Wings of destruction

London: There is flair within the framework of Joachim Loew's well-organised Germany, a quality usually witnessed in the clever touches and movement of Mesut Ozil but here seen thrillingly and relentlessly out wide with Thomas Mueller and Lukas Podolski.

Bastian Schweinsteiger was man of an extraordinary match on Saturday, driving through the middle time and again, causing constant problems for Argentina but the space was created by the clever stretching exercise conducted by Mueller and Podolski.

Gabriel Heinze was constantly outrun by Mueller. Podolski so tormented Nicolas Otamendi that when Diego Maradona removed his right-back midway through the second half it almost appeared an act of mercy.

"I told my young players they were faster than them and, if you keep them under pressure, players like Heinze would struggle," Loew said.

"We did that and took their defence apart completely. Like Mueller. The one sadness for the Germans was that Mueller's booking for a handball rules him out of the semi-final in Durban," he said.

"The fact we won't have Mueller is a serious blow. He's shown just how dangerous he is. He's everywhere on the pitch. I saw the incident where he was shown the yellow card, and I really don't see why he's booked. The ball touched his thigh and then his arm at a very short distance, so I question the yellow card. But we'll replace him and go forward."

Counter-attacks

Germany certainly went forward, wave after counter-attacking wave washing away Argentina's top-heavy structure.

Argentina were destroyed by the speed of thought and body of the Germans, and any hope Maradona may have had of getting his wingers, Angel Di Maria and Maxi Rodriguez, going was thwarted by Mueller and Podolski.

Argentina's wings were well and truly clipped. What had been immediately apparent in the Green Point Stadium was the understanding between the German pairs out wide, between Mueller and Philipp Lahm and between Podolski and Jerome Boateng. They operated as teams, hounding Di Maria and Maxi, who became so frustrated they switched halfway through the opening period. To no avail. Argentina's wingers were suffocated, their space invaded by Mueller and Podolski, just as Messi was snuffed out by Germans working in packs. The odds of Messi, Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo departing the World Cup with one goal between would have been long a month ago.

Mueller now has four, one more than England managed. He soon struck here, recording the 200th goal that Germany (and West Germany) have scored in World Cup finals.

The speed and stamina of Loew's wide players was exceptional, stirringly witnessed after 20 minutes when Mueller tracked back to nick the ball off Carlos Tevez.

Germany's wingers were always helping out defensively, always quick to break upfield. When Heinze lost the ball to Mueller, the Bayern Munich man raced into the box and swept a pinpointed cutback to Miroslav Klose, who shot wastefully over.

On the bench, Loew screamed in frustration. His wingers swiftly calmed him. Mueller and Podolski were putting in prodigious shifts. Just after the half-hour mark, Podolski raced back to nudge the ball away from Lionel Messi, allowing Arne Friedrich to clear up.

Back came Podolski again, closing Di Maria down and then clearing a Messi shot. Mueller, reflecting such selflessness, was often back lending a hand, figuratively so when attempting to deny Messi.

Even when Argentina briefly began to show some menace, Germany kept to their game-plan and Mueller and Podolski kept to their vital tasks.

Then Mueller and Podolski combined so brilliantly, the Bayern player sliding the ball to his Cologne counterpart. Weighting the ball to avoid Nicolas Burdisso, Podolski rolled the ball to Klose to score. Friedrich and Klose doubled the score and Mueller departed to a standing ovation.