The Final Four

This World Cup has completely opened up and is anybody's to grab. All the 4 finalists have equal chances of winning the World Cup. Its the moment of reckoning for all of them. No history or past glory in the previous matches will count. The one with self confidence and the fire to win will succeed. With the way the World Cup is progressing this year, and the four teams that we are left with, I am finding it pretty hard to convince myself on who would be the lucky one to lift the World Cup trophy on the 11th of July 2010.

For the Knockout matches, there were 6 countries from Europe, 5 from South America, 2 from Asia, 2 from Latin America and 1 from Africa. There were big time theories floating around that European teams were finding it tough to play in the high altitudes of South Africa. There were theories that countries from the southern hemisphere would do better than the European countries. But finally, now that we are left with the last [ best ? ] four teams, we see that 3 of them are from Europe and only one from South America !!! These four teams will be playing the remaining four matches [ 2 semis, the finals and the third playoff match ]

1. Germany : The team with the most dominant performance. Razor sharp. Clinical. Ruthless. Atheletic. Energetic. Young. Fast paced. Solid defense. There is hardly any weakness that is visible. Though, they look to be invincible on paper and past performance, I for some reason, do not want to see them win !!! This has been a World Cup of surprises. I am hoping for one more :) As I once heard from some football coach, all you need to win a football match is to score just one goal more than your opponent.
2. Spain : These were the pre tournament favorites along with Brazil to win this year's World Cup. They had a shocking start with a loss to Switzerland in their very first match. They have done great to fight back and make a place for themselves among the last four. They should be thanking their golden boy David Villa and amazing goal keep Iker Casillas for it. The way they play is very sweet and pleasant to watch. Very similar to the likes of Brazil and Argentina. They create good set pieces and are hoping that their star player Fernando Torres fires in the remaining matches. Germany are their biggest hurdle yet. Their match with Germany is certainly a final before the finals. Anything can happen in a Knockout match. I am hoping that Spain succeed and proceed to lift the World Cup 2010 Football trophy on July 11th.

3. Holland : Robben did it again for them. This time against the five times World Champions Brazil. Their tactics of scoring in the second half and then defending whatever lead they might garner, worked fabulously for them. A bit of rough game, but I guess one gets desperate in such Knockout matches. They have knocked out the favorites Brazil and certainly have the momentum on their side. They are certainly on fire and are quick on the field. Robben and Sneijder are right on the money. Persie is yet to fire !!! They have a relatively easy opponent in the form of Uruguay. If they are not over confident or complacent in their performance they have a great chance of entering the finals.
4. Uruguay : The most luckiest entrants into the semis. Had great luck against Ghana. They are the only South American country in the final four and will be hoping to represent South America in the final match. They won the very first World Cup tournament in 1930 and then later in 1950. They have the fire power and be hoping to reach the finals against Holland. They have a very good goal keeper in the form of Fernando Muslera who saved 2 crucial penalty kicks in the Sudden Death against Ghana. They might miss their striker Suarez though. Diego Forlan has been in good form in this World Cup. Uruguay  will be hoping to see some magic from him against the inform Dutch.

All the best to all the four teams !!! 

Let the best team win.

Saddest day of World Cup 2010

Who would have thought that Brazil would not be featuring in the Semi Final line up in this year's World Cup ? Whose heart might have not skipped a beat when Gyan missed that penalty kick in the dying moments of extra time ? More than half of the football world must have been saddened after seeing Brazil lose to Holland. All because of their poor defense. As if that was not enough, I am sure even more people must have shed a tear or two for the unlucky players from Ghana. What wrong had they done to be denied a victory by the mere margin of the thickness of Suarez's arm ?

Both Brazil and Holland had good strikers and the match lived up to its expectations of being a tight match with plenty of attacks. It was certain that there would be no dearth in the number of hits on target. The winner of the two was difficult to predict. But it was certain that the one with the weak defense would certainly be on the losing side. And so it was. Unfortunately, it was Brazil who did the mistakes and exposed their weakness in defense. People had so many expectations from Brazil. They were already assumed to be in the Finals. Many even believed that all the knockout matches being played were only to decide the contender against Brazil in the finals. But, just as it happened 4 years ago in Germany, Brazil were knocked out in the Quarter Finals. Robben was the nemesis for Brazil. The match was a tad rough, though I dont know why the teams resorted to it. Robben was marked very well but he succeeded in gaining the highest number of free kicks. These fouls accompanied by the referee's sympathy for free kicks, meant that Brazil would not be able to play their free flowing football. They did have their share of luck, but ended up on the wrong side of the fense. It was a very sad day for me to see Brazil do such mistakes in their defense and lose the match.

I was somehow recovering from the shock of  Brazil's early exit, when I witnessed the Ghana - Uruguay match. The brilliant confidence displayed by Ghana, helped me lift up my spirits. The first goal coming just 15 seconds before the end of first half, that too from a long range shot, was so thrilling to watch. As expected, second half provided even more excitement. The match started picking up more heat after Uruguay equalized. The match progressed to Extra Time. Both the teams were equally attacking. More drama was yet to unfold. With less than 2 minutes to go for the second half of Extra Time to complete, 4 players of Ghana moved ominously towards the Uruguan goal. They struck, but were denied the goal. Not by the referee, but the Uruguan player Suarez. [ Hero or villain ? Thats the biggest debate going on around the World Cup now ] Suarez deliberately handled the ball on the goal line and denied a certain decisive goal to Ghana. He was red carded and Ghana were awarded the penalty. Their experienced player Gyan took the penalty kick, but succeeded in only striking the ball to the top of the goal post !!! Every person watching this match skipped a heart beat. If Suarez hadnt hand balled, Ghana would have scored a goal and qualified for the Semis. If Gyan would have scored, then too Ghana would have qualified for the Semis. But destiny was with Uruguay. Suarez hand balled. Gyan failed to score. Match moved into Sudden Death. Fernando Muslera was the hero for Uruguay who saved 2 goals and made sure that Uruguay qualify for the Semi Finals. For me, this was a very sad sight. More sadder than seeing Brazil being knocked out.

By the time I wrote this, I also witnessed the clinical thrashing of Argentina by the ruthless and young German attack. If it was not for Spain, it was the end of stylish, sweet and beautiful football in this World Cup.