Argentinian fans stunned by the exit

Many thought this was Argentina’s year, with football legend Diego Maradona as coach and champion Lionel Messi leading the attack. But Germany utterly dominated Saturday’s game at Cape Town and ended Argentina’s run. A large crowd watched on a huge screen at the obelisk in Buenos Aires.

“Pathetic” is how student Christopher Barrezueta described the result.

“It’s humiliating. A disaster. Terrible,” Barrezueta said, shaking his head as police cleared the streets. “Bad, bad, bad.” Juan Alberto Urquiza hid his face in an Argentine flag as Germany scored its fourth goal, shocked at how powerless his heroes proved to be in the end.

“They were so much better,” he said. “Argentina couldn’t do anything.” Drummers kept pounding and fans chanted “Let’s go, Let’s go Argentina,” long after the final score. But Argentines who had planned a long night of partying couldn’t hide their dejection as they streamed home.

“I thought this would be our World Cup. With Messi, Maradona, the best players in the world - but the Cup is something else entirely,” said 21-year-old Mariano Fiaschi. But Cesar Yurquina, who wore a team jersey with Messi’s name and number to watch the game, refused to blame his hero. “The whole team also played badly, not just Messi,” he said. “Our only consolation is that Brazil went out before us!”