There was no disguising the relief mixed in with the joy as the German media celebrated a place in the World Cup's last four on Friday.
Popular tabloid Bild had a one-word headline: "Yes!" But the paper admitted the match was "a close-run thing" with the USA on top for much of the game.
Hamburg's Abendblatt said it was a poor spectacle with Germany getting through - "but only just".
Cologne's Express called the performance "typical Germany", adding: "The boys from the US played the game of their lives and had super chances, but who got the goal? Germany."
Berlin's Tagesspiegel thought the Germans had "a good slice of luck". It was a "mediocre" performance and the 1-0 victory was "flattering" to the German side.
The Frankfurter Rundschau said the German performance was "miserable" and considered it the "worst by the Germans in this World Cup".
All the papers were unanimous, however, in their verdict that goalkeeper Oliver Kahn was the hero of the German side. Bild called him a "Titan . . . our only world-class player".
The Tagesspiegel said he seemed like a "man with a thousand arms". And Frankfurter Rundschau said he was the German "saviour in our hour of need".
While far from a vintage performance, the overall mood in the German media is now clear: the final is there for the taking.
Express summed it up: "Now get the damn Cup!"
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