La Furia Roja conquers the world!

Sunday’s World Cup final was bound to create history — one way or another. But this clash of two two like-minded footballing cultures looked more like foulball than football. The Dutch set a new record for yellow cards in a World Cup final (12, compared to the previous record of 6), with Heitinga getting sent off with his second yellow card for the evening in the 110th minute of the game. The night, however, belonged to Spain, which prevailed despite the hounding and hammering they received from the Dutchmen.

“I simply made a small contribution in a match that was very tough, very rough,” said Andres Iniesta, the Spanish hero who sent his team to World Cup glory. “All sorts of things were happening on the pitch.”

The match was rough and tumble; the Spanish weren’t able to play their free-flowing football; and despite the number of scoring chances, there was very little of the quality football that these two teams are known for. The sport’s showpiece event was hardly a showcase for the beautiful game, and that was the Netherlands’ doing. Refree Howard Webb showed the first yellow card of the evening to Van Persie in the 15th minute when he brought down Joan Capdevila. Spain’s Carles Puyol reacted to a foul on a Spanish player a minute later and was shown a yellow card of his own, but the spoilers were definately the Dutch.

Though the tactics slowed down La Roja, they still maintained the upper hand in terms of possession (60/40), and delivered where it mattered most — in the goalkeepers net! As Iniesta took off his shirt and ran to the sidelines to celeberate on one end of the field, on the other end Iker Casillas, standing inside his goal post, had tears streaming down his face. That goal ended nearly 80 years of angst for a nation that has produced so many great players but has not once lifted the World Cup trophy.

With this win Spain enters the history books not only because this is the first time the nation has won the World Cup, but also because no country has ever lost its opening match and gone on to win the final! Spain is also only the second country to have won the Euro Cup and gone on to win the World Cup two years later.

History will be created in South Africa

The semi-finals have been played and the final two sides chosen — it’s going to be Netherlands vs Spain on the 11th of July at Johannesburg, and no matter which team wins, history will be created.

Netherlands enter their first World Cup final since 1978 with a 3-2 win over the relatively inexperienced Uruguay side. They won’t be favored to win against Spain, but this Dutch team finds ways to win. The Oranje outplayed Brazil with a combination of a very strong, hardworking midfield and a continuous attack that revealed all of Brazil’s weak spots, setting up the upset of World Cup 2010.

But they didn’t look all that very convincing against Uruguay. The verve with which they played against Brazil was lacking for the most part of the game. They won against the hard-working Uruguay team solely on the basis of their experience.

Dutch stars like Robin Van Persey haven’t made a mark at the World Cup — the glory in their team belongs to Wesley Sneijder (who is in the running for the coveted Golden Boot) and Dirk Kuyt.

Spain have already created one piece of history —- this was the first time the Spanish team made it to the semi-final stage in the World Cup. Should the Euro 2008 champions go on to lift the title, it will mark their first-ever World Cup victory, and will make them one of just a handful of teams to have won the Euro cup and gone on to win the World Cup two years later.

After their embarrassing loss to Switzerland in their opening group game, Spain were able to go on to beat a “German team so rampant that it had three times scored four goals in a game during the tournament,”
suggesting that they’re just hitting their stride. Though I was afraid that the German defense might be too difficult for the Spanish to break through, and that German strikers would pull holes in the Spanish defense, La Roja flowed down the field like a wave of red!

Their confidence in possession is terrifying — Spain more than once took short free kicks to players who had an opposition defender literally on their backs, the gesture showing their players’ confidence in holding on to the ball no matter how close the opposition got. On the rare occasion that they lost it, they simply grabbed it back within a split second. And in the process, they played some gorgeous attacking football with little flicks and feints putting their players through — although that sometimes maddening Spanish habit of seeking to pass the ball all the way into the net rather than sometimes simply pulling the trigger was occasionally in evidence. — Time.CNN

But what are their chances in the finals?

The Dutch didn’t expect to reach the finals, so they should be able to play a freer game without any kind of performance pressure. The start-studded Spanish side, though, entered the tournament as the favorites to lift the trophy, and the pressure can tell. At the end of the day, though, football is a crazy game — anything can happen, at any time!

Uruguay advanced into the semi-final by beating Ghana due to a foul in the final minute of extra time. Netherlands defeated Brazil because Felipe Melo got in the way of his goalkeeper, and later let his frustration get the better of him and got himself sent off for a violent foul.

And that is why I for one am going to be glued to my television set on the 11th, cheering on for my favorite side — Spain!

(images courtesy FIFA/getty images)

The final four: FIFA 2010

South Africa has seen some major drama in this world cup! France and former world champions Italy crashed out in Round 1, England and Portugal bowed out in the Round of 16, and Brazil and Argentina crashed out in the Quarters!

Here’s a look at the final four teams that are still standing:

Netherlands
Netherlands has a rich footballing tradition, but have never taken the trophy home. After being Brazil 2-1, this could well be their year! The Oranje were in the semis in 1998, and made two straight finals in 1974 and 1978. But for decades, the Dutch have been labeled the best team never to win it all. If they could come back against the Brazilians, thanks to two brilliant goals from Wesley Sneijder, then their major breakthrough could well be at hand, after 32 years of waiting!

Uruguay
Uruguay, once a soccer power, most recently an afterthought, broke South Africa’s heart on July 2, beating the last African nation in the fray — Ghana — 3-2 on penalties. (Uruguay won the first World Cup in 1930, then again in 1950, beating Brazil in Rio de Janeiro.) This is the country’s first semi-final appearance in 40 years. However, they will face the Dutch without their most important goal-scorer Suarez, who was red-carded when he used his hands to keep out a header in the last minute of extra-time, denying Ghana a place in the semis.

Germany
With its 4-0 rout against Argentina in the quarters, Germany will enter the semis more confident than ever. This is the youngest side to ever be sent to the World Cup, and they certainly don’t seem to be missing their captain from four years ago — Mikael Ballak. The team has a formidable defense led by captain Philip Lahm, and excellent mid-fielder in Bastian Schweinsteiger, great goal scorers Miloslav Klose and Mesut Oezil and Lucas Podolski.

Spain
Spain entered the World Cup as the favorites to win, but were off to a shaky start, losing 1-0 to Switzerland. That defeat, though, shook them, and they’ve become progressively better, beating Paraguay 1-0 to book their place in the semi-finals. Spain last claimed a space among the top four in 1950 in a round-robin final stage, but have never competed in a World Cup semi-final. Fernando Torres hasn’t got his groove back, but the individualistic David Villa is creating magic on the field, as are Andres Iniesta and Cesc Fabregas, who replaced a shaky Torres 10 minutes into the second half. Other notables in the Spanish squad include goalkeeper Iker Casillas, defenders Gerard Pique, Carles Puyol and Sergio Ramos, and mid-fielders Xavi and Xabi Alonso.

(images courtesy fifa.com/getty images)