Berlin: Argentina played some of the best football of the World Cup and became the most feared team yet ultimately paid the price for a lack of belief in a potential match-winner like Lionel Messi.
They had a quarter-final victory over hosts Germany within their grasp on Friday but turned their backs on the brilliant game that had taken them that far in the tournament.
Coach Jose Pekerman, whose training ground work had produced the impressive side that crushed Serbia & Montenegro 6-0 in the group stage, took off playmaker Juan Roman Riquelme for defensive midfielder Esteban Cambiasso for the last 20 minutes.
Germany, suddenly released from the threat of Riquelme's probing passes deep into their defence, fought back to equalise through Miroslav Klose and went on to take victory on penalties.
Little was seen at the tournament of striker Carlos Tevez and teenager Messi, Argentina's most skilful ball players who have been compared with the great Diego Maradona.
They both scored as substitutes against the Serbs when the result was safe and the opposition were down to 10 men.
Teaming Messi with Riquelme and Tevez, who made his first start of the tournament on Friday in Berlin, would have forced the Germans further back but Pekerman's substitutions invited the host team back into Argentina's half.
Germany's assistant coach Joachim Loew was surprised that Pekerman had not brought on Messi or Javier Saviola, another of the little speedy ones as the Argentina coach called them.
"We have a lot of respect for them (Messi and Saviola). And if they bring on Messi, they can counter-attack - Messi is fast and a good dribbler, he'd have been a big danger for us," said Loew.
"But they brought on pretty much a second defensive player for Riquelme. And they replaced (forward Hernan) Crespo with a similar type of player."
"That's when we knew Argentina were stepping back and we really had to make the most of that."
Argentina go home much admired for their football and with their pride salvaged after the failure to progress from the group stage in the previous World Cup in Asia four years ago.
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Other than that, there remain the flashes of brilliance against the Serbs in Gelsenkirchen, especially the second goal scored by Cambiasso after a 24-pass move, and Maxi Rodriguez's superb winner against Mexico in the second round in Leipzig.
There were also the fine performances in defence, particularly on Friday, with a majestic Roberto Ayala scoring in his 105th international, one short of Diego Simeone's Argentina record.
Javier Mascherano, just 22, was also brilliant as the holding midfielder, tireless in his ball winning and distribution, who was more comfortable holding the Argentine line alone than with a deep lying partner like Cambiasso.
The Argentina story, however, should have been all about Riquelme - who started impressively in the 2-1 win over Ivory Coast three weeks ago - Tevez and Messi.
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