RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil -- It just wouldnt be the World Cup without Germany in the semifinals. Air Jordan 1 Italia . Harnessing all their big-game experience, the Germans delivered a performance of maturity and efficiency to hold off France 1-0 on Friday and become the first team to reach four straight semifinals in the sports marquee tournament. Defender Mats Hummels scored the winning goal in the 13th minute, outmuscling his marker at a free kick to glance a header in off the underside of the crossbar. Criticized for poor defending in earlier matches, Germany selected a more robust lineup and restricted a flat France team to only a handful of clear-cut opportunities in muggy conditions. "There was not much in it," France coach Didier Deschamps said. But, "we dont have the international experience Germany has." While Frances young players slumped to the ground and some shed tears after the final whistle, the Germans soberly saluted all corners of the Maracana Stadium. One job done, nothing more. And next up for Germany is a meeting with host nation Brazil, which beat Colombia 2-1 later Friday. It will be Germanys 13th appearance in the semifinals in 20 editions of the World Cup. "I guess were playing the kind of football which will give us a chance to win," said Hummels, who produced a couple of decisive blocks to snuff out two good chances for France striker Karim Benzema. "We defended well today . I think we deserve to carry on." France struggled to impose the kind of attacking game that made the team one of the most exciting in Brazil during the group stage, although Benzema -- the teams chief attacking threat -- squandered chances in both halves. Late in the first half, the Real Madrid striker seized on a rebound following Manuel Neuers save from Mathieu Valbuenas shot but his close-range effort was deflected wide by Hummels. Then, in stoppage time, he created space for himself about eight yards out at an angle, but a fierce shot was swatted away by Neuer. "We played like a team again," said Germany captain Philipp Lahm, who returned to right back in one of a string of tactically astute changes made by coach Joachim Loew. "Overall it was a good performance from us." In Loews eight-year tenure, Germany has reached the last four in every major tournament it has played -- but remains without a title since winning the European Championships in 1996. While the German team seemed comfortable at this level, the occasion was perhaps too much for a young, revamped France team playing together at the World Cup for the first time. And it continued Germanys recent dominance over France at World Cups. The most notorious of those previous meetings was in the 1982 semifinals in Spain, when Germany won on penalties following a 3-3 draw in a match marked by a late and high tackle by Germany goalkeeper Harald Schumacher on France defender Patrick Battiston that escaped punishment. That went down as one of the most riveting matches in World Cup history, but the rematch -- 32 years on -- couldnt have been more different. A turgid first half was illuminated by the goal from Hummels, who held off Raphael Varane and met a typically dead-eye delivery from Toni Kroos with a header that gave goalkeeper Hugo Lloris no chance. The warm and humid conditions played a part in the slow tempo of the game but France stepped up the pressure in the second half. Benzemas late chance got French fans excited but Germany should have been 2-0 ahead by then, with Lloris saving a low shot by substitute Andre Schuerrle on a counter-attack. "We just werent efficient enough," said Valbuena, who sat, dejected, on the field after the final whistle. "Our efforts just werent enough, its incredibly disappointing." Lineups: France: Hugo Lloris; Mathieu Debuchy, Raphael Varane, Mamadou Sakho (Laurent Koscielny, 72), Patrice Evra; Paul Pogba, Yohan Cabaye (Loic Remy, 73), Blaise Matuidi; Mathieu Valbuena (Olivier Giroud, 85), Antoine Griezmann, Karim Benzema. Germany: Manuel Neuer; Philipp Lahm, Mats Hummels, Jerome Boateng, Benedikt Hoewedes; Sami Khedira, Bastian Schweinsteiger; Mesut Ozil (Mario Goetze, 83), Toni Kroos (Christophe Kramer, 90), Thomas Mueller; Miroslav Klose (Andre Schuerrle, 69). Air Jordan 1 Scontate . For Bergevin, the best pick is the 30th — which traditionally goes to the Stanley Cup winner. "Thats our goal. Air Jordan 1 Uomo Saldi . -- The Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets will forever be tied together for making the same spectacular misjudgment on budding NBA sensation Jeremy Lin. http://www.airjordan1scontate.it/ . In sunny and almost windless conditions, the Swede shot four consecutive birdies on the front nine on his way to a 68 and went 9 under for a one-shot lead over Englands Lee Slattery and two over Paraguays Farbrizio Zanotti (68). NEW YORK -- Its no secret: Bartolo Colon simply sticks with his fastball. He runs it, sinks it, spots