Matchday 21 - Magnificent Mannschaft

Argentina 0 - Germany 4 (Mueller 3, Klose 68, 89, Friedrich 74)
Paraguay 0 - Spain 1 (Villa 83)

The quarter final craziness continued on Matchday 21. Germany ensured Diego Maradona would not be the second man to captain and coach a nation to a World Cup when they slaughtered Argentina 4-0 to advance to the semi-finals for the third straight tournament. While in the late game Spain overcame a stubborn Paraguay 1-0 to reach the semi's for the first time.

But it is the Germans that will be the toast of South Africa this morning after unbelievably dispatching Argentina 4-0 in a total annihilation of the South Americans. The result is the third time this tournament that the Germans have racked up 4 goals after notching similar milestones against Australia and England. The Germans dominated the game right from kick off, and took an early lead through a Thomas Mueller header in just the 3rd minute. Shockingly, that seemed to be it for Argentina, who like Brazil yesterday, had no answer to going behind. They created little and their defence was so shambolic that they were lucky to only go in 1-0 down at half time. The Germans were not so forgiving in the second half, a 5 minute burst that resulted in goals to Miroslav Klose (passing Pele for career World Cup goals) and Arne Friedrich with 20 minutes to go killed the game off as a contest if in reality it had not been game over already. Argentina had absolutely no response, and Klose added a 4th in the last minute of normal time to compound the embarrassment. It ended a horror weekend for the big South American teams after Brazil was eliminated by Holland last night. The Germans aren't quite favourites for the title now but they should be after demolishing England and Argentina on their way to the semi's. Can anyone stop them? I don't think so.

The final quarter final was a more tepid affair but it was not without its own excitement, Spain finally prevailing 1-0 over Paraguay to book their first ever spot in the semi-finals. The game was a virtual stalemate in the first half, but the action exploded 10 minutes into the second when Paraguay were awarded a penalty after Oscar Cardozo was wrestled to the ground in the penalty box. This was Paraguay's golden chance, but they were denied but arguably the world's best goalkeeper, with Iker Casillas saving the spot kick. The action sped down the opposite end of the field and unbelievably Spain were immediately awarded their own penalty, after David Villa was bundled over in the box. Xabi Alonso thought he had given Spain the lead after converting the penalty, but the referee ordered a re-take after Spanish players encroached into the box. Staggeringly the re-take was saved by the Paraguayan captain and the game remained at 0-0. With extra time approaching and the game still scoreless, the Spanish talisman at this tournament, David Villa, again proved decisive, firing the Spaniards into the lead after Pedro's shot had bounced off the right hand post. Casillas pulled off a double save in the final moments to preserve the 1-0 lead and set off wild celebrations across Spain. Paraguay will be proud of their efforts in advancing to the quarters, althoug they have not played the most attractive football in doing so.

Semi-Final Matches - Germany ($2.10) v Spain ($1.89)

What We Learned - That Argentina's brilliance was only as a result of the fact that they had been beating up on lesser opposition. They finally met another quality side and were absolutely pounded by a quick and clinical counter-attacking German unit. The derided back-four failed to stand up to the pressure of a World Cup quarter final and were cut to shreds by the pace and skill of the German attacking thrusts.

The Falcon's Spud of the Day - Lionel Messi (Argentina) - Possibly a little harsh given he failed to get much support from his teammates last night but while Germany's young guns in Mueller and Oezil were starring Messi was really no where to be seen. When he did get the ball he was immediately closed down by the Germans and he failed to bring his teammates into the game which he surely could have done when he was being double and triple teamed himself.

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