Inspired by Bastian Schweinsteiger and two-goal hero Miroslav Klose, Joachim Loew's side scored four times for the third game at this tournament in what was a devastating attacking display. Klose found the net only three times in the Bundesliga all season in a miserable campaign for Bayern Munich but he has now beaten that tally at this tournament, as well as moving to within a goal of Ronaldo, who with 15 goals, is the all-time highest scorer at World Cup finals.
After Thomas Mueller's early header, Germany coped with everything Argentina could throw at them before finishing off Maradona's men with a lethal late burst.
Following Brazil's self-destruction against the Dutch on Friday, Germany became the latest European team to see off a highly fancied South American side, and they move into the last four looking in good shape to become world champions for the first time since 1990. At times this win was reminiscent of the way Germany had ripped through England's backline in the second round a week ago, with Argentina caught out by their speed and incisiveness on the counter-attack as they chased the game.
Argentina thrashed by ruthless Germany
South Africa is a lot more hospitable and lot less nightmarish
The two rest days in the World Cup are just what South Africa needs to catch its breath, take a step back and do some self examination. With three quarters of the 32 teams out of the country, including the big names of England, USA, Italy and France, it's an ideal opportunity to see how the tourism industry has profited so far.
A year ago, FIFA was anticipating half a million foreigners to invade the southern tip of Africa for the tournament. That figure was revised down to 450 000, down again to 400,000 and finally settled at 350,000 as a result of the global economic meltdown and poor ticket sales. The majority of tickets sold outside South Africa went to people in the USA, with Europe next, and tickets sold to people in other African countries were at a disappointing low.
