The two best teams in the World Cup so far meet tomorrow in the quarter-finals – Germany against Argentina. All signs point to it being a thrilling, cantankerous, but also very tough game.
As in 2006, we should be prepared for extra time.
At the end Germany will win – I hope, at least.
It’s certain to be harder than the 4-1 against England. The Argentines will put up much more resistance. In Cape Town the referee’s authority will be very important.
I do not know whether Bastian Schweinsteiger's attack on the Argentines ahead of the game was so shrewd. He will no longer become an honorary citizen of Argentina in any case…
It would be an error to underestimate Diego Maradona as a coach. I did not understand the doubts over him. An exceptional former player does not need to be told much more about football.
The Argentina players would go through fire for Maradona. I know from Martin Demichelis how much they revere him. The worst thing for them would be to disappoint Diego.
Despite having Maradona on the bench and Messi on the pitch – the Argentines are beatable!
We need to shut Lionel Messi down. Joachim Löw and his coaching staff will work out the right strategy. Löw won’t want an old-style man-marking job.
Inter Milan demonstrated how to successfully take Messi out of a game in the Champions League against Barcelona. He must be isolated to stop passes getting to him. It will quite often fall to Bastian Schweinsteiger and Sami Khedira.
We have to stop the best attack in the World Cup. In front of Messi is Gonzalo Higuaín. He is fast, dynamic and has a good shooting technique. And Carlos Tevez is coming from the left. Our back four will have work with total concentration.
We have the better goalkeeper. Manuel Neuer is playing well, and his goal-kick lead to the first goal against England. In contrast, the Argentine goalkeeper Sergio Romero has appeared uncertain at times.
We have to put the defence, the weakness of Argentina, under pressure. Miroslav Klose should attack early against the shaky centre-backs who allowed Mexico chances in the second round. Thomas Müller can give Gabriel Heinze – who is becoming slow – the slip on the right hand side.
It will be by far the hardest game for our team at this World Cup. If we survive successfully, the title dream can really become reality.
'Der Kaiser' Franz Beckenbauer is writing on Germany at the World Cup exclusively for Bild. Now that they know how to send Argentina packing, let's see if they can do it on Saturday!
