Germany ooze genuine quality

Germany defender Per Mertesacker has admitted that even he is surprised at his country's charge towards World Cup glory in South Africa.

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The Germans set up what should be a compelling semifinal against Spain with their 4-0 demolition of Argentina in Cape Town on Saturday. It came just six days after they had put England to the sword in similar fashion and confirmed just how good Joachim Low's young side really are.

Few predicted such heroics when Germany left for South Africa without skipper Michael Ballack, first-choice goalkeeper Rene Alder and midfielder Christian Trasch. But Mertesacker has been taken aback by the performances of the youngsters who stepped into the breach.

"I am very surprised at how well we are doing," the Werder Bremen defender declared.

"We are a very young side, but that has been our big secret.

"These players, like Mesut Ozil and Thomas Muller, have come in and grown so quickly in the space of a month. Everybody is fighting for the team. We are all behaving like a team, and we are all doing our jobs," he added.

The England players currently nursing their badly bruised egos would do well to reflect on those words.

Although Germany's squad may end up being split by moves away from the Bundesliga Replica watches - Mertesacker has been linked with Arsenal, Ozil is attracting the attention of every big club in Europe and Jerome Boateng is on his way to Manchester City - the bond between them is strong.

No matter where they eventually finish this World Cup, Germany have already served notice that they will be major contenders for Euro 2012, the tournament that will now either make or shatter Fabio Capello's reputation.

It is playing to a stereotype to suggest the German campaign has been a long time in the planning. But that is precisely what happened, with coach Joachim Low confirming his assessment following the 2008 European Championship that his side were in need of a radical overhaul - after finishing runners-up.

"We tried to implement a change after the Euros," Low admitted on Saturday. "We wanted to give younger players an opportunity. We were willing to lose a few games - that was a risk we were happy to take - and we have brought about this change. Now we have introduced all these young players, and they are fearless."

The only sadness for the Germans on Saturday was the soft booking that Muller collected in the first half. It rules him out of Wednesday's semi-final in Durban. "I hope that my team-mates get everything right in the semi-final, then I can come back and score another goal in the final," the 20-year-old said.

"To score twice against England, and then get another against Argentina to help the team go further in the competition is almost insane." Argentina were buried thanks to a third-minute goal from Muller and two secondhalf Replica watches efforts from Miroslav Klose, either side of a goal from Arne Friedrich.

The first goal arrived when Nicolas Otamendi brought down Lukas Podolski by the touchline. The outstanding Bastian Schweinsteiger curled the free-kick to the near post, and Muller escaped Otamendi's attentions to send a deft glancing header past goalkeeper Sergio Romero. It took the Germans until the 67th minute to double their tally. A prone Muller stabbed the ball into space and set Podolski free to present Klose with a tap-in. Then Friedrich was on hand to finish from close range in the 74th minute, after Schweinsteiger had cut through the Argentine defence like a knife through butter.

Klose finished the rout with a composed finish, when he was picked out by Ozil's cross in the last minute. It was a performance and a margin of victory to savour.

Klose has now scored 14 World Cup goals, one shy of Brazilian record-holder Ronaldo 14

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