Heartbreak!

Argentine lost! Damn those Germans. And while I'm damning them, let's be particular and damn Jens Lehman (is that one 'n' or two?) and Miroslav Klose in particular. As is true of all fans who end up on the losing end of a battle, it is my wont to portion out blame to all and sundry. But no, I'm going to reserve my ire for one Jose Pekerman whose inexplicable strategy was responsible for leaving Argentina majorly crippled for the last forty minutes of the game.

An exercise: Who is Argentina's key player? Now if you have even the remotest interest in the game, your answer would be Juan Roman Riquelme. No? Then maybe Lionel Messi (aka the 'Messi-ah' aka the next Maradona). No? Then definitely Chelsea's star striker Hernan Crespo. No? Then don't kid me - you don't have even the remotest interest in the game.

Right through the World Cup, Argentina has been seen and loved for its striking abilities. Six goals against any team on this stage, even a hapless Serbia & Montenegro, is no mean feat. And while their defence through the World Cup finals was good, Argentina is no Italy when it comes to holding off a rampaging attack. After an engaging first half in which Argentina seemed more likely than Germany to score, Ayala's strike in the 49th minute only seemed a fulfilment of what was imminent. And then, Pekerman decided to try and convert Argentina into an Italy.

Germany had scored 10 goals in the Finals leading into the match - same as that of Argentina. Klose was the top contender for the Golden Boot. With Podolski and Ballack as well, their attacking abilities had been much written about. To try and hold off Germany, which was bound to go all out and attack, for 40 minutes was virtually an impossibility. The only alternative was to continue pressing forward and get another goal to seal victory. Apparently, the Argentine coach didn't agree.

Abbondanzieri's injury was a blow to Argentina but I don't think it would have changed the match result. By substituting the play maker Riquelme and their leading goal scorer Crespo, and leaving no room for Messi to come on, the Argentine attack was toothless. Only Tevez looked remotely dangerous. In such a situation, if Germany were to score in regulation time and the match were to go into extra time, Argentina would have no hope of scoring the winning goal in that time without a one of these three key players on the pitch. If the match were to go into penalty shoot out, it would be Jens Lehman vs Franco. Lehman would win such a contest 100 times before losing one. And that is exactly what happened.

Pekerman has tendered his resignation now but I just wish he'd done so before the match.

* Image from AFP