Here the waters part, clear evidence that we are in no man’s land. What seemed like “bread swallowed” for the giants, takes an anthill nuances, with Argentina and Germany more than beaten in a World Cup in Qatar full of big surprises.
When talking about the two nations, it is synonymous with ecumenical football at the highest level, below nobody. But Argentina and Germany also set an unexpected mark, after falling as big favorites for the title against modest teams, even due to results that were come back in both cases.
Argentina reached the World Cup with an undefeated streak in 36 games (31 victories), one of the longest in recent decades, but an intruder Saudi Arabia (2-1) stopped their car to universal astonishment, against Leonel Messi and a superb group that played to the rhythm of the Valencian guitar.
But with Thomas Müeller’s Germany the same thing happened, when an emboldened Japan (2-1) beat his pulse against a host of world stars, who always impose the tick-tock of the Swiss clock. It is the second time that the Teutons fell against an intruder.
And the bumps still continue. Gareth Bale’s Wales was reviled by bland Iran (0-2 score), and Spain was served with a disproportionate spoon (7-0) against Costa Rica, in a clearly “improbable” result, because the Ticos are the power of Concacaf and experienced World Cup players.
historic world
Never before have two top-5 powerhouses lost in a debut, let alone against opponents of such a distant standard. Argentina and Germany accompany Brazil, being in themselves the ones with the greatest fuel –among clear contenders- to win the World Cup in Qatar, before the ostensible decline of France, as well as England and Spain.
The precedents mark Argentina itself (Italy 1990) and Spain (2010) as the biggest hits of the big ones.
In 1990, the then champion Argentina was surprised in the first match by the intruder Cameroon (0-1); while Spain, then European monarch and later World Cup champion, had the ignominy of a defeat (0-1) against Switzerland.
Other hits in World Cups, the United States petrified England (1-0) in Brazil 1950; in England 1966, North Korea disgraced Italy (1-0); Algeria displaced Germany (1-0) in Spain 1982, while South Korea took advantage of its location (Korea-Japan 2002) to humiliate the then three-time champion Italy (2-1), which would later win its fourth World Cup.
