We are one day away from the World Cup semi-finals and it's a perfect time to reflect back on the quarter-finals.

• Miroslav Klose and the Germans are the talk of the tournament

Undoubtedly, the most impressive team of the World Cup thus far has been Germany - scoring a total of 13 goals and conceding just 2 in the 5 games that they've played.

After thrashing (controversially) England in the quarter-final; not many believed that Germany could put up the same performance against an Argentinian team that contained World player of the year Leo Messi along with one of the most potent attacks the World of footy has to offer.

If there was ever any doubt, it's been erased now. The Germans managed to top their quarter-final performance by completely outclassing Argentina in a 4-0 triumph. A day that was also historical for German striker Miroslav Klose who is now just one goal away from equalizing Ronaldo's World Cup record in goals scored.

In the eyes of many, Argentina head coach Diego Maradona was the reason Argentina were unable to stamp their mark on this World Cup. He was one of the greatest players to ever play the game, but as a manager he's failed to prove that he's a great tactician. Regardless, Maradona is regarded as a saint in Argentina and he was welcomed to 10, 000 cheering fans in Buenos Aires on his return home.

• David Villa sends Spain to the Semi's

The reigning European Champions have made it the World Cup semi-final for the first time in 60 years after defeating Paraguay 1-0 in 'unconvincing' fashion.

David Villa scored the winning goal in the 83rd minute in one of the most dramatic games of the World Cup. There is no question that the Spanish team that won the European Championships in 2008 has failed to show up so far. The reason that they have made it to the semi-finals has been due to individual brilliance and a bit of luck. With Fernando Torres seriously having a horrendous tournament, Spanish coach Vicente Del Bosque continues to start him. Coincidentally, when Torres is subbed off every match Spain end up scoring, and they actually start looking like champions again. If they are to beat Germany in the semi-finals, Del Bosque better seriously start to consider benching the off form Torres.

This match containted one of the of most dramatic sequences this World Cup. Youtube worthy:

And just two minutes later Spain has to re-take their penalty:

And just for fun, here's former Spanish Coach Jose Antonio Camacho celebrating Spain's goal. And for the record, I'm sure Spanish fans wouldn't have been too upset if Spain had lost as Paraguayan model Larissa Riquelme had promised to run naked in the streets if Paraguay won.

In the other two matches in the quarter-finals, 5 time World Champions Brazil were knocked out by Holland, while Uruguay somehow managed to beat the last African nation standing - Ghana - in a penalty shootout.

• Hey... Wait a minute.. That's not the goalie.

It's been a World Cup flooded with controversy and the Uruguay - Ghana match was no exception. With Ghana having most of the chances in the game, they had a final chance to bury Uruguay when they were awarded with a penalty in the last kick of the game before the dreadful penalty shoot-out. With a whole continent on his shoulders, Ghanaian striker Asamoah Gyan hit his penalty against the crossbar, which ultimately sent Ghana packing to go back home.

It was Uruguayan star striker Luis Suarez's deliberate hand-ball to keep the ball out of the net which actually saved Uruguay. It was the first time that I remember seeing a red card help a team win the game.

After the game, Uruguayan striker Diego Forlan said: "I have no word to describe Suarez but I think he is a hero. He didn’t score but he made a vital block and now we are in the semi-final,".

I suppose cheating is fine as long as you win in the end.

• Apparently England's goal did not cross the line

We haven't even finished the second round of the World Cup yet and already it's been a remarkable and memorable tournament. After a slow start to the competition, we've seen some incredible goals and some very dramatic endings. Unfortunately these moments are already overshadowed by another topic: (no, not the vuvuzelas) referee errors.

In both of yesterday's round of 16 matches the results were undoubtedly spoiled after goals were both disallowed and allowed incorrectly.

Frank Lampard's strike in the first half against Germany hit the underside of the crossbar and crossed the line and past goalkeeper Manuel Neuer's goal. Both Lampard and England coach Fabio Capello had already started celebrating the goal before realizing that it was unjustly disallowed by Uruguayan referee Jorge Larrionda and his crew. When asked about the goal after the game, Larrionda just smiled and didn't answer.

In the second match of the day, a 0-0 game between Mexico and Argentina turned 1-0 in Argentina's favor after Carlos Tevez 'scored' from a clear offside position. The replay of the goal was shown on the big screen in the stadium right after the goal which caused even more controversy.

FIFA communications director Nicholas Maingot said after the match:

There was a controversial action shown during the game on the giant screens last night at Soccer City. This should not happen.

The giant screens are part of the infotainment but should not show controversial actions.

He also went on to say: 'I don't think football is very much different from other sports and not all sports have recourse to technology.'

