In short... BOOOORIIIING!!!

PENALTY to PARAGUAY!!!

ANDDDDDDDDDDD it's SAVEDDDDD!!!!


Would you believe it?! :D

AND NOW A PENALTY to SPAIN almost IMMEDIATELY!!

Whoa...wtf?!

Shot is ruled illegal!

Shot is taken the SECOND TIME, and its SAVEDDDDDDDDD!!!


Weehaw, the game just got a real SHOT IN THE ARM!

How many times do you get to see TWO Penalty Kicks given within a minute of each other to both sides, and BOTH being SAVED?! :D

Quite a rare event in football, that one.

One of the most disgraceful & shameful results in the history of WC football...specially for the Argentina fans. They also lost against Germany in the last WC QF but that was more honorable defeat than today. Even the no. 1 team of the world (according to the FIFA ranking before this WC starts)..Brazil lost yesterday against the Dutch but that was also a more reasonable & acceptable defeat than this one. Yeah...you can either lost or win in any game after playing so much attacking & promising football all through the tournament but how come a team with so much caliber get defeated in such a miserable way!?!:mad:

Anyway, it's getting a bittersweet experience to see when almost all the big names & teams of World football started to forgetting how to play this beautiful game then the Germans starts to showing & teaching them its definition, types of passes & goals with examples & magics.

Congrats Germany, you deserve the Cup this time.

Now, These last couple of minutes has been fairly entertaining. :D

I see what you're saying, but Brazil wasn't so surprising. They were too confident, didn't know what to do with themselves once they went down, and started playing like a bunch of pissed off kids. And yes, the Netherlands hadn't been impressive, but they did what they had to in order to win all their games. After the second goal yesterday they settled pretty well, but up until that point they didn't look any more or less vanilla than they did all tournament. If it doesn't wow you that doesn't mean it isn't good play.

On the other hand, I don't think anybody thought Argentina would lose the way they did. They were just out of sorts from beginning to end.

The referee is on dope through his whistle. :D

God bless him. :D

True. They stopped playing football when they conceded the own goal, and the second one only added to their frustrated ego-play. Too bad, because they are a very talented bunch. Just need that flair back.

Agree with the Holland part too. Not impressive, but effective. The fact that they held out Brazil till the end wins a big point in their favor.

Team play has been a huge factor in this tournament, apart from the FIFA referees.

AND THERE WE GO!!!!!!!

Its DAVID VILLA AGAIN BABY!!!!!!!!! :D


1 - 0 to Spain! Weehaw!

Now that's may call a bar-to-bar goal.:)

Anyway, Eusebio & Muller can now confirm the golden boot winner, I guess.

FULL TIME - Match #60 (QUARTER - FINAL #4) -




I was right in my half-time prediction of a late goal being scored and that being the decider of the game in the end. And was it surprising that it would come off the legs of a certain David Villa?
Spain are through into the Semis, and lock up a date with Germany. Should be one hell of a cracker.
Paraguay tried a different combo this time by bringing in Oscar Cardozo instead of Roque Santa Cruz for this match, because of Cardozo's goal scoring reputation and because Santa Cruz has been ineffective in the previous 3 matches he started so far. Wrong decision, because Cardozo was far from impressive. They tried out Santa Cruz as a substitute in the second half, but by then Spain had gained the momentum and the decider all but sealed Paraguay's fate.
And that fantastical minute in-between which saw TWO Penalties being awarded to both teams and both failing to score?! What a moment indeed.
Although Paraguay did score but it was deemed ineligible because of encroachment inside the penalty box. The second effort was saved by Casillas.
All in all, a more entertaining second half which ultimately went to Spain, the deserving winners. Paraguay go home with their heads held high, because they performed exceedingly well in WC 2010.

And so folks, we go into the big SEMI-FINALS after yet another 2-day break in WC 2010...




After all the unpredictability WC 2010 has provided so far, it would be a brave heart to keep predicting away and guessing correctly, but then what would a hotly-anticipated set of matches be without any predictions?

Let's see them.

My picks - Netherlands and Germany.

Uruguay are a very talented side and play some solid team football but Netherlands should be very capable of shooting them down, now that they have edged out Brazil.

And Spain has been super impressive too. Iniesta, Ramos and Xabi Alonso combine with David Villa superbly to keep getting Spain past their opponents.

But you have to wonder about Villa's luck running out sometime?
Or maybe the law of averages catching up with him?

The dude is running on some really solid steaming form right now but can that be good enough to take Spain past a side who is both young, hungry and raring to tear you apart? Not to mention that their main forward, Fernando Torres, looks woefully out of form and has been repeatedly substituted by Fabregas in almost all of Spain's matches.

Germany have looked unstoppable, and apart from that shocker against Serbia in the group stages, pretty formidable too. All their players are young, fit and in superb form and they all compliment Miroslav Klose pretty nicely. So much so that a certain Michael Ballack hasn't been missed so far.

Either way, the second Semi-Final should provide some real fireworks on the field. One of the best matches of this WC, I daresay.

And finally, with THREE European teams in the fray right now, it would be a safe bet to assume one of them will take the WC home.

Good night, folks.

I'll be glad if Spain wins the Cup, it'll be fair if Germany becomes the champion and it won't be surprising at all now if Netherlands finally wins for the first time but I have a feeling that Uruguay will lift it for the 3rd time.:D

Uruguay (Coz that side of the knock-outs has been quite unpredictable)
Germany (Coz they deserve it)

Germany are playing easily the best football, 4 goals in three of five games so far. Spain have been disappointing and yet are still through to the semi-final which says alot about their durability. The winner will come from the Germany Spain match, probably Germany.

