Argentina V Germany World Cup 2010
The Germans will aid Messi in ending his World Cup drought.
Saturday, 3rd July – 15:00 GMT
FIFA World Cup – Quarter-Final (Last-Eight)
Despite failing to find the goal in four outings so far in South Africa, Lionel Messi remains the favourite to open the scoring on Saturday against Germany. Considering he will line up alongside two forwards which have helped themselves to some of the scoring cake in Carlos Tevez (2 Goals) and Gonzalo Higuain (4 Goals), that’s some statement from the bookmakers and a clear message that Messi naturally is a scoring threat even when enduring a drought. In fairness, Messi has never been a prolific figure for Argentina, although at just 23 years-old and boasting 43 senior caps for his country already, there’s plenty of time to change that. However, 13 goals in 48 caps doesn’t necessarily scream scoring beast, but that is one way to describe this young talent, a beast of a player. He racked up a staggering 47 goals in 53 appearances for the mighty Barcelona last season, clinching more silverware with the La Liga crown as well as earlier receiving the FIFA Player of the Year accolade.
At the very beginning of the tournament, Messi was one of the frontrunners in the ‘Top Goalscorer’ market, but his 0 in 4 means he is no longer a contender in reality. On the field on Saturday will be two players gunning for the competitions Golden Boot award, an achievement which becomes available to any budding forward just once every four years, so to claim the prize at the end of the tournament is some achievement. Higuain leads the way with 4 goals (4.30 bWin) while Germany’s Thomas Muller has scored three times (26.00 totesport). Messi, though, can still be had at 66/1(ExtraBet) which, considering he hasn’t bagged a single goal as of yet, is ridiculously short but another clear statement that the bookies still fear the Argentine maestro.
On Saturday, Lionel Messi will be unleashed on Germany, against a defence which has looked suspect leading up to these finals and even more so since they arrived three weeks ago. With that said, only Serbia and England have actually found a way round Manuel Neuer in the German goal, although neither of those two were prolific in front of goal in South Africa. Argentina however, well, they lead the way with 10 goals in 4 games, one in front of Germany, and are a team which focus all their ability and strong characteristics on attack. They’ll give this shaky German back line a real going over, with Messi in particular about to put the likes of Mertesacker, Lahm and Friedrich through their paces. The Argentina ace has been menacing all tournament, with his gut-bursting runs from midfield often no match for defenders, while it’s taken some breathtaking saves from goalkeepers to stop Messi from scoring his first goal of these finals. We have plenty of respect for Neuer in the Germany goal, a talented shot-stopper with a big future in the game, but his defence isn’t strong enough to repel an Argentine onslaught and in an encounter where we envisage the South Americans scoring several times, we’re backing Messi to once again be the orchestrator although this time leading by example as well as assisting the demolition.
Lionel Messi can be found at glorious odds of 5.50 with many firms, Totesport and SkyBet included, to open the scoring in Saturday’s powerhouse contest. However, we’re airing with the side of caution and backing Messi to score anytime (extra-time and penalties do not count) at odds of 2.50 with a generous Coral.
Matt’s Tip: Lionel Messi Anytime Scorer – 2.50 Coral
