Spain 1, Paraguay 0. Germany-Spain next Wednesday; a reprise of the Euro 2008 final in the WC semis. Sweet.

"Form is temporary; class is permanent." So describes Andres Iniesta, who has had a tournament not up to his usual standards, suffering from some heavy touches and spells of uninspired play. Yet Spain's semifinal ticket today was booked through Iniesta's burst of brilliance: a tight weaving run through the Paraguayan defense ended with a perfectly calibrated sideways pass to Pedro, who smashed the ball of the post, with the rebound smacked home by Villa. Villa's goal was the soccer equivalent of the 7-10 split, as the ball ricocheted off both the right and left goal post before settling in the back of the net.

As is their new and unsettling custom, Spain looked sloppy for much of the game -- the entire team's touch was off -- and things turned can-you-believe-this dramatic when Pique was rightfully booked for dragging down Cardozo in the box in the middle of the second half (with the score 0-0). But Casillas saved the resulting penalty and didn't give up the rebound! He just swallowed up the ball. Extremely impressive.

Not a minute later, Villa was taken down in Paraguay's box on a breakaway, and Spain was awarded a penalty, which Alonso converted...but no! Spanish players were in the box during the shot, so the penalty had to be retaken, only to be saved by Paraguay's Villar, who then blatantly took down Fabregas on the penalty-save rebound, yet avoided getting called for that penalty-deserving foul. The whole sequence was, as Joe Rogan (UFC 116 tonight!) might say, "Crayyyyyyyyyyyyzy."

Individual note: Torres has looked terrible this whole WC. It's not like he's not seeing the ball; it comes his way plenty. He just does nothing remotely productive or threatening with it. He's clearly not fully recovered from his injury.

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Germany 4, Argentina 0. The Germans scored as a result of poor defending on a set piece at 3'. Wunderkind Muller scored the header. The game was tight for about an hour, with the Argentines playing at a slow tempo and attempting futilely to unlock the German midfield/defense. Then the Germans scored the second and the match dissolved into a rout.

Never in the tournament had the Argentine defense (the backline plus Masch) really smoothly linked up with the Argentine offense (everybody else). But the individual Argentine talent up front was so good, it didn't really matter. Here, the Germans, via both tactical positioning and individual skill, were able to smother the Argentine offense before it could pick up any steam (and also, obviously, score themselves against the mediocre Argentine defense). Khedira and Schweinsteiger did very well controlling the central midfield, and the entire German team made it difficult for the Argentines to get the ball to Messi and Tevez. When either man dropped back deep, the Germans controlled them effectively, particularly Messi, who was rendered impotent by a swarm of Germans every time he touched the ball. It's no exaggeration to say that when he got near the ball in the German half, at least three Germans would close on him.

Germany looks very, very good -- tactically, individually, mentally.

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Uruguay 1, Ghana 1. Uruguay wins on penalties, 4-2.

Ghana scored first, but Diego Forlan equalized with a brilliant free kick. The ball appeared to curve not in an understandable banana shape, but in an S-shape. As Martin Tyler put it, the ball looked like it was under the influence of a remote control. Forlan is exceptional.

The conclusion of the match was, for neutrals, easily the most dramatic finish of the 2010 World Cup. In the final play of extra time, Suarez used his hand to keep a sure goal -- an absolutely 100% certain goal -- from going in. He was rightfully red-carded and Ghana awarded a penalty kick. Suarez -- who is a wonderful offensive player and had supplied a contender for goal of the tournament against South Korea -- was in tears as he left, thinking he'd lost his team the match.

But Gyan missed the penalty! A (1) missed (2) potentially-game winning (3) penalty that was awarded in (4) the final seconds of (5) extra time in the (6) World Cup quarterfinals for (7) an intentional handball of (8) a certain goal. Then Ghana, the last African team in the first Cup in Africa, lost on penalties. Astonishingly and acutely dramatic.

Today was a phenomenal day to be a futbol fan.

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Holland 2, Brazil 1. I'm so happy to have yet again been wrong.

Brazil scored in the first ten minutes on a long through-ball that split the defense which Robinho expertly finished. Awful Dutch defending.

Indeed, Holland looked terrible -- totally outclassed -- until Sneijder's 53' goal on a free kick (which was credited as an own goal by Melo, but would have gone in, I think, even without a Melo touch). Brazil were rattled, and Holland was skilled enough to take advantage. Tireless Dirk Kuyt head-flicked a corner to Sneijder, who headed in the go-ahead.

Brazil, behind 2-1, utterly lost their composure. Robben was terrifying Brazilian defenders all game and drawing a parade of fouls, all of which he theatrically exaggerated (but they were fouls, to be clear). Frustrated with his poor defensive performance, Melo maliciously stomped Robben's thigh after taking him down, earning an immediate red. Brazil with ten is still very dangerous, and while they made many runs forward, they were not coherent or organized (unlike, say, ten-man Barca against Chelsea in the 2009 CL semis). The Dutch kept the game under control, and saw Brazil off.

I'm delighted, because when you have the talent Brazil has, you can play a more exciting style and still win championships. When you play a grinding style where victory comes through the accumulation of small margins, you'll win a lot, but when you go down against a truly world class opponent, you'll be in serious trouble. I thought Brazil were so good that they wouldn't rattle; I was wrong. They did, and they lost.

A few other thoughts:

• Dirk Kuyt was fantastic. Not a skill-merchant, obviously, and sometimes he's driven me crazy in a Pool shirt, but he was a force out there. Attaboy, Dirk!

• Van Persie was rubbish. Not great movement off the ball, intimidated by Lucio, terrible free kicks.
  

• What a career Robben could have had if he weren't injured half the time. A very scary offensive player.

• Van Bommel's cynical and constant fouling is appalling, and he should have been shown yellow. At least once.

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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.

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