Still going with the Netherlands.

HALFTIME WHISTLE -


URUGUAY - 1
(Forlan 41')


NETHERLANDS - 1
(Van Bronckhorst 18')

Make that 2 - 1 to NETHERLANDS!!

Wesley Sneijder strikes!

Muhahahahahaha!!!!!!!


3 - 1 NETHERLANDS Woohoo!!! :D

Robben joins the partyyyyyyyyyyyyy!

3 - 2 in the 2nd minute of Added Time!!!

FULL TIME - Match #61 (SEMI - FINAL #1) -




First things first - hearty congratulations to Netherlands for going into their first World Cup Final since 1978.
Well, the first half was pretty much even in terms of possession and attacks, though Uruguay made several charges forward they only got the equaliser when a thundering Forlan kick hit Stekelenberg's hands and still went into the goal. That was after Giovanni Van Bronckhorst's superb 18th minute free kick which curled into the right corner of the Uruguayan net.
The second half started off well, but soon the Dutch were in their stride. They dominated possession as well as were the more attacking of the two sides, relentless in their pursuit of the second goal which came in the 70th minute off a low shot by Wesley Sneijder which sneaked past the GK into the net. And merely minutes later, Arjen Robben decided to join the party and converted a superb ball in by Kuyt into a fantastic header which hit the inside of the post and curled inwards to the dismay of the wrong-footed Uruguayan GK.
It seemed all over by then, and even a late minute surge by Uruguay to score a 2nd goal in Extra Time and getting a few seconds more than the scheduled ET couldn't delay nor change the inevitable.
The Dutch are in the Finals.

In anticipation of the fantastic 2nd Semi-Final tomorrow, between Germany and Spain. Should be a humdinger of a match.

Good night, folks.

Good game.:)God damn.:(GOOD GOD!!:eek:

Looking forward to tonights match, Im going to give the Germans the edge in this one but if Torres can finally step up to the plate and start scoring the Spanish can take them. The quality both teams have in the midfield should make for a great battle.

The dream final would be Holland-Germany, with the fierce rivalry adding extra spice to the game. Should be good :)

Most definitely.

There's always first time for every thing...so best of luck for Spain & Netherlands.

The Germans scored 4 goals against Australia, England & Argentina...to carry & remember 'the pain of getting knocked out from the tournament so miserably' till the next WC starts in Brazil. 4 goals for next 4 following years. What a merciless showcase from the Germans! Can they repeat it again tonight?

Come on Spain, stop this German-Genocide!:mad:

They certainly have the German fortune-telling octopus called Paul on their side...

http://sports.rediff.com/slide-show/...inst-spain.htm

Considering how football fanatics in Germany follow this unique fortune-teller...

http://sports.rediff.com/slide-show/...010-images.htm


...he might be right tonight. :cool:

Most goals so far -

David Villa, Spain - 5*
Wesley Sneijder, Netherlands - 5**
Miroslav Klose, Germany - 4*
Thomas Muller, Germany - 4*
Robert Vittek, Slovakia - 4
Diego Forlan, Uruguay - 4
Gonzalo Higuain, Argentina - 4
Asamoah Gyan, Ghana - 3
Landon Donovan, USA - 3
Luis Fabiano, Brazil - 3
Luis Suarez, Uruguay - 3
Lee Jung-Soo, Korea Rep. - 2
Lukas Podolski, Germany - 2*
Keisuke Honda, Japan - 2
Elano, Brazil - 2
Javier Hernandez, Mexico - 2
Kalu Uche, Nigeria - 2
Lee Chung-Yong, Korea Rep. - 2
Brett Holman, Australia - 2
Tiago, Portugal - 2
Carlos Tevez, Argentina - 2
Arjen Robben, Netherlands - 2
Robinho, Brazil - 2


(*Can still add to their tally)

(**The first goal in the Netherlands - Brazil quarter-final was originally listed as an own goal by Brazil's Felipe Melo. However, on Saturday, July 3, FIFA's Technical Study Group awarded it to the Netherlands' Wesley Sneijder.)

I'm sure at least 2 people are VERY happy about that.

It might be a stretch, but I'm not bailing on German now.

I like how Spain are playing. Very agressive.

Haven't seen them playing like this in this World Cup.

Still quite a cagey start though. The Germans only need one sniff of a counter attack to score but Spain look energetic for the first time this WC

Lately read on an article that how culturally diverse the players of this German team are...Tunisian, Polish, Turkish! even the name of one of them sounds like Japanese. :D

And yet one of only three teams in the WC where all the players play in their home league, they have no-one playing abroad.

I think that's due to every team they've played so far being very defensive. They just haven't had the room they do now.

HALFTIME WHISTLE -


SPAIN - 0


GERMANY - 0



Quite an engrossing first half came to an end. Spain were clearly the more dominant team in terms of possession and attacks, but the German defense held firm. Klose and Podolski had a few runs into the Spanish half but nothing concrete came out of them yet. Ozil claimed a Penalty just before the whistle sounded, but was waved away by the referee. Replays showed that it was quite a dubious call, and the referee was pretty soundly placed to call it.
As expected, Torres started the SF on the bench. Don't count him out though, he might still come in the second half if Spain are desperate enough to need him.
I have a feeling there will be some goals coming in the second half. Yes...SOME goals. At least two, maybe more. Expect this one to end on a real explosion, folks.

Anddddddddd itssssssssssssss 1 - 0 TO SPAIN!!!!!!!

Of all people, its Carlos Puyol's header!!!