Germany defender Arne Friedrich is relishing the chance to rub shoulders with who he sees as the world's best ever footballer - and shatter his World Cup dreams.

The 31-year-old Hertha Berlin player and his team-mates will head into battle with Diego Maradona's Argentina on Saturday with a place in the semi-finals up for grabs.

Friedrich will do so with immense admiration for the Argentinian coach, but few qualms about sending him home for South Africa disappointed.

He told the German Football Association's official website, www.dfb.de: "He [Maradona] is a big attraction, he is the absolute star.

"As a player and now as a coach, he is unsurpassed. He was for me the greatest footballer ever and will always remain so.

"Therefore, it is of course great now to be measured indirectly with him - and it would be even more beautiful if we should win against his team."

Germany are well aware of the threat Argentina represent to their own hopes of lifting the trophy, but Friedrich is confident they can deal with that as a team.

He said: "Argentina is the favourite. In one-on-one comparison, they have the better players, the greater individual class with [Lionel] Messi, [Carlos] Tevez and the like.

"But we have to find a team capable of creative solutions. We are close as a team and have so far shown that we can keep up with all the teams we have played."