Germany v Argentina 0-1 (0-1)
Argentina rewrote the form books with a closely-fought and scintillating encounter with the team ranked number two in the world. Manuel Brunet (31') was the hero of the match as he scored from the tightest of angles to give Argentina the lead over Germany in a match that was not only a classic confrontation between two teams playing two very different styles of hockey, but also one that, despite the sole goal, was packed with incident and drama.
In the first half the German team played the ball round the pitch using every inch, patiently building up play but failing to make inroads into the Argentine circle. Argentina, by contrast, harried, hassled and, when they broke the German control, attacked at pace, with Juan Ignacio Gilardi, Agustin Mazzilli and Matias Rey in particular working hard to get the ball out of midfield and into the German circle.
The first goal nearly went to Germany in the 19th minute when the excellent Christopher Ruhr unleashed a cross into the Argentine circle and Mats Grambusch was inches from converting, but 10 minutes later, and against the run of play, Brunet scored when he was found by Mazzilli on the back line. His subsequent shot somehow managed to squeeze the ball between the 'keeper Nicolas Jacobi and the post.
Where Germany had controlled the tempo of the game in the first half, the second half was notable both for the structure and composure of the Argentine game, the frustrations of the German team and the increasingly bad-tempered atmosphere developing on the pitch between both sides. Juan Vivaldi in the Argentine goal was lucky to stay on the pitch after he pushed Christopher Ruhr and just minutes later Germany's Benedict Furk received a yellow card for a foul on Matias Paredes.
Away from the antagonisms developing all over the pitch, Germany's Benjamin Wess came close to equalising in the 40th minute, but Vivaldi stood firm in Los Leones' goal. Argentina continued to press and at times it was as if Argentina were playing Germany at their own structured, passing game.
The German coach Markus Weise said "Today we deserved to lose, we couldn't create, no corners, nothing. Today our build-up was poor. We couldn't threaten Argentina's goal. Lots of things were missing and it wasn't much of a game. If you don't create more chances you will not score. The Dutch team played a convincing game against Argentina and they are probably the top team at the tournament."
The captain of Germany, Maximilian Muller added: "The players only gave 87 per cent today, we will not win if we do not give 100 per cent."
Captain Lucas Rey said the match against the Netherlands had really prepared the team for this match. "We learnt from our first game what we needed to do.
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