0 UPDATED: Argentina or the Netherlands? It's Argentina!

UPDATE: Extraordinary scene in Sao Paulo. Argentina is through to the World Cup final on penalties after two Dutch spot kicks were saved by goalkeeper Sergio Romero. Well played Argentina, but the depression in Brazil just deepened as the home team's bitter rivals did what Brazil could not achieve.

***************************************

And nil-all after 90 minutes of regular time. Arjen Robben had a late chance, but was denied by brave Argentinian defence, and to his credit he stayed on his feet. It's off to extra time, and if that doesn't break the deadlock, to penalties.

Nil-all at halftime, in a match which has had little of yesterday's action. We get the feeling that it's going to need a moment of magic from the likes of Messi or van Persie to break the deadlock between two star-studded teams, or we might be headed to the penalty spot.

 *******************************************

Lionel Messi's Argentina will face Arjen Robben and Robin van Persie's Netherlands in just an hour's time. At stake is a date with Germany in the FIFA World Cup final.

After putting the mockers on Brazil yesterday, we won't try to second-guess the outcome. But we doubt the match will be as one-sided as yesterday's crushing German victory.

So who's it going to be? And can today's winner match the supremely confident German side?

Bring it on!

0 UPDATED: And then there were four. Make that three...

FINAL SCORE: BRAZIL 1 - GERMANY 7

What an unbelievable score-line in a World Cup semi-final. And there are already reports of Brazilian fans taking this result very hard, and rioting in the streets. And the Telegraph in the UK reports:

Brazil spent $11 billion on a national calamity. The world’s greatest football nation was left numb, humiliated and flummoxed as five German goals flew into their net in the first 29 minutes of a crushing 7-1 defeat.

Neymar was not the only one missing in action. It was true of Brazil’s whole defence, discipline and structure. A majestic display of German passing through the centre of this Belo Horizonte pitch will be obscured by the trauma endured by Brazil. But Joachim Löw’s men will not mind that. Their eyes are on the prize of becoming the first team from Europe to win a World Cup in Latin America.

The indignity of this night will haunt Brazilian football for generations.

The defeat by Uruguay in the 1950 final at the Maracana has always been the most persistent ghost in the home of football arte. Brazil, though, have won five World Cups since then, and have paraded before the world some of the game’s greatest players: Pele, Garrincha, Jairzinho, Rivelino, Zico and Ronaldo. The golden shirt was never meant for journeymen. In international terms, Fred and Hulk are solidly in that category.

“We lost one match to a great team,” Luiz Felipe Scolari, their coach, tried to argue, without success. “Five goals [in 29 minutes] – it was because of their skill, and we respect that.” It went much deeper, to a failure of Brazilian talent, tactics and temperament. 

Elsewhere we have seen this result described as "the night the music died". It is a result that will send shockwaves around the footballing world.

****************************

LIVE UPDATES: Germany scores early, from a corner to lead Brazil 1-nil.

And Germany adds a second, then a third; Brazil will be in a state of mass depression. Surely Brazil can't come back from three down...

... or four-nil. Germany has absolutely stunned the hosts with an incredible opening half hour, breaking Brazilian hearts.

And then there were five. If the German side was a racehorse, it would most certainly be swabbed!

******************************

The FIFA World Cup began around three weeks ago with 32 teams. As we type this, just four remain standing, and that number will reduce to three by mid-morning and two by mid-morning tomorrow.

It is entirely unsurprising that Germany, Brazil, Argentina and the Netherlands are the four teams remaining for the semi-finals. They are football's heavyweights, two from Europe and two from South America.

The first semi-final this morning is between the Germans and the home side; the Herald previews the contest:

Brazil and Germany collide in a heavyweight clash of continental superpowers as the World Cup semi-finals get under way this morning.
The prize for the winner is a place in the final where they will meet either Argentina or the Netherlands, who face off in another South America-Europe semi-final duel on Wednesday (Thursday AEST).
Brazil face Germany missing star striker Neymar and captain Thiago Silva after an appeal to FIFA to rescind his suspension fell on deaf ears on Monday.
Two hundred million Brazilians may not agree with him but German coach Joachim Loew suggests this twin misfortune may help rather than hinder the hosts.
"Setbacks often set free additional forces," Loew said.
"Nobody should believe that our task is made easier by the loss of Neymar, quite the opposite.
"And Thiago Silva's suspension shows the depth of the Selecao's squad.
"(Brazil coach Luiz) Felipe Scolari can now use a player like (Bayern Munich centre-back) Dante, so I can't see there being a loss of quality."
Scolari has urged Brazil to use Neymar's injury blow as motivation to reach the title.
"I think the additional motivation we must have in every match is going up another step and getting closer to our objective of the final," Scolari said.
"The way Neymar spoke to the players made them understand that he had done his share and now we need to do our share.
"Myself, the other players, all the Brazilian people. This match is very important, it could take us to the final.
"We are playing for our country, it is everything we imagined and dreamed of, and also for Neymar."

The loss of Neymar to injury is a blow to the Brazilians, but not a fatal one. They can still beat the Germans, but they would need to do it in regular time, we reckon. We believe that if the match goes to extra time or to a penalty shoot-out the composure of the Germans will trump the emotion of the home side.

FIFA's dream final would be Argentina vs Brazil, although to be fair a final between the Netherlands and Germany would also be a cracking match. We'll stick our neck out and pick Brazil to win by a single goal.

Get in quick with your tip for the match, which kicks off at 8am. We'll see who has bragging rights at the end of the day!

0 World Cup Tweet of the Day - 30 June 2014

There may be another one of these after this morning's second match. But for now, let's look at the way KLM has bid farewell to the Mexicans:

We're not sure whether KLM flies in to Mexico City, but we suspect that if they do, patronage will be down over the next few months!

0 World Cup Tweet of the Day - 19 June 2014

The first major upset of the 2014 World Cup has taken place. 

After only two matches in the Group phase, defending champions Spain have been eliminated after losing two-nil to Chile. That's prompted this tweet:

Australia will also fail to progress after a three-two loss to the Netherlands. But at least our trans-Tasman neighbours were far more competitive than the Spanish who, like Italy in 2010, have surrendered their World Champion status far too meekly.