Germany's disciplined defense and clinical counter attacks proved far superior to Argentina's creative flair Saturday, earning a convincing 4-0 win that ended Diego Maradona's hopes of becoming the third person to win the World Cup both as a player and coach.
Germany repeated history by beating Argentina in the World Cup quarterfinals for the second tournament in a row, and this time it never looked likely to need penalties to reach the semis.
Thomas Mueller gave Germany an early lead and Miroslav Klose scored two second-half goals either side of Arne Friedrich's simple tap-in as the Germans scored four goals for the third time this tournament.
"What the team showed, it was not only international level, but the level of champions," Germany coach Joachim Loew said. "It was absolute class."
Klose's two goals in his 100th international gives him 14 total World Cup scores, putting him level with fellow German Gerd Mueller on the all-time list. Brazil's Ronaldo tops the list with 15, but Klose will have two more games at this tournament to surpass him.
Argentina entered the game with perhaps the tournament's most potent attacking lineup, but neither Lionel Messi, Carlos Tevez or Gonzalo Higuain managed to break down the compact wall of German defenders.
Instead it was Argentina's defense that repeatedly cracked as all three of Germany's second-half goals came on well-constructed counter attacks.
After Mueller's third-minute header, Klose added a simple tap-in in the 68th minute. Friedrich then raced from defense to strike home the third in the 74th, and Klose added his second in the 89th.
Line-Ups:
Argentina: Sergio Romero, Nicolas Burdisso, Martin Demichelis, Javier Mascherano, Gabriel Heinze, Nicolas Otamendi (Javier Pastore 69'), Lionel Messi, Angel Di Maria (Sergio Aguero 75'), Maxi Rodriguez, Gonzalo Higuain, Carlos Tevez
Germany: Manuel Neuer, Arne Friedrich, Per Mertesacker, Jerome Boateng (Marcell Jansen 71'), Philipp Lahm, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Sami Khedira (Toni Kroos 77'), Mesut Oezil, Lukas Podolski, Thomas Mueller (Piotr Trochowski 83'), Miroslav Klose
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