Instead of urging their stars to play positive, attacking soccer, Germany's Juergen Klinsmann and Argentina's Jose Pekerman must have shown them the tape of their 1990 World Cup meeting in Rome -- the worst final ever.

That game was decided by a penalty six minutes from the end. The neutrals in Rome's Olympic Stadium 16 years ago were thankful that Andreas Brehme's successful spot kick for the Germans meant they weren't forced to watch 30 minutes more.

Fast forward to Berlin's Olympic Stadium on Friday and Germany triumphed again, 4-2 in a penalty shootout after a 1-1 tie.

Pity the shootout didn't come at the start of extra time instead of the end.

What had all the makings of a classic between two teams who were talented, confident and in form, turned out to be a big letdown. There were few eye-catching moves and, until the shootout, neither goalkeeper made a memorable save.

The game also had a testy beginning and an ugly finish. Several Argentina players vented the anger of defeat on referee Lubos Michel and, while the Germans celebrated their place in the semifinal, there were violent scenes on the field as the South American stars were prevented from getting close to the Slovakia official.

That anger should have been turned on themselves.

Having overtaken defending champion Brazil as the title favourite, Argentina was a pale shadow of the side that crushed Serbia-Montenegro 6-0 with a polished display of passing and finishing. Pekerman's team also showed in a 0-0 tie with the Netherlands it had the backup players to put on a show even if they didn't hit the target.

When it came to the biggest game in this tournament so far, a meeting with the host in Berlin, Pekerman's team was dull and lacked imagination. The coach's own performance was disastrous, capped by his resignation just minutes after the game was over.

He was unlucky that he had to replace goalkeeper Roberto Abbondanzieri with 20 minutes to go. After Roberto Ayala's header had given Argentina the lead soon after halftime, the goalkeeper went down trying to reach a cross and injured his chest.

But why did Pekerman also take off playmaker Juan Riquelme within a minute of changing his goalkeeper?

Removing his most creative player damaged his team's chances in two ways: Not only did Pekerman take the heat off the German defense, he also left himself with only one more change.

Soon after Julio Cruz replaced fellow striker Hernan Crespo, Germany equalized on Miroslav Klose's header.

Pekerman was stuck. He had taken Riquelme off and, having made all three changes, couldn't put on his other prize attacking star, Lionel Messi, who never saw the pitch on Friday.

Two minutes from the end, Maxi Rodriguez was shown a yellow card for diving over Philipp Lahm's challenge inside the penalty area and the game went to extra time and then penalties.

After goalkeeper Jens Lehmann saved twice in the shootout, the Germans celebrated a 10th appearance in the semifinal. In addition to winning the title three times, they have been three-time runners up -- including the 2002 World Cup -- and also reached the semifinal in 1934, '58 and '70.

But even Klinsmann's rejuvenated team didn't provide many thrilling moments in this game.

As they have done so often in the past, the Germans fought back to earn a deserved tie. But twin strikers Klose and Lukas Podolski showed few of the combinations that had earned them seven goals before this game and the strikeforce only began to worry the Argentina defense when winger David Odonkor went on to use his speed down the right.

Their fans and a grateful nation won't mind that they didn't entertain. Usually just advancing to World Cup semifinals is entertainment enough.

Argentina's stars go home feeling aggrieved without reason.

It was the fans who suffered. And the game itself.