it right on the corner or just above the hands. So the Pittsburgh Pirates went into Wednesdays game well aware their mound opponent was relying on that heater some 90 per cent of the time this season. Still, they couldnt do much with it. Colon carried a three-hitter into the eighth inning, and the New York Mets got home runs from David Wright and Lucas Duda in a 5-0 victory over the sloppy Pirates. "Its impressive to watch from third base," Wright said. "You look up at the scoreboard and its high 80s, low 90s (mph) fastball. He throws a lot of them, but he just knows exactly where its going and he just dissects hitters." Pitching four days after his 41st birthday, Colon (4-5) struck out a season-high nine -- seven looking -- in his second consecutive win. Wright added an RBI single during an eventful afternoon in which he also stole a base, made two throwing errors and robbed Andrew McCutchen of extra bases with a diving play near the line. New York salvaged the final two games of a 4-5 homestand after firing batting coach Dave Hudgens and replacing him with minor league hitting co-ordinator Lamar Johnson. "I didnt expect anybody to kind of hang their heads about it," Wright said. "Hopefully, the transition to LJ is going to be a smooth one. Hes off to a good start." The Mets improved to 13-17 at Citi Field, winning the series against Pittsburgh for their first back-to-back victories at home since a three-game streak from April 23-25. They open a season-high 11-game trip Thursday night with a five-game series in Philadelphia and play 25 of their next 33 on the road until July 4. "Weve played pretty good on the road, so were looking forward to it," Duda said. Colon reached 2,000 strikeouts when he caught ex-Met Ike Davis looking in the sixth. The burly right-hander saved the souvenir, tossing the ball to injured ace Matt Harvey in the dugout. "Just amazing how he works both sides of the plate," Wright said. "You just see, he freezes hitters." Colons previous turn Friday was washed out by rain after he yielded two runs in four innings against Arizona. In his last outing that counted, he went eight innings to beat Washington 5-2 on May 17. "He threw it where he wanted and we couldnt put anything together," Pittsburgh second baseman Neil Walker said. Colon was pulled this time after 121 pitches, his most in a decade, but Jeurys Familia needed only one to get out of the eighth. He got Davis to ground into an innning-ending double play with two on, then finished the six-hitter for his second major league save and first this season. Air Jordan 1 Offerta. "If they would have kept me in, I would have kept throwing," Colon said through a translator. "I dont get tired. I just want to keep going." Charlie Morton (1-7) was chased in the sixth inning and Pirates pitchers walked eight batters. Pittsburgh fell to 7-16 away from home with another poor day at the plate and in the field. "The defence hasnt been good," manager Clint Hurdle said. "Weve got work to do." Duda drew a leadoff walk in the second and scored after second-string catcher Chris Stewart was unable to handle a pair of wild pitches by Morton. Pirates starter Edinson Volquez and reliever Jeanmar Gomez combined for four wild pitches with Russell Martin behind the plate in Tuesday nights 4-2 loss. "Weve got to tighten some things up and play better," Hurdle said. "They had three trips around the bases in the last two days -- it was one hit." Wright had an RBI single in the third after an embarrassing defensive sequence for the Pirates handed Daniel Murphy a Little League triple. Murphy hit a grounder to third, and Pedro Alvarez threw high to first for an error. Murphy took off for second but the ball caromed hard off the dugout fence to Walker. He threw to second in time to get Murphy, but shortstop Jordy Mercer dropped the ball for another error that let Murphy scamper to third. Pittsburgh appealed that Murphy never touched second base, but he was called safe. "Sometimes he thinks hes invisible, and you have to remind him that, you know, people can see you," Wright said, drawing laughs. Wright opened the sixth with his fourth home run. Duda added a long, two-run shot off Bryan Morris in the eighth to seal the win for Colon. "Bartolos just a different animal," Mets manager Terry Collins said. "He just makes his pitch. He doesnt care how many hes thrown." NOTES: Hurdle said reliever Jason Grilli is very close to regaining the closer job. ... Gerrit Cole (4-3) pitches for the Pirates when they begin a four-game series Thursday night at Dodger Stadium. ... After the game, Mets C Juan Centeno was optioned to Triple-A Las Vegas to clear roster space for C Travis dArnaud (concussion), who returned from a rehab stint with Double-A Binghamton and is expected to be activated from the disabled list Thursday. ... Familia singled in the eighth for his first big league hit. He became the sixth Mets pitcher to earn a save this season. ' ' '