Star studded Argentina will take on Belgium, while Germany clashes against France.

Two quarter final matches of the on going 2014 World Cup Competition will take place tomorrow Saturday in the Brazilian cities of Brasilia and Salvador respectively. The first encounter pitting Argentina against Belgium will be played at the Estadio Nacional as from 5 p.m local time, while the Arena Fonte Nova plays host to the second encounter to begin at 9 p.m local time.

Argentina versus Belgium as far as the history of the FIFA World Cup is concerned have met twice at the final phase of the tournament. At the group stage in 1982 with Belgium winning 0 - 1 and during the semi-finals of the 1986 edition that saw Argentina grabbing a 2 – 0 victory. Twenty-eight years after, soccer destiny has once more brought them together for another gigantic fight for a semi-final ticket.

Just like since the start of the competition Argentina will be going into the match with

a lot of determination and dependability on captain Lionel Messi. The Barcelona attacker, who scored the deciding goals in their first two matches, was once more on the limelight after setting Di Maria for their winning goal against Switzerland. Though his form has so far benefited the team, manager Alejandro Sabella is not only worried, but conscious of the fact that, his attackers have not been prolific and the defense not re-assuring. With Sergio Aguero injured and Ezequiel Lavezzi not in-form, Sabella’s only experience trump card up front might be Gonzalo Higuain.

On the other hand, Belgium’s progress into the round of eight does not depend on one player. It is thanks to contributions from the entire team. All the six goals scored have come from six different players. Romelu Lukaku was the last to join the list of goal scorers after netting the wining goal against the United States.

His come back in-form after being dropped from the starting line-up is a boost to manager Marc Wilmot, who might decide to pair him up front with Eden Hazard or still keep him on the bench after all, four of Belgium’s goals have been by players coming from the bench. Apart from the many attacking options, Belgian defense is also re-assuring having conceded only two goals in four matches.

The second encounter of the day will see Germany taking on France in Fonte Nova. Both teams were given stern test by African teams when they played against Algeria and Nigeria respectively. Since Germany defeated Portugal 4 – 0, in her first group match, her performance in the World Cup has become less convincing. She needed to come from behind to draw level against Ghana and could only beat the USA by a single goal. Their chances of reaching a fourth straight semi-final looked more uncertain after requiring extra-time to defeat Algeria in the round of 16.

During the encounter, the defense was not enterprising, while the attackers couldn’t convert the twenty-two shots they had into a single goal. However, writing Germany out too early would be a very big mistake as attackers like Mario Gotze, Lukas Podolski, Mesul Ozil, Miroslav Klose and Andre Schurle, who scored the winning goal against Algeria, can change the outcome of a match even at the last second. At the defense, Mats Hummel who missed the last encounter will be present to stabilize the shaky defense. To further contain the French assaults at the midfield, German trainer Joachim Loew might pair up Bastian Schweinsteiger and Sami Khedira.

However, though France impressive start at the group stage slowed down, it seems to be gaining steam. At the defense, trainer Didier Deschamps is expecting Liverpool defender Mamadou Sakho to be fit, while the outstanding performances of Paul Pogba and Blaise Matuidi will be required to support both the defense and the attack line. With Karim Benzema at the centre of the attack supported on the flanks by Mathieu Valbuena and Antoine Griezmann, the French manager might have less tactical worries.