Germany wins in rout; Spain gets to semifinals

Associated Press

CAPE TOWN, South Africa

Miroslav Klose scored twice to move into a tie for second on the all-time World Cup scoring list, and Thomas Mueller and Arne Friedrich added goals to give Germany a resounding 4-0 victory over Argentina on Saturday in the World Cup quarterfinals.

Germany will play Spain in the semifinals Wednesday in Durban. This will be Germany’s third straight trip to the semis and its 12th overall — nobody has more.

The two goals give the 32-year-old Klose 14 at the World Cup, tying him with German great Gerd Mueller for second place on the all-time list. Brazil’s Ronaldo holds the World Cup record with 15 goals.

Klose also is second to Mueller on Germany’s all-time list with 52 goals. Mueller scored 68.

Spain 1, Paraguay 0

JOHANNESBURG

Spain found just enough of the beautiful game — and a touch of good luck — to advance to the semifinals.

David Villa took the tournament scoring lead with his fifth goal, which banked in off both posts in the 83rd minute.

A somewhat subdued match became chaotic in a two-minute span of the second half. Gerard Pique pulled down Paraguay’s Oscar Cardozo in the penalty area on a corner kick, earning a yellow card and giving Cardozo a penalty kick. But Iker Casillas dived left to block Cardozo’s low kick.

Seconds later, Villa broke free behind the defense and was hauled down by Antolin Alcoraz, who drew a yellow card. Xabi Alonso went to the penalty spot and sent a wicked drive into the net.

Again, the stadium rocked, but referee Carlos Batres of Guatemala waved off the goal, saying a Spain player entered the area too soon.

Given a second chance, keeper Justo Villar guessed correctly, diving left to stop the penalty kick. He also knocked the rebound away from Cesc Fabregas before defender Paulo Da Silva made a leg save at the goal line on another shot by Sergio Ramos.