Cool Germans Dump South Korea

Another World Cup Cinderella has fallen to the German soccer machine. Cool and collected despite a sea of screaming South Korea supporters, the Germans used their size to outmuscle their smaller opponents.

A second-half strike was all that was needed in the 1-0 victory that moved Germany into its seventh World Cup final where they'll face either Brazil or Turkey. Those teams meet Wednesday in the other cup semifinal.

Michael Ballack scored the winner in the 75th minute after striker Oliver Neuville broke down the right and cut the ball back for the Bayern Munich-bound midfielder who fired his first shot with his right foot straight at goalkeeper Lee Woon-jae, but then drilled in the rebound with his left from the edge of the six-yard box.

Four minutes earlier, Ballack was shown a yellow card for tripping Lee Chun-soo on the edge of the German area. It meant he will miss the final after picking up two cards since the group stages.

The Germans often found themselves pinned deep in their half, but launched some effective counterattacks. The South Koreans repelled Germany's attacks with some fine defending, their midfielders racing back to protect the back four.

Coach Rudi Voeller took off German goal-scorer Miroslav Klose after 70 minutes and brought on Oliver Bierhoff. Soon after Bierhof unselfishly let the cross through for Ballack, and Ballack's goal took the sting out of the home crowd.

South Korea had a chance in injury time but Park Ji-sung fired a shot from the edge of the area wildly over.

Also:

The United States' 1-0 loss to Germany in the quarterfinals was ESPN's most-watched soccer telecast ever, despite a 7:30 a.m. ET start. 3.7 million sets tuned in, meaning the number of television spectators was likely much, much higher.