QUARTER FINALS
02/07 Netherlands 2-1 Brazil
02/07 Uruguay 1-1 Ghana (aet. Uruguay won 4-2 on pens)
Semi Final: Netherlands v Uruguay [Tue 6 July, 7:30pm]
NETHERLANDS produced a stunning second half comeback to send ten-man Brazil crashing out of the World Cup at the Quarter Finals for the second time in a row.
Brazil coach Dunga paid for the failure with his job, sacked along with the rest of his staff before he even had the chance to tender his resignation to Ricardo Teixeira, the Brazilian Federation chief.
Set pieces proved the Brazilians' undoing as a Felipe Melo own goal and a Wesley Sneijder header turned the tie on its head as the Dutch reached their first World Cup Semi Final since 1998.
A win for the Dutch never looked likely after a first period which was completely dominated by five-time champions Brazil.
Even before Robinho slotted home an inch-perfect pass from Melo to make it 1-0 on 10 minutes, the former Manchester City man had already had a goal ruled out for Dani Alves' offside.
After the goal, the pressure continued as Juan blazed over and Maarten Stekelenburg was forced to produce a top-drawer save from Kaka's curling effort.
The second half began in much the same style as the first until Arjen Robben, who was until that point having a frustrating game, pushed the ball past Michel Bastos on the right.
Bastos somehow avoided a second booking but Brazil were punished from Sneijder's delivery which caused confusion between goalkeeper Julio Cesar and Melo, flicking the defender's head and ending up in the corner of the net.
The goal, which came on 53 minutes, completely changed the feeling of the match. The Dutch were more energetic and the Brazilians were now much shakier at the back.
That was clear when Juan conceded a needless corner in the 68th minute. Robben curled it in and Dirk Kuyt flicked it perfectly for Sneijder to head his third goal of the World Cup finals.
Brazil were now on the back foot, behind for the first time in the tournament, and Dunga's men did not cope well.
They has already lost all semblance of organisation at the back when Melo then completely lost his discipline, giving Japanese ref Yuichi Nishimura no option but to send him off.
After fouling Robben who went to ground, Melo thought it justified to stamp on the flying Dutchman.
Brazil's task had just got harder and they were simply not up to it, resorting eventually to long-balls which were easily dealt with by Andre Ooijer and Johnny Heitinga.
Meanwhile, the Dutch had started playing on the break and Klass van Huntelaar and Kuyt both missed chances to seal the win.
But it did not matter - the Dutch survived a few nervy corners and one Kaka shot that went just wide to record a ninth successive win and extend their unbeaten run to 24 matches.
With a winning streak like that, it is no surprise that Bert van Marwijk's men are favourites in their Semi Final against Uruguay, now the only remaining South American team.
Uruguay killed off any hope of an African success at the first World Cup in Africa, knocking out Ghana in controversial circumstances on an emotional night in Johannesburg.
The Ghanaians looked set to become the first ever African team in the World Cup Semi Finals when they were awarded a last-minute penalty after Luis Suarez prevented a goal with handball on the line.
Poor Asamoah Gyan stepped up and, with the last kick of the game, hit his penalty hard enough but it was just too high, clipping the top of the bar and going over.
It meant Suarez, who was sent off meaning he misses the Semi Final, had effectively kept his team in the tournament though his improvised goal-tending looked more instinctive than anything.
But, certainly, the Black Stars entered the penalty shootout with a negative mindset after Gyan's dramatic miss.
Not that it seemed to effect the super-cool Gyan who showed real guts to strike Ghana's first penalty in the shootout into the top corner. If only...
Still, Uruguay also had the advantage of taking first and, at 3-2 ahead, it looked as if it had paid off.
Sunderland man John Mensah took no run-up before rolling a pathetically soft penalty into the hands of Uruguayan keeper Fernando Muslera.
But then Maxi Pereira put Ghana back in the game by blazing over meaning young Dominic Adiyah had the chance to level the scores back up.
The pressure told on the 20-year-old striker, though at least he forced Muslera into a save worthy of its name.
Substitute Sebastian Abreu applied the coup de grace sending Uruguay through to their first Semi Final since 1970 with an audacious chip down the middle.
Oscar Tabarez's men had started the match better as Suarez and Diego Forlan both drawing early saves from Richard Kingson in the Ghana goal.
But, after a nervy start, the Black Stars got more and more of a foothold in the game, building up a real head of a steam before half-time.
Isaac Vorsah put a header wide when he really should have scored before Gyan also went just wide after good work by Kevin-Prince Boateng down the right.
The breakthrough eventually came in first-half stoppage time. Nothing really looked on when Sulley Muntari picked the ball up 35 yards from goal and so he smashed the ball towards goal.
The early whipped shot caught Muslera off guard, finishing neatly in the bottom corner after moving in the air.
Unfortunately for Ghana, and all the home South Africans supporting them, their joy was to be short-lived in the second half.
Former Manchester United forward Forlan had wasted numerous set plays in the first period but none had been so ideally placed as the one from which he scored on 55 minutes.
John Pantsil had brought down Jorge Fucile on the left-hand edge of the penalty area and Forlan did the honours, curling an exquisite up-and-over the wall shot to the left of Kingson.
That left the game up for grabs but the players also seemed to realise this and, after an open first hour of the match, tiredness meant chances were at a premium.
Uruguay looked slightly more likely and Suarez glanced a header just past the post but as the match moved into its final 10 minutes, both sides seemed to cease hostilities momentarily.
Extra time was also a scrappy affair as Ghana's tired legs - they also played an extra 30 minutes in the Second Round against United States - held off Uruguay's attacks.
