Germany has defeated Uruguay 3-2 in a game that, while ultimately meaningless, was one of the most exciting of the tournament.

I can’t write a better lede than this Telegraph story did while covering the news, so I turn it over to them: “Paul the psychic octopus is one of the unlikely stars of World Cup 2010 but his ability to correctly forecast the outcome of Germany’s matches threatens to land him in hot water.”

While the Germans outplayed the Argentines for much of yesterday’s game, it took until halfway through the second until they exploded for three more goals and the 4-0 victory. By the time Miroslav Klose put his second goal of the afternoon into the back of the net, you almost started feeling bad for Diego Maradona and his Argentine squad. That is, unless you’re Brazilian

After first taking some swipes at the British, saying that the Argentinians are “definitely bigger opponents than England,” Lahm went on to make his blanket statements about South Americans.

After Klose’s goal, the ESPN commentators told us that, “[it] could be the lid on the coffin, but not the nail quite yet.” Well, the first ever international goal by Arne Friedrich just seven minutes later likely hammered the Germans through to the semifinal round as they extended the lead to 3-0.

They had hardly gotten the sound of the starting whistle out of their ears in Cape Town for the first quarterfinal of Saturday’s matches, but a foul called just outside the 18 left Germany in striking distance for a beautiful set play. Thomas MĂĽller got his head down on the service ball and bounced a beautiful chance past Argentina’s keeper, Sergio Romero. Three minutes in, and the Germans are up one.

After the Germans knocked out England yesterday in the World Cup, we were expecting hellfire and brimstone from the British tabloid press. Well, today we got it.

Jorge Larrionda’s disastrous call on Frank Lampard’s disallowed goal is, predictably, not sitting well with the British tabloid media.

Germany looked invincible in their first World Cup match. Today? Not so much. With help from a man advantage resulting from a red card to Germany’s Miroslav Klose, Serbia, which lost its first game to Ghana 1-0, beat the Germans by that same score today.

Did Germany just peak too early? Even if they did, it might be worth it just to have the chance to experience a game where everything went right, like it did in their 4-0 romp over Australia today.