Bravo Puyol! Bravo Spain!

Germans conceded a goal first only once earlier in this WC so far and that was against Serbia. And you know the rest.:)

I don't know why Germany changed what they were doing, but it just got 'em third place. Damn good run though, and definitely the most entertaining team of the tournament.

Oh Pedro, why are you so selfish? That was a clear chance for goal given away for the personal glory.:mad:

Villa only started up front by himself once against Switzerland, so so much for that logic.

Well, they are certainly a bit flat tonight. Not only were they fighting for possession, but they were letting some easy Spanish runs into their half as well. Sorry to say, but they had that goal coming via some poor midfield handling.

And yes, Pedro should have passed to Torres right there to seal Germany's fate for good.

:D Villa? where he's now? There is no Villa at the moment for Spain.:D

Woohoo baby!!!


SPAIN ARE INTO THE FINALS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hurray! Bravo Paul the octopus! You have become the No.1 fortune teller in the world now, I guess:D

Kill...that...squid. :mad:

Probably because everyone else are phonies. :D

Ditto, no doubt about that. I think this young German team will be very...very dangerous in Brazil'2014.

FULL TIME - Match #62 (SEMI - FINAL #2) -




Many, MANY congratulations to Spain for making into their VERY FIRST FIFA WC Final in their footballing history!

It was their match from the beginning, when they bossed possession and made plenty of daring runs into the German half again and again. The Germans for their part looked solid in defense, but maybe that caused their downfall. TOO much concentration in defending, plus some poor midfield play which kept letting the Spanish players coming in.
Klose, Podolski and the rest never looked menacing at all - in fact Klose was seen only 2-3 times during the entire match. A big point in Spain's favor to keep the ball away from the more dangerous German players.
The first half was engrossing, and the second was loaded with desperate stuff. A fantastic extreme angle cross went inches away from David Villa's touch or it would have been the first goal right then and there.
Then came that superb header from Puyol who stood unmarked behind the German players and coolly sent the ball into the German net. 1 - 0 Spain.
As the final 15 minutes came in and Germany suddenly found themselves desperate for an equaliser, the breaks became tougher for them to handle. Villa had at least 2 break-runs but couldn't capitalise on either, and Pedro had a really FANTASTIC run through the break with Torres in full support and only the German GK to beat, but instead of passing to Torres which would have resulted in a sure-shot goal, decided to go for glory himself and fizzed the awesome chance at scoring.
As expected, Villa came off in the 81st minute and was replaced by Torres in the final minutes of the game. Germany kept plugging in as much as they could, but Spain held their nerves, defenses and the 11 Germans at bay to register their very first march into a FIFA World Cup Final in their footballing history.

It will be the NETHERLANDS taking on SPAIN in the Finals, folks. Before that we will see GERMANY take on URUGUAY for 3rd place. And judging by the way Germany played tonight, if they show the same form they might end up in 4th place. They certainly need to show their fantastic form of beating Argentina if they want to finish 3rd in what has been a great tournament for them.

Good night.

Claude Arpi, an ardent French football fan, sent this email to Ivan Crasto, rediff.com's Sports Editor -

Apparently Paul the Octopus has predicted Germany to beat Uruguay in the 3rd/4th place play-off and Spain to beat Holland in the Final.

Geez.. I could've told you that. :cool:

I am with the German boys to take 3rd.

As for the big Final, something tells me the Netherlands will spring a surprise. Spain should head in as slight favorites now that they are in it, but the Dutch have it in them to pull one over their European rivals, fortune-telling octopuses aside.

I ll go with the Netherlands.

Thank God, Paul already picked Spain for the Final. Now that's a great relief!

But the Spanish prime minister pretty much concerned about him as some frustrated German fans expressed their desire to kill/eat Paul, the psychic Octopus!

:D:D

Itssssssss 1 - 0 GERMANY!!!

MULLER scores his 5th of this WC!

URUGUAY equalise through Cavani!!!!

1 - 1 after a terrific counter-attack, and in the first 28 mins!

I missed this game due to work but sounded like a great match. Germany get Bronze with a barnstorming 3-2 win.

Easily the most entertaining team in the finals, they are going to be the ones to beat come Euro 2012.

Can't believe it's Final day already,how quickly did the last four weeks go?

Anyway,I will pick Spain to become champions Today,I expect their fluent passing game will be too much for the Dutch to deal with.It will be interesting to see if Torres is in the starting line up,I personally would leave him on the bench and continue with David Villa up front with Iniesta and Pedro wide.One stat that is against the Spanish is that no team has won the tournament after losing their opening game,but there are Lies, damned lies, and statistics as they say.

Hope it's a great game.

FULL TIME - Match #63 (3RD PLACE PLAY-OFF) -




Apologies for getting cut off right in the middle of the match last night. My computer's power unit decided to go kaput, and had to get it fixed all morning and afternoon.

