You just knew last night after 10 mins it was going to be an awful game and they would have been as well doing the penalties then

Argentina have been so awful to watch throughout this tournament and the tactic just seem to stifle opponents and play a defensive game and just nick one hoping it will be enough.

The above tactic is exactly how they will play Sunday they won't open up against Germany as they would get ripped apart

It's called good defending and great tactical play.

My team is Italy, so I am a huge fan of the Italian catenaccio style of play (which they did not display at this World Cup). Argentina don't play the same way, but their stifling of the opponent's midfield is very impressive. Robben didn't have a chance. They didn't allow the Dutch to breathe and I expect them to do the same with Germany.

What's the point in opening up and attacking mindlessly just to lose 1:7?

I suppose but the biggest game in world football I would prefer a decent viewing spectacle

I don't regard Argentina as a negative team. They are well organised, technically accomplished, tactically astute and are using the available resources in a way to maximise their effectiveness. Would I could say the same about England..

The loss of Aguero and then Di Maria has significantly reduced the attacking options of Argentina and Messi, in particular, seems less potent for Argentina without Di Maria.

But surely watching one team concede goals over and over again is not as entertaining as watching a tight game between equals in which anything could happen?

The ideal game is somewhere between the two probably

I would say yes, I thought the games against Belgium and the Netherlands were horrible to watch and they created very little in either match (and their goal against Belgium was opportunistic....they snapped at a half chance and put it in the net).

If they win it, it will be a win for ugly football as they're not an entertaining team to watch.

The brand of football they (Argentina) play is horrible though. There was no atmosphere in the arena for either the Belgian or Dutch matches......people just knew they were watching negative football and very few chances being created.

The 0-0 draw between Netherlands and Costa Rica was a fantastic spectacle on the other hand.

Just like Italy raised the cup in 2006 winning (in style) against "beautiful" football of Germany and France, Argentina might just do it this year.

2014 has been one of the most entertaining World Cups ever with goals galore. It would be if an ultra defensive and conservative Argentina won it....they've scored the grand total of two goals in three knockout rounds.

Their tactics so far have worked as they are in the final. How they got there isn't nearly as important as actually getting there.

As the great Cannovaro (my new oracle of wisdom ) pointed out on itv, this World Cup has only had so many goals because teams forgot how to defend. Argentina and Mexico were the only two teams which displayed real quality defending.

Yes, but it seems out of place in this entertaining World Cup. You could just tell after about ten minutes last night that it was probably heading for extra time or penalties. The atmosphere was really dead in the arena for a World Cup semi final.

Unfortunately for the Argentinians, they're heading into a final against the most free scoring team in the competition (17 goals in six matches). If the Germans score first, the Argies are in trouble as they'll have to chase the game and start creating chances of their own, something they've failed to do so far.

However, if Argentina score first it will be very difficult for Germany to come back from that. If Germany don't score in the first half, they will lose the game. That's my assessment of the situation anyway

Yes, if Argentina score first, Germany may be in a spot of bother (though I still think they'll pose a big goal threat to Argentina even at 1-0 down......they've scored in every single game so far)

This may just turn into a replay of my favourite WC final of 2006. Two top quality teams with completely opposing styles of football both hungry for the cup. I hope so anyway!

I can't believe people are actually saying that good defensive play is out of place at the World Cup. I understand the once-every-two-years fans saying this but seeing genuine, day to day fans saying it is really strange to me. Argentina tend to score more than they concede. That is how you win football matches.

Thank you. I thought I was going mad.

Argentina are not entertaining to watch though. They had two shots on target against Belgium and one shot on target against NL in the opening 90 minutes last night.....that's really dire stuff.

Netherlands are a strong defensive team too and concede very little but they also scored a lot of goals in this tournament.

Netherlands outscored Argentina 10 to 6 in the groups and they both scored 2 in the knockouts, hardly a huge difference!

Argentina and Holland both showed fantastic defensive qualities last night, it was a fascinating game in my humble opinion Argentina`s plan to link Messi and Aguerro has been upset by the injury suffered by the latter.. Good defending is an art in itself, as was seen by Cannavaro in 2006 when he turned in some masterful performances, also the absence of their best defender was fatal for Brazil against Germany.

My fellow Azzurri fan is back! I agree with you of course. It was a fascinating game for me too. Argentina completely disabled Robben and Holland completely disabled Messi. Brilliant defending from both teams last night.

I hope Cannavaro comes back and coaches in Italy soon. He needs to teach them how to defend again. Italy relying on an Argentine defender - what is the world coming to?!

Yes, but the Netherlands created a load of chances in the quarter final against Costa Rica and hit the woodwork three times.

To be fair Argentina did most of the attacking in the first two knockout games only to come up against teams defending en masse against them..

Don't; think they are that negative at all.
1990 Argentina team was worse in my opinion. That team were pretty dour and were also dirty.

The current Argentinian team are a very 'clean' one, I'll give them that.