Match 59 - Quarter-finals - 03 July
Cape Town - Green Point Stadium
Head-to-Head
ARG:GER
wins 8:5
draws 5
goals 25:23
TEAM NEWSArgentina coach Diego Maradona has no new injury concerns for Saturday's quarter-final against Germany.
Walter Samuel has recovered from a thigh problem but is not expected to displace Nicolas Burdisso or Martin Demichelis at centre-back.
Germany's counter-attacking prowess could persuade Maradona to replace winger Angel Di Maria with the more defensive-minded Jonas Gutierrez.
Maxi Rodriguez may again start in midfield ahead of veteran playmaker Juan Veron.
Germany are likely to field an unchanged starting line-up following the impressive win against England.
Lukas Podolski and Mesut Ozil are both expected to play despite missing training on Thursday. Podolski sat out the session due to a minor muscle problem, while Mesut Ozil was feeling unwell.
Striker Cacau is still suffering from a strained abdominal muscle, and is unlikely to be involved.
One booking from suspension: Bolatti, Heinze, Mascherano (Argentina); Friedrich, Khedira, Lahm, Ozil, Muller, Scheweinsteiger (Germany).
MATCH FACTS
Head-to-head
- Victory in the 1986 World Cup final is Argentina's only previous World Cup win in five matches against Germany or West Germany. Since the 1990 final they have met six times (including friendlies), with Argentina's only defeat coming in a penalty shoot-out at the last World Cup.
Argentina
- The Albiceleste have won all nine of their matches this calendar year and have won 12 of their last 13 games. Their only slip-up was a 2-1 defeat to Spain last November.
- Argentina have yet to draw a match under Diego Maradona. They have won 18 and lost five of his 23 matches in charge.
- Lionel Messi has had 23 shots at goal in South Africa but has yet to score. No other player has had as many shots without scoring at the tournament.
Germany
- Miroslav Klose's opener against England was the 12th World Cup goal of his career. Only Just Fontaine (13), Gerd Muller (14) and Ronaldo (15) have scored more at the tournament.
- Germany have never gone more than 20 years between winning World Cups - their last victory was in 1990.
- The Germans have won all four of their previous World Cup penalty shoot-outs, having beaten France (1982), Mexico (1986), England (1990) and Argentina (2006). The Argentines have won three of their four shoot-outs, defeating Yugoslavia and Italy (1990) and England (1998) before losing to the Germans four years ago.
Referee: Ravshan Irmatov (Uzbekistan)
Assistants: Rafael Ilyasov (Uzbekistan)
Fourth official: Jerome Damon (South Africa)