Hair-raising rout

CAPE TOWN, South Africa – Don’t mess with Germany, on or off the field.

Miroslav Klose scored twice to move into a tie for second on the all-time World Cup scoring list, and Germany backed up its pre-game trash talk with an emphatic 4-0 rout of Argentina in the quarterfinals Saturday. The dominant display – along with Germany’s two other four-goal games – should demand the attention of everyone still playing in South Africa.

“It was absolute class,” Germany coach Joachim Loew said.

Hard to argue with that.

Argentina had been one of the tournament’s darlings, with coach Diego Maradona’s every move causing a stir and superstar Lionel Messi showing you don’t need to score to be sublime. The Argentines rolled into the quarterfinals as one of only two teams to win all its games – the Netherlands was the other – and had been so powerful they never trailed.

No wonder a star-studded crowd was on hand at Green Point Stadium, with German chancellor Angela Merkel, Mick Jagger, Leonardo DiCaprio and South Africa’s own Charlize Theron in the VIP seats.

But Germany overwhelmed the Argentines, and shut down Messi in the process. The reigning FIFA world player of the year leaves South Africa without a goal, and was in tears after the game.

“He played a great World Cup,” Maradona said. “And I tell you, to see Messi cry in the dressing room, whoever says that he doesn’t feel pride for his shirt is stupid.”

Maradona was equally devastated. He walked slowly to midfield with his hands jammed in his pockets when the game ended, and couldn’t muster any energy or enthusiasm at his news conference.

“I’m as disappointed as all Argentinians,” said Maradona, who cast doubt on his future as national coach. “To see my country lose a football match is very hard for someone who has worn the shirt.”

Germany will play Spain, a 1-0 winner over Paraguay, in the semifinals Wednesday. This will be Germany’s third straight trip to the semis and its 12th overall – nobody has more. But the three-time champions haven’t won a title since 1990.

Argentina and Germany have had a testy relationship since trading World Cup titles in back-to-back finals 20 years ago, and it’s been downright ugly lately.

After Germany eliminated Argentina on penalty kicks four years ago, also in the quarterfinals, the two teams exchanged punches and kicks in a scuffle. A few team officials even got involved in the scrape.

Germany didn’t wait for the game to get its digs in this time, with Bastian Schweinsteiger on Wednesday accusing the Argentines of lacking respect for opponents and referees. Captain Philipp Lahm chimed in a day later, essentially calling Argentina a bunch of hotheads.

The trash talking appeared to be carefully orchestrated, intended to ignite Maradona’s infamous temper and distract his team. Or, perhaps, to put the refs on notice.

Turns out, Germany didn’t need the head games.