Berlin: Germany's dreams of winning the World Cup at home for the second time stayed alive after they held their nerves to beat Argentina on penalties in the quarter-final on Friday.
A titanic struggle in front of 72,000 fans at the Olympiastadion featuring two nations who have been world champions five times between them was always likely to be settled by the slenderest of margins, and so it proved.
Level after 120 minutes of absorbing but rarely thrilling football, Germany triumphed 4-2 in the shootout and will face Italy or Ukraine in the semi-finals in Dortmund on Tuesday.
Losing in such cruel, dramatic circumstances was too much for Argentina's players who reacted angrily to gestures made by substitute Tim Borowski after he put Germany 4-2 ahead on penalties.
That led to a short-lived melee after the final whistle with players, officials and coaching staff from both sides all jostling and threatening each other.
It was an unseemly end to a dramatic occasion, even if the football at times was scrappy and disjointed.
The weight of expectation on Germany to emulate the 1974 team by winning the World Cup at home was enormous, but Argentina also started the match with realistic hopes of lifting the trophy next weekend.
Better Start
Argentina had emerged as early tournament favourites after their 6-0 demolition of Serbia & Montenegro in the group stage and their outstanding 2-1 win over Mexico in the second round.
They also started better than Germany on Friday, playing with more confidence and understanding than the hosts who appeared nervy in defence and lacked precision in their passing in midfield and attack.
It was no real surprise when Argentina took the lead four minutes into the second half when Roberto Ayala escaped from Miroslav Klose and reacted first to meet Juan Riquelme's corner and head powerfully past Jens Lehmann to put Argentina 1-0 up.
Germany responded well.
Captain Michael Ballack, later named Man of the Match, was involved in almost every creative move that Germany produced and although his touch was wayward at times, he continually prompted Klose and Lukas Podolski into promising positions.
However, the match only started to turn Germany's way around the hour mark after an injury and two substitutions.
Right Wing
Germany coach Juergen Klinsmann put pressure on Argentina skipper Juan Pablo Sorin, already on a yellow, by bringing on David Odonkor to pressure him with his pace on the right wing.
Argentina then lost goalkeeper Roberto Abbondanzieri to injury and coach Jose Pekerman surprisingly took off playmaker Riquelme, replacing him with Esteban Cambiasso but handing the initiative in midfield to Germany.
Despite battling with a leg injury Ballack became more influential and it was the German skipper who swung over the cross, headed on by Borowski for Klose to head the equaliser after 80 minutes.
Top scorer in 2002, Klose also heads the scoring charts in these finals with five goals and has at least two matches left in which he can improve on that total - either the semi-final and the final, or the semi and the third-place match.
With no further goals in extra time the match went to penalties.
Neither country had lost a World Cup shootout before but Argentina's players were at a huge disadvantage from the cacophony of whistles and jeers from the home fans.
Lehmann emerged as the shootout hero with two good saves.
The antics at the end will keep FIFA's disciplinary committee busy over the weekend as they study the video evidence. Germany's players will also be studying videos -- of their semi-final opponents.
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