CAPE TOWN – Germany’s goals flowed freely once again at the World Cup, this time battering Argentina 4-0 yesterday to propel the three-time champions into the semi-finals and send both Lionel Messi and Diego Maradona home.Miroslav Klose scored two of the goals to take his World Cup tally to 14 in three tournaments, equalling the German record held by Gerd Mueller. Former Brazil striker Ronaldo has the overall World Cup record with 15 goals.“I am so happy for Miroslav Klose to get two goals in his 100th game,” Germany coach Joachim Loew said.“What he has already shown is of the very highest level,” Loew added of Klose, who scored only three goals in the Bundesliga last season, but has four so far in South Africa. “It is entering history.”Thomas Mueller gave Germany the lead with a third-minute header, and Klose celebrated his 100th international appearance with a simple tap-in in the 68th minute as Germany outplayed the Argentine defence again.Arne Friedrich raced all the way up from defence to strike home the third goal in the 74th, and Klose scored his second in the 89th.Friedrich celebrated with a bellyflop, and Klose did a somersault after his second goal.“We play with so much happiness and that is good,” Friedrich said.Klose’s somersault was his trademark celebration in previous tournaments and hadn’t been seen for months. With Bayern Munich, the striker spent the bulk of the season on the bench.It was the third match at this year’s World Cup in which the Germans scored four goals following a 4-0 win over Australia and 4-1 win over England.“What the team showed, it was not only international level, but the level of champions,” Loew said. “It was absolute class.”With the three-time champions Germans dominating every sector of the field, Argentina paled in comparison and Messi left the tournament without a single goal, while Maradona failed to get his nation back into the World Cup final.Maradona, speaking with all the melancholy of a World Cup-obsessed nation, said that “in a country where you breathe football, nobody will be happy about a game in which you lose 4-0.”In the stands, German Chancellor Angela Merkel was clapping and celebrating.“I am more of the cautious type,” Merkel said. “At 4-0, it was warm around my heart but before that, I was still scared.”Maradona could feel fear from almost the first minute. The coach clasped his hands before his face in frustration, unable to meet the demands of the tens of thousands of Argentine fans among the crowd of 64 100 at the Green Point Stadium.“To lose like that is very painful,” Argentina striker Carlos Tevez said. “We played badly and sometimes when you make mistakes you go home.“They did what we knew they were capable of doing.” (AP)Line-upsArgentina – Sergio Romero, Martin Demichelis, Nicolas Burdisso, Gabriel Heinze, Nicolas Otamendi (Pastore, 70), Maxi Rodriguez, Javier Mascherano, Angel Di Maria (Kun Aguero, 75), Gonzalo Higuain, Lionel Messi, Carlos Tevez.Germany – Manuel Neuer, Philipp Lahm, Per Mertesacker, Arne Friedrich, Jerome Boateng (Marcell Jansen, 72), Bastian Schweinsteiger, Sami Khedira (Toni Kroos, 77), Thomas Mueller (Piotr Trochowski, 84), Mesut Oezil, Lukas Podolski, Miroslav Klose.
