Germany 4, England 1. Germany demolished England. More nightmarish officiating, as a Lampard goal which bounced in and out of the goal was not awarded. Unbelievable, and unfair, but this match was not close. England's defense was USA-like on the first goal, a longball punt that Terry utterly misjudged and Upson could not properly defend, allowing Klose to score. Nor could slow, ponderous England compete with the fluid and lethal German midfield, with Khedira, Schweingsteiger, Muller and Ozil making England, and particularly Gareth Barry, look 100 years old. 4-1 was a fair scoreline.

Argentina 3, Mexico 1. Argentina's offensive talent looks enormously relaxed and simply too much for all but the very best defenses. Mexico, to its credit, played hard but lacked sufficient firepower to prevail.

Saturday's Argentina Germany game (a rematch of the 2006 QF, which Germany won on penalties), should be a wonderful match. Both teams have been playing offensive futbol.

FF