Argentina vs. Germany worthy of final

It is a quarterfinal with all the makings of a final. Capricious Diego Maradona's Argentina and precocious Germany have already produced the beautiful game that any World Cup thrives on.

Yet memory shows Saturday's game also has all the trappings of an ugly clash.

And for an added twist, the world's greatest player, Lionel Messi, was said to be suffering from a touch of a cold, less than 48 hours before kickoff.

The game however, already reached fever pitch without any potential illness.

For all the sweet moves of Messi and Germany's Mesut Oezil, the wild push-kich-and-shove melee at the end of Germany's penalty shootout quarterfinal …