The final day of the quarter-finals wraps up with a stunning rout and a dramatic finish in the games two games.
The first game of the day was between Argentina and Germany.
The Argentinians and Germans came into the game with plenty of confidence, each recording convincing wins in the round of 16, and winning their groups in the group stage.
Argentina was thought to be the pre-match favorite, with Lionel Messi playing at a majestic level and seeming to be impossible to defend.
But just three minutes in, German striker Thomas Mueller deflected a free kick with a glance of his head, propelling the ball into the net and giving Germany the early 1-0 lead.
In the 23rd minute, Germany had the chance to go up 2-0 but Miroslav Klose's shot flew just over the crossbar. Mueller took advantage of a turnover near the box, and he raced in before centering the ball to Klose. Klose though, could not convert the opportunity.
Germany thouroughly controlled the first half, and although they have a young team that is inexperienced on an international level, they played with the confidence and poise of a World Cup champ.
Argentina stepped it up in the second half, and created a couple of chances through Gonzalo Higuain and Angel Di Maria.
But just like Germany's match against England, their team speed on the counter-attack struck Argentina in the worst way possible.
In the 68th minute, an insicive German attack sliced open the Argentinian defense with one touch passing, and a beautiful pass from Mueller while he was on the ground.
The pass went forward to Podolski, who delivered a perfect pass in between the goalie and Argentinian defender Martin Demichelis, right to the feet of Klose, who put it away for the 2-0 lead and his 51st career goal for Germany.
Six minutes later, some shoddy defending from Argentina let German midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger run straight into the box, and lay across a pass to teammate Arne Friedrich, who scored to give the Germans a 3-0 lead. It was Friedrich's first ever goal for Germany, after 77 appearences.
Just four minutes from time, in the 86th minute, Klose finished for his second of the day to give the Germans a 4-0 lead and seal the victory and a place in the semi-finals.
"We've played exceptionally well today, and I'm really proud of this team," said the man of the match Schweinsteiger. "Our tactics were superb. We're good enough to take the next step now and obviously we want to make the Final. We've beaten two of the big names, England and Argentina, and we've already gone a long way. This is a very good team."
In the second game of the day, Spain took on their common language relative Paraguay.
Spain held out a nervy win in the round of 16 against Portugal, while Paraguay made the quarters with a win in penalty shots over Japan.
Paraguay used the same stratagy as the Swiss in the first round of the cup to stop the Spanish midfield from running all over the place.
Both teams took time to get into the game, and offensive chances were scarce for most of the first half.
In the 41st minute, Oscar Cardozo of Paraguay had a goal taken away from him due to an offsides call, which replays show might not have really been offsides.
The second half was where the drama ensued.
In the 57th minute, the referee Carlos Batres pointed to the spot after Spanish defender Gerard Pique pulled down a Paraguayan in the box. Pique earned a yellow card due to the foul as well.
Oscar Cardozo stepped up for Paraguay to take the shot, and put it to his right. But Spanish keeper Iker Casillias was up to the challenge and made a great save.
Just seconds later, at the other end of the field, David Villa of Spain was through on goal, and Antolin Alcaraz of Paraguay took him down in the box, and Villa earned Spain a penalty.
Xabi Alonso stepped up for the Iberian nation, and scored. But the goal was taken back by the ref, due to encroachment, and there was to be a re-kick.
And on the re-penalty kick, Xabi Alonso's shot was saved by Justo Villar of Paraguay, and amazingly after two missed penalties, the game was still tied at 0-0.
Finally in the 82nd minute, David Villa once again scored for Spain to put his team ahead. A great passing sequence led to an open shot by Pedro, whose shot hit the left post and ricocheted out. The ball went straight to Villa, who took a curled shot towards goal. The ball bounced off the right post, then danced along the goalline until hitting off the left post, and then rolling into the net.
The score would stay that way, and Spain would manage to once again barely win and advance in the World Cup.
"We didn't play well and we never looked comfortable, but that was partly down to Paraguay," said Spanish coach Vicente Del Bosque. "Even so, I think we deserved to go through and the best thing about the game was the result. We are delighted to be in the last four and these are happy times for Spanish football."
Germany will take on Spain on July 7 at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban, at 2:30PM ET on ESPN.
