Germany Shows Its Strength

Germany tore Argentina apart to book their place in the semi-finals and, for now at least, end Diego Maradona's dream of winning the World Cup as coach to go with his victory as captain in 1986.Three-time champions Germany marched into the semifinals of the World Cup after destroying Diego Maradona's highly-rated Argentina side 4-0 on Saturday in a rematch of the 1986 and 1990 title matches.Maradona was celebrated for the freedom he gave his forwards, cheered for the blithe way he let his players do as they wished, but it became clear that he was not prepared for the part of the game that required obstruction and impediment of the creativity that he possessed as a player and valued as a coach.In building an ostentatious attack, Maradona neglected to shore up his defense for a day like Saturday, when the goals stopped coming for Argentina and the threats at the other end had to be countered with something other than indifference, lack of speed and disorganization.Maradona the coach proved far less able than Maradona the player, and Argentina’s last World Cup title, in 1986, receded further into the rearview mirror.Veteran striker Miroslav Klose celebrated his 100th international appearance with two goals in Cape Town, taking him level second in the tournament's all-time scoring list alongside compatriot Gerd Muller on 14.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.Mueller opened the scoring after only three minutes when Schweinsteiger swung in a free-kick from the left and he escaped the Argentina defence to beat Sergio Romero with a downward header that the keeper got a leg to but could not keep out.Klose, who also won his 100th cap for Germany, should have made it 2-0 when Mueller broke into the area down the right and squared for him in front of goal. But he fired wastefully over, not that it appeared to matter much at that point.They did improve as half-time approached and Angel Di Maria and Gonzalo Higuain both forced Manuel Neuer into low saves, but Germany continued to threaten on the break.Arne Friedrich did the same in the 74th minute for a 3-0 lead. Finally, Klose delivered a volley in the 89th minute for the final score.