High riser: Thomas Muller (bottom right) beats Nicolas Otamendi to Bastian Schweinsteiger's free kick
Penny for your thoughts: Diego Maradona saw his attack-minded tactics ruthlessly dismantled by a rapacious German side
So Germany march on, having dismantled yet another major footballing nation. Yesterday, on a glorious winter’s evening in Cape Town as the sun set behind Table Mountain, they produced the requisite magnificence to match the location with the definitive performance of this World Cup so far.
Their achievement was a deal more significant than the 4-1 victory over England, despite the revisionist theories which are likely to abound back home, justifying the failings of Fabio Capello’s team in the light of this result.
In the wilderness: Like so many of his contemporaries, Lionel Messi failed to set the World Cup alight in South Africa
Three and easy: Arne Friedrich hit the third - his first in a German shirt - as Joachim Low's side ran riot in Cape Town, scoring their third four-goal haul of the tournament
Tap in: With the Argentine defence at sixes and sevens, Miroslav Klose pounces on Lukas Podolski's pass to fire his first of the game
Argentina, despite clear defensive failings, were genuine contenders for these finals, unlike England, but even their extraordinary attacking force of Leo Messi, Gonzalo Higuain and Carlos Tevez could muster almost nothing against this rampant German side.
The dream of Diego Maradona was not to be. It always seemed an unlikely fantasy that the world’s greatest player could coax his nation to their first World Cup win since 1986, and at the final whistle he could only embrace his broken players in the centre circle. Messi, his heir apparent, was equally disconsolate, his talent snuffed out of this game.
And so for the third time since Maradona inspired victory in Mexico ’86 over Germany in the final, the Germans have ended Argentina’s World Cup.
There were heroes everywhere. Bastian Schweinsteiger was masterful in holding midfield, an object lesson for scores of aspiring English footballers. Sami Khedira, alongside him, was not far behind.
Destroyer of England Thomas Muller was again superb, so the disappointment was even deeper when he picked up a needless booking for a soft hand-ball on 35 minutes, meaning he will miss Wednesday’s semi-final.
Miroslav Klose, who has now scored more goals in these finals than he managed in the entire Bundesliga season, took his tally of World Cup strikes to 14 on his 100th appearance for his nation, equalling Gerd Muller’s German record and leaving him just one behind Ronaldo’s all-time record of 15.
‘It wasn’t just a top-class international performance but it was the performance of champions,’ said
their understandably delighted coach Joachim Löw. ‘We showed lots of ambition and lots of will to win. It was really impressive.’
Germany are quick starters and were out of their blocks even more smartly than in previous games.
Three minutes had elapsed when Schweinsteiger delivered a delightful inswinging free-kick. Nicolas
Otamendi, who had a miserable afternoon, had conceded the foul in the first place and then compounded his error, allowing Muller space to connect with a glancing header.
With the aid of a dreadful fumble from goalkeeper Sergio Romero, Muller opened the scoring with his
fourth goal of the tournament.
Thereafter, Germany were simply irresistible. The angles of their movement and the speed of passing bewitched some of the world’s greatest players. For 20 minutes, attacking in packs, they swarmed over the Argentines, led by Muller, but ably assisted by Lukas Podolski, Mesut Ozil, Schweinsteiger and Khedira.
Argentina, one of the tournament’s best passing sides, could not settle on the ball as Germany grabbed the initiative and refused to let go.
The Germans should have gone further ahead on 24 minutes, when a mistake by Gabriel Heinze allowed Muller to charge down the right and pull the ball back for Klose. Despite being just 12 yards out and with a clear sight of goal, he lifted his strike over the crossbar.
That said, Argentina had shown just prior to Klose’s glaring miss signs that they could work their way
back into the game.
Messi, largely shackled and especially awry with his free-kicks, skipped past three German players on one delightful run and when he received a pass from Carlos Tevez and slotted a delightful through-ball, only Manuel Neuer’s smart reaction prevented an equaliser.
Higuain did have the ball in the net on 35 minutes but his effort was rightly ruled out for offside.
Argentina regathered their forces at half-time and enjoyed a brief revival. But thanks to the vigilance
of Schweinsteiger and Khedira, they were restricted to long-range strikes from Angel Di Maria and Tevez.
Higuain was denied by Neuer on another occasion, yet had he elected to pull the ball back to Tevez, rather than shoot, Argentina would surely have been on level terms.
It was to prove crucial. Five minutes later, the grounded Muller somehow swung a leg to play in Podolski down the left. His cross was perfectly met by Klose, who tapped in for Germany’s second.
Argentina had nothing by way of response and, like England, capitulated.
Schweinsteiger capped his extraordinary display on 75 minutes with a delightful run past Di Maria,
Javier Pastore and Higuain to pull the ball back for Arne Freidrich, who, from three yards out, scored
his first goal for his nation.
Only the finale remained when Ozil, dashing down the left, chipped a beautiful cross into Klose who volleyed home.
Argentina had been overwhelmed and all Englishmen knew how they felt.
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