Let's not get ahead of ourselves. He was the one making that stupid backpass to Balotelli. He fucked up the offside trap for Di Natale's goal. He risked a red card and penalty against Croatia. He did have the mighty Hugo Almeida in his pocket though, can't argue against that.
I remain that he lacks the composure, calmness and intelligence to be considered world class. Giving Barca a hard time must be a joke. How many times does he fuck up the offside trap by making a step forward to be left looking like a dick waving with his arms at the linesman?
The quality of defenders has drastically regressed over the years. Nowadays it's all about pressing as a team and centrebacks being comfortable with the ball at their feet rather than being 1 on 1 warriors. Getting carded for every good tackle nowadays (how many undeserved cards did Mascherano already receive?) doesn't help.