See, that disclaimer i put on my World Cup projections was right. Well, actually even the disclaimer was incorrect in its prediction ... my projected bracket is in ruins on Friday, instead of Saturday as i had previously speculated. First quarterfinal of the tourney, and my champions Argentina are knocked out at the hands of hosts Germany. A good match, if not spectacular ... the South Americans dominated possession but were short of ideas in how to break down the organized German defense, which frequently looked as if there were fifteen men in white shirts around the penalty area. Roberto Ayala made the breakthrough just after halftime, heading home a Juan Riquelme corner. However, the Argentines then fell victim to Eriksson's disease ... after subbing their goalkeeper due to injury, coach Jose Pekerman then replaced Riquelme with defensive midfielder Esteban Cambiasso, and exhausted striker Hernan Crespo with unknown Jose Cruz. Argentina stopped playing their possession game and let the Germans come forward. Carlos Tevez struggled in vain to create in the infrequent Argentine attacks, but looked out of gas after running constantly for an hour. Meanwhile, potential gamewinners Lionel Messi and Javier Saviola languished on the bench as Pekerman had made his three substitutions. The German persistence finally paid off when midfield general Michael Ballack crossed into the area, which Tim Borowski flicked on to the charging Miroslav Klose, heading past substitute keeper Leo Franco to equalize. After that there really was only going to be one winner, with the Argentine attack more or less stalled. Even going through extra time scoreless and on to penalties, the Germans had to feel good with the imposing Jens Lehmann between the sticks, while the South Americans put their hopes in the untested Franco. Franco was helpless in the shootout, failing to sow any seeds of doubt in the German takers. Meanwhile Lehmann came up huge, guessing correctly on every single Argentine kick and saving two including the clincher taken by Cambiasso.

Apparently a big brawl erupted after the climax, by which time i had left for work but will inspect on Tivo when i get home. I'm sure it's a hard pill to swallow for the Argentines, particularly Man United wingback Gabriele Heinze who didn't have the best match and supposedly was one of the instigators of the fight. And now Pekerman has quit! Only minutes after bowing out, the Argentina coach has passively admitted that he blew it in forgoing the attack in the second half, keeping Messi and Saviola on the bench and ultimately unavailable to rescue the South Americans' hopes after Klose equalized. What a spectacle.

So my projected champions didn't even make it to the semis. I should know by now, never underestimate the advantage of playing at home. Even a squad with as many questions as Germany's can use that momentum to make an impact. Playing against Italy or Ukraine in the semis, i expect to see them in the final. Of course, i also expected to see Argentina in the final as of yesterday. Anyway, we may be in for a rematch of the 2002 final pitting the Germans against mighty Brazil ... unless England, Portugal, or France intervene to make it an all-European affair. Oh, the drama.