It's Argentina v Germany in Cape Town and the real World Cup may start right here

Just down the road from me at the Velmore Estate, the Germans have left for Cape Town and their biggest challenge of this World Cup. Argentina in the quarter-final at Green Point on Saturday. Some game.

In 1986 and 1990, these two old rivals contested the final. Germany won a forgettable showdown 1-0 in Rome amid much referee-pushing and controversy.

This World Cup can’t afford another debacle like that. Too many games – Spain’s tired win over Portugal, Paraguay’s penalty shoot-out defeat of Japan – have left fans hoping for better.

I think they are be about to see that as the quarter-finals roll out across South Africa.

The Germans, normally such thorough planners, have had a few set-backs here. First came news that their luxurious Velmore base near remote Erasmia had no planning permission and had been built on the Hennops River flood plain.

They got over that, settled in... and crushed Australia 4-0 in their opening game. But then came a shocking 1-0 defeat against stubborn Serbia and everything was back in the balance. Their final group win over Ghana sent them through as Group D winners against Group C runners-up England.

A cracking 4-1 win dismantled the old enemy, with Wayne Rooney and Co travelling home in disgrace after “that” goal from Frank Lampard was disallowed, in the style of 1966.

And now the German’s topsy-turvy campaign moves to Cape Town, 1,000 miles south, a two-hour flight... where they must meet Argentina, who boast perhaps the most talented squad at this World Cup.

Argentina have been preparing about 20 miles away at Pretoria University’s High Performance Centre. South Africa’s administrative capital has been buzzing with Argentines for three weeks now. They’re everywhere, lapping up the South Africa experience.

And while England, France and Italy went home under a cloud, the atmosphere under the slightly crazy Diego Maradona has been awesome. At the end of every training session, dodgy Diego lines up his five-a-side losers and allows his victors to pelt their victims proffered bottoms with a firmly struck Jabulani.

It may be a super light World Cup ball, but boy it can sting. But cigar-puffing Maradona’s levity appears to work a lot better than the strict discipline and unsmiling regime of Fabio Capello and Ramond Domenech.

Capello appears to have avoided the chop for misreading the World Cup campaign, Domenech may yet face the guillotine for his part in France’s nearly pointless appearance at this World Cup.

But for Maradona, who has been bitter criticised throughout qualifying, everything is turning up roses.

After struggling to emerge from the exhausting CONMEBOL qualifying campaign in fourth place, Argentina started with a 1-0 win over Nigeria, then came wins over South Korea and Greece. Along with Holland, they were the only perfect group winners with nine points, scoring seven goals and conceding just one.

Then came a rousing 3-1 win over Mexico in their first knock-out game at Loftus Versfeld on Sunday. Argentina appear ready to join the Latin American party at this World Cup, with a CONMEBOL nation contesting every quarter-final.

Like Ghana, Holland and Spain, the battle to overcome Latin American opposition and reach the last four is about to begin in earnest.

Maradona refused to get involved in a war of words with the Germans, saying simply: “They said I had no idea about how to coach. But suddenly I am winning matches and I am still the same guy."

But how about this from Germany’s Bastian Schweinsteiger. He witnessed the unseemly row after a clearly off-side Carlos Tevez goal in the win over Mexico and said: “You could see their behavior at half-time against Mexico. When you look at their body language and gesticulations, the way they try to influence the referees, they have no respect. It's their mentality and character, and we'll have to adjust.”

And this from Thomas Mueller, scorer of two goals in as many minutes in the epic win over England. Maradona thought he was a ball-boy when they first met, and Mueller growls: "Now I have won two titles and played in the Champions League with Bayern, so a few things have changed. As a coach I can't judge him but the results and the convincing way Argentina are playing means he is doing things right.”

Germany, fielding their youngest World Cup squad in 70 years, are the unpredictable side in the last eight. Maradona’s once-inconsistent squad appear to be the dominant force. For once, I’ll back the Germans. But only because Maradona is bonkers!

Neal Collins is in South Africa to mourn for England and promote his first novel A GAME APART. See www.nealcollins.co.uk.

The first penalty shoot-out of the World Cup: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kM8TJJ6RIqo

To see him perform at the National Arts Festival on July 4, go tohttp://www.computicket.com/web/event/neal_collins_a_game_apart/148367625.

Wedded blisters for Germans as they prepare for the World Cup in the middle of nowhere

THE German World Cup base at the idyllic Velmore Estate near the tiny suburb of Erasmia in South Africa has been transformed into a builder's site just four months before Michael Ballack and his team head to South Africa in search of global conquest.

The five-star hotel complex which lies about 10 miles west of Pretoria, will be home to the German team and officials from the end of May - but one crucial factor, a suitable training pitch, has only just got underway.

Management at Velmore, a popular venue for local weddings, have been forced to dig up the grassy bank running down to the Hennops River - bringing in diggers and ground-levelling equipment to build a fenced-off, state-of-the-art surface for the German team.

And that has left well-off locals, seeking the site as a wedding venue, in a bit of a stew.

A spokesman for Velmore said: "We researched local grounds in the area for the Germans to train on but we couldn't find anything suitable close by. We are at the perfect altitude for their team to prepare, we just didn't have a pitch.

"Now we've begun work on the surface, as you can see. This hotel was only finished in November of last year and everything is going into preparing for the arrival of the German team. We are teaching our staff to speak the language where possible and must do everything we can to make their stay here as comfortable as we can.

"Unfortunately, the building of the pitch has meant we have had to postpone weddings at our venue, which was just becoming popular for top-of-the-range marriage celebrations.

"But we are telling people we will be back to normal as soon as possible. The pitch will be turfed with a mixture of rye grass and local kikuyu, providing an instant surface. It will stay green even in the winter when we get frost and no rain here.

"The only difference for people getting married here is that they will have a flat surface rather than a grassy bank sloping down to the river. The goalposts will only be up for the duration of the German's stay."

Velmore is, as our pictures show, a remarkable five-star complex built, essentially, in the middle of nowhere, backed by local money and overseas funding from India - many such sites are mushrooming around the Johannesburg and Pretoria areas in the build up the Africa's first World Cup.

Behind an imposing frontage, one half of the hotel has already been shut down in preparation for Germany's arrival. The wedding venue (see picture) sees couples march along an aisle which stretches into the middle of the main swimming pool with guests surrounding the poolside. The football pitch will be right in the line of sight of the official making the union.

Velmore also offers a brand new spa facility with oxygen chambers and remarkable presidential suite complete with a room for a bodyguard - but for the thousands of German fans expected to want to see the team train, there is no obvious accomodation within ten miles of the hotel.

A nearby camp-site has been ear-marked for the German fans but with temperatures plummeting below zero on the highveld - the area is about 1500m above sea-level, the same as the average ski resort in Austria - and concerns over security, it is likely the fans will have to pay inflated costs for accomodation in Centurion 10 miles away or Sandton, about 20 miles distant.

England's base in Rustenburg, a further 50 miles away from both the major middle-class residential areas, raises similar concerns as locals seek to profit from the month long football extravaganza.