Germany 4 Argentina 0: Germany on the march as they set England example to follow

Germany defender Per Mertesacker admits even he is surprised at his country's charge towards World Cup glory.

The Germans set up a mouthwatering semi-final with favourites Spain with a four-goal demolition of Argentina.

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 captain 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," said the Werder Bremen defender.

"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."

The England players 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 – 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.

And 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 England coach Fabio Capello's reputation.

It is rather playing to a stereotype to confirm the German campaign has been a long time in the planning.

But that is precisely what happened, with Joachim Low confirming his own assessment following Euro 2008 was that his side were in need of a radical overhaul – after finishing runners-up.

"We tried to implement a change after the Euros," said Low. "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."

Are England prepared to go through the same process?

When he first took change, Capello had five friendly games, which he used to become accustomed to the players at his disposal.

Now he has another – against Hungary on August 11. If Jack Wilshere, Jack Rodwell, Kieran Gibbs, Adam Johnson and Andy Carroll were all included and the Three Lions took a mauling, would the reaction be one of understanding at a long process being started?

The chances of England ever enjoying the sustained international success Germany enjoy is minimal.

But any improvement takes time and the man at the helm needs the space to make it, knowing he should be judged solely on qualification for, and then performance in, major competitions.

None of that is Germany's problem. The only sadness for them on Saturday was the soft booking Muller collected in the first half that 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," said the 20-year-old.

"To score twice against England, and then get another against Argentina to help the team go further in the competition is almost insane."

It also offers Boateng another chance to impress a Premier League audience, having already proved why Roberto Mancini was happy to spend 10m to sign the 20-year-old defender from Hamburg.

"I don't know what Manchester City are learning about me but I know I am learning that I am lucky to play for my national side," he smiled.

Germany striker Miroslav Klose is more interested in winning the World Cup than smashing Brazilian Ronaldo's competition goals record.

Klose's second-half brace helped complete the 4-0 win and allowed the 32-year-old to muscle into contention for the Golden Goal by taking him onto four, and seeing him join Germany striker Gerd Muller on 14 in World Cup tournaments.

Klose needs just a single goal to match Ronaldo, who took his tally to 15 when Brazil defeated Ghana four years ago.

"I don't know whether I am going to pass Ronaldo's record, and I don't really care," he said.

Germany's latest effort was perhaps even better than their 4-1 defeat of England.

There were no scares once Germany had survived a late first-half flurry after Thomas Muller had put them ahead after only three minutes. Klose's double sandwiched the best goal of the game from Arne Friedrich as they inflicted Argentina's worst World Cup defeat since they lost to Holland, also 4-0, in 1974.