Germany hammered Argentina today on a gorgeous afternoon in Cape Town. Thomas Mueller opened the scoring for die Mannschaft after just three minutes, and Germany took second half goals from Miroslav Klose (68, 89), and Arne Friedrich (74) to round off their comprehensive victory.

Following emphatic victories in the Round of 16, coaches Diego Maradona and Joachim Loew named unchanged lineups. There had been fitness concerns for Argentine playmaker Lionel Messi and German winger Lukas Podolski, but the pair were declared ready to play from the start.

For Argentina, Gabriel Heinze and Javier Mascherano entered the game just a yellow card away from missing out on a possible semifinal berth. The Germans had to be more careful, with Arne Friedrich, Sami Khedira, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Mesut Oezil, Thomas Mueller, Philipp Lahm, and substitute Cacau all set to earn suspensions in the event of a booking.

Argentina kicked off the match and were faced by a high-intesity, pressing German machine that could not have started the match better. After just three minutes, Lukas Podolski won a free kick from Nicolas Otamendi. Schweinsteiger delivered a gorgeous cross to Mueller, who beat Otamendi to the ball and nodded home the opener, his fourth of the tournament.

After the opener, Argentina found it difficult to move successfully forward. The entire German team dropped back to deny their opponents space to pass, and were quick to exploit a rather exposed Argentine defense. With Mascherano the only buffer for his team's centre halves, the Germans created and used space in the centre of the park.

After spending the majority of the opening ten minutes on their heels, the Argentines settled in. Their pace and runs up front were difficult to cover, and Messi, Carlos Tevez, and Gonzalo Higuain  linked well in the build-up.

Still, the Germans seemed to always have the ability to recover and make the necessary, last-minute intervention. In the opening half hour, the best chance the Albiceleste created was a through ball from Messi that goalkeeper Manuel Neuer was able to collect just ahead of Tevez.

While Argentina had trouble creating goal-scoring opportunities, the Germans were next to threaten to score. In the 24th minute, Mueller pounced on a deflected ball, and burst into the penalty area before squaring for Miroslav Klose, who looped his first-time effort over the bar. Six minutes later, Podolski unleashed a long-ranged effort that flashed just wide of the right post.

Late in the first half, Argentina finally began to look a threat in front of goal. Angel di Maria, who began the game as a left winger, found space to attack on the right side, but had his low shot saved by Neuer. Not long thereafter, Higuain had a similar effort stopped.

After 36 minutes, Maradona's men thought they had equalized, but the play was called back. After Mueller was carded for a hand ball, Higuain slotted home from a through ball, but was adjudged to have done so from an offside position.

The game began to stretch in the final moments of the first half, and while Messi regularly found the ball at the top of the German penalty area, he was always closed down and never had a clear view of goal. Mueller had a chance to double the Germans' advantage late in the half, but had his close-ranged effort blocked.

At the end of a rousing first half, Germany entered the tunnel with a well-deserved, albeit slim, advantage. Argentina looked good in spells, but needed much more in order to advance to the semifinals.

The second half began with both teams unchanged, and Argentina pinning their oponents back in their own half. Di Maria struck a scorcher wide of the left post early on, but it did not take long for play to stretch over the length of the pitch.

As in the first half, Messi found himself having to drop very deep to retrieve the ball, and Germany used a very high offside trap. Argentina managed to breach their opponents' back line on multiple occasions, but a timely intervention from Per Mertesacker's face denied Tevez a shot on goal.

Towards the hour mark, the game shifted into a new gear of pace. Back and forth the teams sprinted, but neither could create a clear goal-scoring opportunity. The sheer pace left both sides visibly fatigued, but favored the seemingly fitter Germans, who bested their opponents in transition.

Whereas Argentina often had to settle for shots from outside the box, the Germans showed enough mettle to double their advantage. Once again, the impressive Mueller was at the centre of the play. As he appeared to be felled by Martin Demichelis, the 20-year old attacker managed to turn and pass through to the wide-open Podolski. With just goalkeeper Sergio Romero to beat, the Koeln striker squared for Klose, who tapped his 13th World Cup goal into an open net.

After going two goals behind, Maradona had to roll the dice, and opted to bring on attacking midfielder Javier Pastore to replace Otamendi, who by the time of his substitution, was on his final warning.