The Identity Thieves

This World Cup's most successful teams have shed their national identities in favour of tactical innovations, led by - who else? the Germans

 

To Sunday then, and to two sides who appear to be dressed in each others kit. History counts for much in football, and the cultural elements of Germany and Argentina appear, like their shirts, shorts and socks, to have been jumbled up in the wash and pulled out by the wrong teams.

How, for example, have an Argentina side containing the likes of Messi, Higuain, Lavezzi, Aguero - that is just the forwards - won five consecutive games by one goal margins? They should be playing more like... Germany, who for all their offensive genius - witness that unholy thrashing again and again on YouTube - have looked distinctly average so far defensively.

Don't stop there, though. Pull the lens back further, and it quickly becomes apparent that in a country in revolt before the tournament began, mini-revolutions have happened all over Brazil. The hosts appear a good place to start, with Phil Scolari, arch pragmatist that he is, making a mental note of his creative resources and the psychological pressures on his side and deciding a more aggressive approach over jogo bonito would be the most likely path paved with gold.

He was wrong of course, but Scolari's changes are the archetypal smoking gun. His tactics should not be questioned - the resources at his disposal, in a country of 200 million, most definitely should be. Holland, the Seleção's opponents on Saturday night, didn't so much change their identity as develop multiple personality disorder, with coach van Gaal (below) unceremoniously dumping the famed 4-3-3 of Cruyff's era and deploying whatever suited the situation.

Van Gaal is not a typically reactive coach - he most went with 4-3-3 in his time at Barcelona for example - but in Brazil he flexed and maximised his resources time and again, culminating in the psychological masterstroke of deploying Tim Krul to unnerve the Costa Ricans. Manchester United fans will be salivating at the season in prospect.

Successful change naturally depends on resources - Brazil are clearly the key protagonists here but to witness England's quiet exit at the group stage despite a markedly different approach in their game versus Italy shows you are still only as good as your players and the system they play.

But this was the World Cup when to stand still was to die. Italy and Spain, two of the biggest names in world football, both went out early and Prandelli notably came in for some criticism when he reverted to a traditional Italian 3-5-2 versus Uruguay- and lost, having deployed a relatively successful 4-2-3-1 in the previous European Championships that got them all the way to the final.

As for Spain, their story is entwined with that of the demise of Barcelona, where tiki-taka is on the ropes after an almighty hammering from the Dutch and German powerhouses in international and national football. Down, but never out - they are both too good, and football moves too quickly, for that movement to have died out.

Sunday's final is a victory for the postmodern - bar Alan Shearer's bleating, everyone recognises Germany's reinvention in identity following their 5-1 thrashing at England's hands in 2001. These Germans recognise efficiency can be art, that speed is more beautiful than physicality.

Meanwhile the Argentinians have simply done the opposite of what everyone expected. A goal machine before the tournament, they recognised early that sides would hide away, lock the castle gates, pull up the drawbridge and throw buckets of burning faeces off the battlements, and simply not played in their customary style. Some breathtaking moves against Nigeria aside, Argentina have depended on their defensive triumvirate of Garay, Demichelis and Mascherano to stifle teams when they did venture forward. The result; a most un-Argentinian sequence of results.

What to expect on Sunday then? Unknown. Germany undoubtedly go in as favourites and despite some parsimonious results, the Albiceleste defence was never the strongest in the tournament. Ironically, in a tournament full of identity swaps, Argentina might want to rediscover theirs if their intention is to take the trophy in Rio.

Picture courtesy of Mirror.co.uk