It was a fantastic match. Both teams shed off any sort of lacklustre stuff everyone thought they would bring to the table, and they fought tooth and nail for the 3rd spot honor. Germany started the scoring through Muller, when Schweinsteiger's long ranger was parried straight to him in front of the goal by the Uruguayan GK, and Muller made no mistake. Cavani equalised for the Uruguayans in the next 9 minutes through Suarez who fed him easily in front of Butt, the German GK.
And that was the half-time score. 1 - 1, honors even.
The second half started as brightly as the first. The Germans looked menacing and relentless, but it was Forlan who broke through their defenses when a superb curler by Rios came straight to him and he blasted it acrobatically past a wrong-footed Butt who was caught napping. 2 - 1, Uruguay in the lead. But the celebrations lasted for the next 5 minutes only, because Boateng's superb kick sent the ball inside the box which the GK failed to collect and Jansen headed it right into the goal. 2 - 2, scores level again. Then both teams played some really attacking football but couldn't break through either's halves till the 82nd minute when a corner kick by Ozil was tamely cleared out by Lugano only to Khedira who headbutted the ball straight past the Uruguayan GK into the goal. 3 - 2, Germany in the lead.
The final chance of the match came in the dying seconds of extra time, when Uruguay won a fantastic free-kick right at the edge of the box, on the semi-circle. Forlan came forward to take it, and his fantastic hit beat the German wall and the GK fair and square, but hit the top post and flew outside. That was when the final whistle blew.
A great end to an equally wonderful match. Germany won rightfully, but they were stretched to the final limit by a great Uruguayan team who should be proud of their showing in WC 2010. Germany get the medals, Uruguay get the ovation.


And onwards, to the final match of WC 2010 tonight, the BIG FINAL - SPAIN takes on THE NETHERLANDS.

Till then...

seems like i was pretty close :cool:

Except for Forlan, Rooney, Klose, Paraguay, and Japan. :D

ARE...YOU...READYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY HDC?!


We kick off the FINAL in 35 minutes!

And damn am I EXCITED or WHAT!

forlan, klose and paraguay i'll admit.

someone had to qualify from group E with the dutch, and it wasn't going to be the danes :p

as for rooney, i said he'd be the main man for england..as he was. he was shit and so were england :mad:

10 minutes into the big Final...

0 - 0 so far.

One SUPERB save by Stekelenburg, the Dutch goalkeeper, in the 5th minute.

Spain holding more possession, and looking more attacking.

20 minutes into the big Final...

Its still 0 - 0.

2 Yellow cards, one of them to Puyol. Just the 4th for a Spanish player in WC 2010.

Just as I say this, 2 more Yellows given within 2 minutes. Game is getting pacy and rough!

30 minutes in...

0 - 0 so far.

Lots of midfield play, no breaks. Honors even.

Although De Jong was lucky to get away with a Yellow for his very blatant high boot to Xavi Alonso's chest.

40 minutes in...

Still 0 - 0.

One very cheeky corner kick taken by the Dutch could have resulted in a lot of trouble for Casillas if the final pass was dealt with more effectively.

And one nice run by Pedro resulted in him hitting wide of the Dutch goal.

Fouls are being committed left and right. Expecting more Yellows, and possibly a resultant Red, maybe in the second half.

HALFTIME WHISTLE -


NETHERLANDS - 0


SPAIN - 0



Casillas pulled off a superb save to deny a Robben dart which was headed straight into the right corner of his net.

And that was the only highlight of the final 5 minutes (plus added time) of the first half.

Engrossing, pacy and plenty of rough football so far. The Dutch are negating the possession tactic of the Spanish quite effectively, which had worked so well for Spain in their Semi Final against Germany.

An entralling second half awaits.

10 minutes into the second half (55 minutes gone)...

0 - 0 still.

2 more Yellows dished out - 5 in total for the Dutch this game.

A superb corner kick saw Puyol head the ball nicely to Capdevila's feet but he totally missed it and out went a great chance to make the opening goal.

A Final of fouls, this one.

Before any goal I'm expecting a Red card for any Dutch player.

20 mins in (65 mins overall)...

It's still 0 - 0.

Iker Casillas might have pulled THE save of the tournament for the Spanish when a very inocuous ball to Robben saw him break free from the rest and make a fantastic dash towards the Spanish goal with nobody in sight except Casillas. Robben's shot was headed in but Casillas came out and stretched with all his might, and his right foot diverted the ball away from the Spanish net. A huge sigh of relief for the Spaniards.

More Yellows shown. It ll be a miracle if we go to 22 Yellows by the end of this game, I tell you.

30 mins in (75 mins overall)...

Still 0 - 0.


David Villa missed a SUPERB chance to make it 1 - 0 for Spain when he had the ball and the GK literally at his feet, but his hit was too high. Disappointing by Villa standards.

40 mins into the 2nd half (85 mins in)...

0 - 0.

Game is getting very rough, and very pacy, as both sides are relentless and desperate in their search for the deciding goal.
Just to give you an idea of how rough it has been in this match, 35 free kicks have been awarded so far, and 22 of them have been given to the Spanish.
Robben again broke out into a fantastic run, but was denied by Puyol and Casillas.

This looks like it will head into Extra Time, folks.

If Spain doesn't win I think I'll start to cry.

FULL TIME - Match #64 (THE BIG FINAL) -




And we are into Extra Time. 30 more minutes to find the decider(s).

sooo frustrating! I don't know but it seems Paul's prediction won't come true tonight.:(

HALF-TIME OF EXTRA TIME -


NETHERLANDS - 0

SPAIN - 0


Fabregas had at least 2 super chances to score the much-elusive goal, but was throttled both times. Navas also had a great chance to score but hit the side of the net.

Nothing for the Dutch in the first 15 mins of ET.