Stunning Germany thump Argentina

In the latest TFT World Cup Podcast, we were asked why we thought South American teams were faring so well in this year's competition. There has been a feeling that the tournament has been dominated by the continent, with Uruguay, Argentina and Brazil all looking ominous prospects and Chile and Paraguay worthy opponents for the teams they've met so far.

It's not so promising for them now. Brazil took out Chile and then got knocked out by a European side, the Netherlands, who are beginning to look a real threat. And although Uruguay scraped through in dramatic circumstances last night, we now know that 2010 will not go down in history as a South American World Cup.

This afternoon, Argentina's entertaining run came to an end in emphatic fashion, the Albicelestes finding themselves on the end of a 4-0 hiding from a simply brilliant Germany side.

It took less than three minutes for Thomas Mueller, who put in a breathtaking performance along with Bastian Schweinsteiger, to head Joachim Low's team into the lead. Germany had the best of the rest of the first half and deservedly led at the break.

For a period in the second half Argentina looked dangerous and certain to equalise, but that spell ended when Miroslav Klose tapped in the second in the 67th minute. Less than ten later, it was three. Schweinsteiger's powerful, skillful run took him to the line and he cut back for Arne Friedrich to make the game safe.

To add insult to injury, the Germans added a fourth goal in the dying moments. A perfectly weighted cross from Mesut Ozil found Klose in space behind the back marker and he hit a lovely finish into the bottom corner.

The downside for Low is that Mueller will miss out on the semi-final against Spain or Paraguay after picking up a yellow card.

Farewell, El Diego...