But this game deserved a dramatic finsh and Ghana, with some help from Suarez, gave it one.
Boateng swung in a corner, Adiyah had his shot blocked legally on the line by Suarez's legs before Adiyah's next attempt - a header - was saved by the Uruguayan forward.
Suarez left the field in tears but he was soon doing cartwheels down the tunnel after watching Gyan miss from the sidelines.
It was a cruel moment for Gyan who has impressed throughout this tournament and, despite him overcoming his own demons straightaway in the shootout, it became even crueller.
QUARTER FINALS
03/07 Argentina 0-4 Germany
03/07 Spain 1-0 Paraguay
Semi Final: Germany v Spain [Wed 7 July, 7:30pm]
GERMANY turned on the style again to thrash Argentina 4-0 and reach their third World Cup semi final in a row.
Miroslav Klose scored twice on his 100th cap to join his compatriot Gerd Mueller on 14 World Cup finals goals, one behind Ronaldo on the all-time scorers' list.
Thomas Mueller and Arne Friedrich got the other goals as Germany hit four for a second successive match and the third time in the tournament.
Joachim Loew's men got a perfect start when Mueller got ahead of all the Argentine defence to head Bastian Schweinsteiger's free kick into the net off goalkeeper Sergio Romero inside three minutes.
It was the quickest goal in a match at World Cup 2010 and it put Germany in control for the whole of the first spell of the game with the Argentine full backs Nicolas Otamendi and Gabriel Heinze run ragged.
On 24 minutes, the contest should have been over - Mueller beat Heinze down the right and pulled the ball back at the perfect angle for Klose.
For once, the German striker lacked composure and blazed his shot over the bar, and it looked for a while that it could be a costly miss.
Argentina belatedly started to get some joy and Lionel Messi began to play further upfield, winning a couple of free kicks on the edge of the box.
From the rebound off the wall of one of these free kicks, Argentina worked the ball wide and put it in the net but no fewer than four forwards in the middle were offside.
But, as half-time approached, Argentina's defence remained hopelessly outclassed as Phillipp Lahm burst past Heinze again, only for Mueller's effort to be deflected wide.
Early in the second half, the Argentine forwards did their best to get their team back on level terms but Germany showed their other quality in addition to their fast attacking breaks: fully committed defending.
This was no more in evidence than when Per Mertesacher blocked Carlos Tevez's volley full in the face as Angel di Maria began to make inroads down the right.
Further shots from Tevez and Gonzalo Higuain meant Manuel Neuer was definitely working the harder of the two goalkeepers and the second goal was the very definition of a sucker punch.
With 67 minutes on the clock, Mueller spread the ball to Lukas Podolski on the left. He beat Otamendi all too easily before rolling the ball along the six-yard line for Klose to walk into the net.
Just seven minutes later, the Argentine defence collapsed again. This time, Schweinsteiger reached the byline against little resistance before pulling the ball back for Friedrich to score his first ever goal for Germany.
The Germans, who had started the match so brightly before riding out the Argentina storm, finished in full control, able to pick their runners on the break at will.
The fourth goal came in the death throes of the game as Podolski found Mesut Oezil and his cross was volleyed home with a great sense of finality by Klose.
At full-time, Diego Maradona left the pitch with much to consider about his future after Argentina's worst World Cup finals defeat since 1958.
Meanwhile, the Germans juggernaut continues to flatten all before them but next up is Spain in a repeat of the Euro 2008 Final which the Spaniards won 1-0.
But Joachim Loew's men come into the match on much better form after Spain laboured past Paraguay 1-0 in their Quarter Final.
While Germany have scored 13 goals in five matches, Spain have managed just six - and five of those have come from David Villa who saved them once again with a late winner.
With the match heading towards extra time, Andres Iniesta found Pedrito who hit the post before the rebound fell kindly for Villa who put his shot in off both posts.
Earlier in the second half, the match had exploded into life as both sides missed a penalty within two minutes of each other.
Paraguay got their chance from 12 yards first after Gerard Pique blatantly brought down Oscar Cardozo at a corner. Cardozo took the kick himself but Iker Casillas guessed correctly and saved well to his left.
Spain responded almost straightaway and Villa won a soft penalty after jinking past Antolin Alcaraz.
Former Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso stepped up and put the ball in the net but Guatemalan referee Carlos Batres disallowed it for encroachment.
Alonso's next attempt was saved by Justo Villar but the miss only served to liven up the Spanish attacks, culminating in Villa's goal.
Until the penalties just before the hour mark, the match had been a cagey affair. Paraguay had never got this far in a World Cup while Spain were looking to breach the Quarter Finals for the first time.
The Paraguayans opened the better of the two sides and, though Spain improved as the first half went on, there was barely anything to test either goalkeeper.
Nelson Valdez could have done just that but the Paraguay forward blazed the final effort of the first half over moments after having been harshly flagged for offside from the best move of the first period.
Meanwhile, Spain were persisting with the ailing Fernando Torres up front and their short quick passes were really struggling to break down the Paraguay defence.
Matters were little improved at the start of the second half and it was perhaps typical of Torres' World Cup so far that the action only began after his withdrawal on 56 minutes.
But Paraguay will rue their penalty miss a minute later as, although Spain followed suite just two minutes after that, Vincente del Bosque's men belatedly started getting the game by the scruff.
Iniesta and Xavi went close but it was inevitable that it would be Villa to save the match from an extra 30 minutes.
With such little time left, Paraguay had time for just one last chance but Casillas made an excellent double save from Lucas Barrios and Roque Santa Cruz.
After a bit of keep-ball from the European champions, the full time whistle was blown. Spain had finally beaten their Quarter Final hoodoo - but not all convincingly.
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