Kinda happy that we won't have to play against the Netherlands in the final, even though I don't have a particular grudge against them. But Robben's counter attacking skills and Van Gaals tactical ideas felt like the biggest threat to germany.
Against Argentina, I think the chances are roughly 60:40 for Germany. Germany is obviously not invincible on defense, but I feel like Neuer and Hummels are doing a fantastic job at eliminating chances in the penalty box. On the offense, we have both the creativity of our midfielders and on set plays we have a clear size advantage because Argentina is playing with small attackers. Gonna be interesting if we will press as high up the pitch as we have done in the past matches. On the one hand, Argentina seems to prefer a slow build up anyway, so it shouldn't be that risky. But you never know with the kind of talent that the Gauchos have on offense. I imagine they could score a goal similar to a scene from a game yesterday, where they nearly scored (around the 75th minute, Higuain hit the outside of the net, was called offside although it wasn't offside). Argentina have been really strong on defense, although their players seem only average there, so we will see if that they can keep that up against the best offensive midfield of the tournament.
I guess it really depends who gets the first goal.
Obviously always important, but yeah, first goal probably will be crucial.
