"It was very exciting for us on the bench," Klinsmann told reporters after the hosts had come through 4-2 on a penalty shoot-out, following a 1-1 scoreline after extra time. "It was like a Hitchcock movie."

Germany had to come from a goal down for the first time in this tournament when Robert Ayala headed Argentina into the lead in the 49th minute.

Klinsmann sent on David Odonkor and Tim Borowski to help the Germans chase an equaliser. It came in the 80th minute when Borowski nodded on a Michael Ballack cross for Miroslav Klose to score his fifth goal of the tournament.

"I never felt we had a problem when we went 1-0 down," Klinsmann said. "I hoped the equaliser would come quickly but I never doubted that we'd get it."

Klinsmann, who is in his first coaching job, is already looking beyond the semifinal in Dortmund on July 4.

"The players are performing magnificently and they want to discover just what their limit is. Maybe we'll reach it on the day of the final on July 9."

"We're enjoying the moment," he added. "Now we want more."