It was a similar pattern as France v Spain. First half was all Argentina. The game was theirs in the second half too, until they made the substitutions.

It was argued that having a strong bench for a manager to pick from was going to be important in the later stages. Perhaps in Argentina's case - there was too many to choose from?

I see the man of the match went to Ballack. I would have chosen Tevez. He was very unfortunate to be on the losing side after making his contribution, but I suppose he is young enough to be on the winning side in future competitions. I do hope so.

The moral of this tale - as often before is - don't get into a penalty shoot-out with Germany.................