Germany wary of Argentina mind games

Germany head into their potentially explosive quarterfinal encounter with Argentina on Saturday hoping that a stern referee will be in charge of the game. Germans are wary of the ability of the Argentina players to pressurize the referee and also the fact that these two sides have a history of bad blood in the major competitions. Germany and Argentina met at the same stage in the World Cup 4 years ago and after the penalty shootout, which was won by Germany, many unsavory scenes followed with players even exchanging blows.

German midfield maestro Basteian Schweinsteiger has said that his team should not allow themselves to be provoked by the Argentines. Argentina’s last match with Mexico also saw some heated exchanges between the players and the referee after the half time whistle had gone. Carlos Tevez’s goal was allowed to stand, despite the Manchester City striker being clearly offside. Schweinsteiger pointed to the incident against Mexico saying that the Argentines are always self confident of their own rights, some of which are even non-existent.

Responding to Argentina’s coach, Diego Maradona’s claims that Lionel Messi was not being protected well enough by the referees at the World Cup, Schweinsteiger said that since Messi dribbles and holds on to the ball longer than usual, it is invariable that he will get fouled by the opposing players.

The Bayern Munich midfielder even took a dig at the Argentina fans, saying that they always sit together at matches, despite not having the tickets to do the same, causing inconvenience to the other spectators in the process.

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