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Two months ago they played for gold, today they play for the audience

The Germans come to this friendly match without half the team, but with the desire to thank the fans - there were 45 thousand on the stands on the last practice. The Argentinians also lack a few important players, but have a new coach

www.thefa.com

Not two months ago, today's opponents decided who will get the World Champion title. After the overtimes, the Germans celebrated, and today, they're playing the first match in front of their fans after that. The euphoria still goes on in Germany - there were 45 thousand fans on the last practice who wanted to see their heroes in person.

There won't be too many of those heroes today. Lahm, Klose and Mertesacker said their goodbyes to the national team, and the new blows for the coach Low were injuries by Schweinsteiger, Ozil, Khedir, Boatengo and Humels. You could almost assemble a new team from those who are absent.

- We're hungry for success. The gold from Brazil is only an incentive that makes us be even better. We raised the bar high, now we need to keep it there. Well, we have to keep on raising it. If you don't plan on being better tomorrow, you'll end up being a loser - coach Low said.

Even though there are no official confirmations about the lineup, the formation should still be 4-2-3-1. The fantastic Neuer tends the goal, and the defense should be redesigned (Rudiger - Ginger - Howedes - Durm). The midfield should be kept by Kramer and Kroos, while the offense had the least changes. Reus recovered from the injury and is back, while Mario Gomez is on the bench again.

Argentina chose the team that defeated them in the World Cup final to be the one they play their first friendly match after the World Cup against, and the biggest change was on the bench. After the Mundial, Alejandro Sabella decided to leave the coach position, and the Alliance chose Gerardo Martin to be his successor. Most readers will remember Martin as the unsuccessful Barcelona's coach from the last season, but this expert from Rosario is very appreciated in his homeland.

Martino was voted the best coach of South America in 2007, and he got four titles in Paraguay in his coaching career (three titles with Libertador and one with Cerro Porteno), and also one Argentinian title with Newell's Old Boys. Martino mostly lead smaller clubs who weren't expected to do much, and he got above average results with them. His first attempt to lead a bigger club didn't go well, and it remains to be seen how he'll do on Argentina's bench. 

Martino decided to invite 21 player for his debut on the Gauchos bench, and he didn't experiment too much. The coach decided to invite most of the players who played the World Cup, but there'll be a few big absences today. 

The forward Rodrigo Palacio is out because of an injury, the offensive Maxi Rodriguez and the defender Ezequiel Garay, too. But, the most important news arrived yesterday, it was confirmed that Leo Messi will miss out because he got injured in the last game for the national team. Ezequiel Lavezzi also has back problems, so he's questionable. 

Considering everything, the biggest change will be in the offense where, according to the last practice, Sergio Aguero, Erik Lamela, Angel di Maria should play. Even though Gonzalo Higuain is in the team, supposedly he wasn't on his 100%, and should wait for his chance from the bench. 

When talking to media, Martino mentioned the formation he plans on using:

- We'll definitely play the 4-3-3 rotation, but it will be a system that can be easily modified. Depending on the situation, we'll only have one or two defensive midfielders on the field, but those are the details that always depend on lots of factors.