Well Mr. Maingot, the truth is that the most efficient sports in the World use instant replay technology for big decision that could decide that outcome of the match. The NHL, NBA, NFL all use these technologies and consequently have much less referee controversy than soccer does.

Although most can agree that Argentina and Germany were the strongest sides of the day, you can't help but feel sympathy for England and Mexico who were both playing well and with momentum up until the referees spoiled the match for them.

• Germany take revenge from 1966

For all the superstitious people out there, there is quite a bit of irony in this. In 1966 England played against Germany in the World Cup final when England's Geoff Hurst hit a shot that hit the underside of the crossbar much like Frank Lampard's shot did. The difference is that the ball did not cross the line in '66 but England were still awarded with the goal.

Further irony brings us back to a previous encounter between Mexico and Argentina in 2006. Pablo Aimar scored a goal from an onside position only to have his goal disallowed for being 'offside'.

Controversy and bitterness aside, the best part of the World Cup so far was Heinze's feud with the cameraman.

• Donovan = US Hero.

I know the phrase 'GO USA' is not a popular one around these parts; but yesterday's game was a reason why we all love the World Cup - not because we love the USA, but because we love drama.

USA facing elimination against Algeria, score a goal in the 91st minute (virtually the last kick of the game) to advance to the next round of the World Cup:

It's a good thing Bill Clinton is not president anymore, because he was so excited after the game, that he decided to stay in South Africa longer. That means that he won't take part in these awesome celebrations in the streets of America:

• Au revoir.

Just when we thought it couldn't get any more embarrassing for the French National Team, they were eliminated from the World Cup Tuesday night in a defeat to a South African team who became the first ever nation in the history of the World Cup to fail to progress from the group stages.

After controversially qualifying for the World Cup in the first place, many were hoping that karma would come back to hit the French. Yesterday their hope became reality after France's infamous World Cup campaign came to an end.

France have great players in their team, they always have and probably always will. Most importantly however, one thing France does not have is a great coach. You can't help but feel sorry that such a talented generation of French players has been going to waste because of the manager. Although the players themselves did not play great; the root of the cause was the disunity of the team which head coach Raymond Domenech was very much a part of.

Domenech's squad selection for the tournament was questionable. And when he decided to send star striker Nicolas Anelka home after his outburst at half-time in a 2-0 loss to Mexico, all the players decided to side with Anelka and refused to train the following day (although admittedly, Anelka is not known for being a mature footballer).

The disunity continued as defender Eric Abidal was dropped to the bench for France's last game. And when asked about the decision, Domenech answered by saying: "Eric Abidal wasn't in a state to be able to play and he came and told me that so I preferred he sat on the bench."

However, captain Patrice Evra who was also dropped to the bench and had his captaincy replaced noted that the real truth will come out soon from the players in the following days.

Coach Domenech's controversy continued after the match when he refused to shake the hand of South Africa's head coach Carlos Alberto Parreira while he shook everyone else's hand. According to Parreira, Domenech's reasoning: "(Domenech said to me) I don't want to talk to you because you make bad words against my national team... For the life of me I can't remember what I have said".

• Zidane at his age now > entire French team under Domenech.

Clearly France's downfall has been a consequence of disunity within the team. But no one can argue against the fact that France just hasn't been the same ever since the brilliant Zinedine Zidane retired. Not only was he one of the best 'footballers' that ever lived - leading France to the Euro 2000 title, its first ever World Cup trophy in 1998, and the World Cup finals in 2006 - he was also an inspiration and influence in the locker-room that was able to come between any disunity in the team.

How bad was the vanquish of the French National Team? So bad that Credit Agricole - lifetime sponsor of the French national team - decided to stop sponsoring the team.

• Eser Toprak
• Spanish fans on Spring Garden - The day wasn't as colorful as they had hoped.

Walking around downtown Halifax on a Wednesday at 10:15 AM, the last thing you expect to see is a line of red Spanish jerseys getting ready to watch the World Cup game between Spain and Switzerland.

While sitting in front of the huge big screen at Gatsbys on Spring Garden, the optimism amongst the Spanish supporters was sky high. Spain are the favorites to win the World Cup. They have their best National Team ever and the best team on paper in the tournament; playing against a Swiss side whom they have never lost to.

Throughout the game, you could feel the frustration from the Spanish contingent. Spain were thoroughly dominating the game while not being able to score. Loud yelling (mostly in Spanish) and head shaking overpowered the surround sound system in the pub (wow... This is great advertising for Gatsbys isn't it?).

Spain had 20 shots, Switzerland had 7. Spain had 66% possession, Switzerland had 34%. The match ended 1-0 in favor of Switzerland.

A picture paints a thousand words.

• Sahand Fahandej