Germany vs. Argentina Friendly Rematch, Highlights & Analysis: Observations on Angel Di Maria & Argentina's Revenge

By David Salazar First Posted: Sep 04, 2014 03:23 PM EDT

Germany and Argentina faced off in Dusseldorf in a rematch of the World Cup Final on Wednesday.

The match was the first international friendly for both clubs since their meeting in the Maracana back on July 13. Ironically, this game had already been scheduled prior to the championship game and was supposed to be Germany's big chance to hoist the trophy in front of its fans. But instead, it was Argentina that got a chance to exact revenge.

Here are some observations from the Argentina's 4-2 win:

Vengeance Continues for World Cup Losers

Over the last few years, the World Cup final losers have managed to exact revenge on the team that destroyed their dreams. And the vengeance has seemingly been sweet for each team.

Back in 2006, Italy defeated France on penalties in the World Cup final. The teams met again just months later in European qualifications. France responded with a solid 3-1 win in front of its fans in Paris.

In 2010, Spain took down Holland 1-0 in the World Cup Final in South Africa. It was almost four years before both teams met again. The reunion was the first match of Group B in the 2014 World Cup and it did not go as planned for the then-defending World Champs. Spain led 1-0 throughout the opening half and seemed slated for a lead at halftime. But then it all came crashing down in the form of a 5-1 defeat. The result was disastrous for Spain, but the Dutch got sweet revenge.

This Argentina-Germany match was a friendly that ultimately counts for little. Germany admittedly left some key stars on the bench to start and played relaxed throughout the start of the game. But the 4-2 drubbing was an embarrassment by all accounts. Argentina ran out to a 4-0 lead before the first hour of the game was out. The team regained some dignity with two late goals, but the result was embarrassing for the World Champs and redemptive for Argentina.

As an added bonus, this past World Cup offered a rematch of the 2002 final between Germany and Brazil. Back then, Brazil won 2-0. In the first meeting between these sides in a World Cup, Germany managed a 7-1 win.

Angel Di Maria Is A Superstar

Angel Di Maria has had a rather rough summer. He was injured from the final against Germany and had to watch his team lose. He then endured an unstable period of time with club Real Madrid. Would he stay or would he leave? The divorce between Di Maria and Madrid was a harsh one as both sides conflicted on their respective stories many times. In the end, Di Maria was essentially forced out.

But Wednesday was his night, and his alone. He was perfect in every possible way. New coach Gerardo Martino allowed him to play as one of the forwards in the 4-3-3, thus giving him even more freedom to do his fantastic runs up and down the pitch. He created three goals and scored the fourth with a tremendous run and a classy chip over Roman Weidenfeller. And all of this with just 64 touches in the entire game.

Germany Loss Nothing to Fret About

While the scoreline was embarrassing, the result is not a reason to worry. Joachim Loew admittedly opted for a B-Team in this game. It was a friendly and the stakes were not particularly high.

With captain Phillipp Lahm and Per Mertesacker retired from the squad, Loew opted for an inexperienced group consisting of Benedikt Howedes, Matthias Ginter, Kevin Grosskreutz and Erik Durm. Grosskreutz, Durm and Ginter have totaled nine national team appearances, including this match, while Howedes has just 28 appearances for Germany's senior side. All of them were exposed consistently throughout the game, especially Durm, who was constantly destroyed by Di Maria.

This is not to say that Germany's backline is disastrous. There are still quality players that did not play in this match, including Jerome Boateng and Mats Hummels. And every single player that made up the defense was 26 years old or younger. They will undoubtedly improve with more experience.

Thomas Mueller and Mario Goetze, Germany's two World Cup heroes, were not brought into the game until late. Bastian Schweinsteiger, the new captain, also did not make an appearance in this game. So nothing to really worry about. However...

Mario Gomez Embarrasses Himself

If there is one negative for Germany in this game, it is the poor play of Mario Gomez. The striker missed out on the World Cup because Loew opted for a false nine set-up and only brought Miroslav Klose as its lone striker. The team struggled in the false nine setup and looked more balance with Klose leading the line.

With Klose now retired, Loew had no other striker to turn to aside from Gomez. And so he gave the 29-year-old a chance to reinstate himself as the top striker on the team.

But Gomez made a mess of his opportunity. He had a plethora of amazing chances to score a goal and he flubbed them all. On one particular opportunity Marco Reus fired a shot that was stopped by Sergio Romero. However, the Argentinean keeper dropped a major rebound right to Gomez in front of the net. The score was 2-0 at that point and he had a big opportunity to put his team within one. But he fired the tap-in wide to keep the score at 2-0.

If Gomez is going to play this way moving forward, then it is best that Loew stick to his false nine set-up.