TheDailySoccerNews.com

Diego Maradona’s dream of guiding Argentina to their first World Cup since he won it almost single-handedly in 1986 was ended in emphatic fashion as a rampant Germany  cruised into the semi-finals at the expense of the South Americans.

Stunning displays by Bastian Schweinsteiger, Thomas Müller and Miroslav Klose drove the Germans to victory against woeful Argentina at Green Point Stadium.
Müller, who opened the scoring on three minutes, will now miss Wednesday’s semi-final against Spain or Paraguay in Durban after being booked in the first-half.

The loss of the Bayern Munich forward will be a major blow for Germany, but the three-time world champions will not lack confidence whoever their face in four days’ time.

With both teams suffering with a weakness at the heart of their defence, the general consensus was that Argentina’s superior attackers would prove decisive in Cape Town.

But Germany are nothing if not organised and tactically astute and Joachim Löw’s players nullified the threat of the Argentine’s in a low-key first-half.

German dominance was perhaps down to their third minute opener, when Müller claimed his fourth goal of the tournament with a clinical header from ten yards.

The Argentina defenders had left him in acres of space and Müller simply escaped the loose marking to send Bastian Schweinsteiger’s free-kick past the rooted goalkeeper Sergio Romero.

Despite their attacking flair, Argentina’s defence has gone largely untested in South Africa, but Germany had picked a hole before the game had even come to life.

Having fallen behind, Maradona’s team now had to exploit similar frailties in the German back-line, but Low’s defenders and midfielders teamed up to suffocate the space around Lionel Messi and the South Americans failed to test goalkeeper Manuel Neuer before the interval.

If anyone looked like adding to the scoring, it was Germany. Klose sent a good chance over the bar from six yards, while Lukas Podolski was unlucky with a 25-yard strike that flew narrowly wide.

The anticipated Argentina surge never came in the second-half and Germany, who picked off England at will in Bloemfontein, repeated the trick against Maradona’s shell-shocked players.

Klose, on his 100th appearance for Germany, made it 2-0 on 68 minutes when he tapped into an empty net after being teed up by Podolski.

And defender Arne Friedrich put the result beyond doubt six minutes later when he rounded off brilliant work by Schweinsteiger to score from close range.

The icing on the cake was applied by Klose on 89 minutes, though, when he volleyed Mesut Ozil’s cross past the helpless Romero from 12 yards.

So much for Germany being a team in transition. Eight goals in two knock-out games against England and Argentina suggests they are anything but.

World champions in waiting?