Germany assistant coach Joachim Loew is surprised at Argentina coach Jose Pekerman's substitutions in Friday's quarter-final, and in particular that he did not bring on Lionel Messi or Javier Saviola.

"I have a lot of respect for them, they can counter-attack - Messi is fast and a good dribbler, he'd have been a big danger for us," said Loew.

Pekerman preferred Esteban Cambiasso when he surprisingly replaced playmaker Juan Roman Riquelme with twenty minutes to go in the match.

"They brought on pretty much a second defensive player for Riquelme... That's when we knew Argentina were stepping back and we really had to make the most of that."