the puck wouldn’t have gone in anyway. It’s not a judgment call. Stick leaves hand = goal. That penalty has been so effective that in 40-odd years of watching hockey, I’ve only seen that call made once. THAT needs to be the penalty for a hand ball in the goal box.
CJ
Miro Klose man crush remains intact.
Excited to see the Dutch play again. Maybe Sneijder can finally get that gold medal in diving he’s been looking for.
Ecks
So Randinho, you were just telling us about how the Europeans need to reform their qualifying system to be more like the South Americans, because they’re falling so far behind, and are getting crushed in open competition…
Perhaps this is an object lesson in over-interpreting small sample sizes, just maybe?
Randinho
@Ecks: Asked and answered in a different thread.
virginia
Asa brasileira, I can attest to the veracity of Randinho’s comment re barely concealed delight in seeing Germany beat Argentina with such energia! And to the consolation factor. I heard of the drubbing over lunch today — by a young Bolivian waiter. Latin America is so simply complicated.
SLKRR
@virginia:
Though American, I live in Brasil and there was nothing “barely concealed” about the delight of seeing Argentina lose today. People were openly celebrating and launching fireworks almost as if Brasil had won. I know the rivalry with Argentina runs deep around here, but damn…
Ecks
@Randinho: Yeah, Europe qualified at a lower rate. I’d put it down to a combination of the rest of the world catching up (i.e., the gap in development status narrowing) plus a small sample size.
Also, to the extent that the best leagues bring in players from all over the world, Europe loses what was once a uniquely good training ground for its players. It’s good for the leagues, bad for the national sides.
snarkyspice
I’ve waited a long time for payback for the ‘hand of God’ against England in 1986.
Hahahahahahahahahaha you cheater. Buh-bye.
michael roloff
since the name of handke came up, here the two entry points to a lot of good stuff about him on the web:http://handke-magazin.blogspot.com/
the new HUB to all Handke-blogs
and all
http://www.handke.scriptmania.com/
sites….
as to the final, how is it that serbia beat germany 1:0?
spain against netherlands would be fine with me.
http://www.facebook.com/mike.roloff1?ref=name
Bill Murray
@HumboldtBlue: well Suarez was red carded for deliberately handling the ball illegally and the dictionary definition of cheating is deliberately breaking the rules of a game; therefore Suarez clearly cheated regardless of what you think. But good luck on your crusade to rewrite the dictionary
Morfydd
@ michael roloff:
not that anyone’s reading this thread, but:
the refs were handing out yellow cards like candy, and in the 25th minute or so they gave Klose a bogus red card. The team is pretty young, and they fell apart for a few minutes, during which Serbia scored. They played very solidly down a man for the rest of the game, but were never able to score.
Felanius Kootea (formerly Salt and freshly ground black people)
@HumboldtBlue: It is cheating because if not for Suarez’s “Hand of God: Take Two,” Ghana would have won.
Jim in Chicago
Big difference: Suarez was properly penalized for his infraction according to the rules: red card and PK. Maradona got away with his.
I would call what Suarez did, exploiting the rules.
Randinho
@Jim in Chicago: If someone exploits the rules, they don’t get sent off. He cheated.
Randinho
@Morfydd: It was a second yellow and while the first yellow was probably not deserved, the second certainly was. He used piss-poor judgment for committing such a foul knowing he was on a yellow.
I might also add that Bastian Schwiensteiger missed a pk.