So our slippery friend Paul the Octopus has predicted a victory for Spain when they meet Joachim LöwâÂÂs German hotshots tomorrow night in Durban.
NEWSGermans shell-shocked by octopus pick
ThatâÂÂs all very well and good, Paul, but youâÂÂve almost certainly got this one wrong. Despite losing several players (notably their captain) before the World Cup, Löw"âÂÂs youthful, multi-ethnic squad â of the 82m people in Germany, nearly 20m are of non-German descent â have really stamped their mark on this yearâÂÂs World Cup, with players such as SchalkeâÂÂs Manuel Neuer, Bayern MünchenâÂÂs Thomas Müller and StuttgartâÂÂs Sami Khedira impressing fans and managers the world over.
But what about the player who has seemingly appeared out of thin air to help Germany to a place in the last four? That would be NeuerâÂÂs former Schalke team-mate Mesut ÃÂzil - the man today dubbed the âÂÂgenie with the sad eyesâ by highly-respected German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung. Their man following the national team around South Africa, Thomas Hummel, calls the midfield trickster of Turkish origin the âÂÂBallartist der Bolplatz" â literally the ball artist of the football field.
ItâÂÂs not hard to see why. Aside from an off-day against Serbia in the group stage, ÃÂzil has consistently brought flamboyance and effectiveness to GermanyâÂÂs midfield â only Bastian Schweinsteiger has come close to matching the youngster's brilliance.
Eyes on the prize
This has led to their strikers being fed shedloads of chances, which in turn has led to four goals against Australia, four against England, and four against Argentina. That's impressive for any team, but for a squad younger than any of their predecessors in the previous 60 years? ThatâÂÂs damn near brilliant.
And what of those strikers who keep on banging the goals in for Germany? Before the World Cup you would maybe have been excused for thinking Miroslav Klose â another Germany player born outside the borders â had disappeared off the face of the earth. Well, he hadnâÂÂt, but he had fallen way down the Bayern München pecking order, with Ivica Olic, Mario Gomez and youngster Thomas Müller all selected ahead of him last season, meaning âÂÂMiroâ was only able to score three goals all campaign.
Yet Klose has scored four already this World Cup, and just two more goals will make him the highest World Cup goalscorer in history. You'd have to say he only has two games to do it, with age certainly not on his side at 32. Lukas Podolski, often played on the wing for a struggling Köln side last season, has netted twice at this World Cup, while man-of-the-moment Thomas Müller has four â one behind leading goalscorer David Villa of Spain, and not at all bad for a bloke who only made his full debut in March.
Even defender Arne Friedrich is getting in on the goal action, troubling the scoresheet for the first time on his 77th international appearance. With 13 World Cup goals in just five World Cup games, Germany could give Spain a tough time.
Löw has his team pumped up â miraculously, some might say, after their long-term captain Michael Ballack picked up an injury in the FA Cup final. However, just as many people may feel that the erstwhile leader's injury was a huge blessing in disguise.
So, as Germany face Spain, a nation hopes that, 20 years after they last won the World Cup as a divided country, and 20 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall reunited the two lands, Germany can get to this yearâÂÂs World Cup final â where theyâÂÂll surely stand a great chance of triumph once again.
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