Spain are the best team in the world of football but will they be crowned the World Champions?

The World Cup final on Sunday will feature some of the greatest footballers around the world. Footballers whose records outshine superstars such as Ronaldo, Rooney & the stars of France & Italy who usually get all the media attention but who faded away in this World Cup.

It is broadly acknowledged that the pillars of the success of the great Barcelona side of the last few years led by Lionel Messi are in fact Inesta, Xavi (above first & second from right) & their inspirational Captain Carlos Puyol ,whose goal took Spain to the final of the World Cup.
In Casillas Spain arguably have the best goalkeeper in the world & in David Villa (no 7 above) the striker with the best average goal scoring record in the world. Add to this players such as Piquet & Sergio Ramos, & Pedro who replaced the out of form Torres against Germany & it is easy to see why Spain are such a great side. Even their lesser known players like the no 11 (above) Capdevila of Villarreal have ended up being amongst the stars of the tournament.

It is difficult not to admire Spain & the way they play. They are simply irresistible to watch & play football they way the beautiful game is meant to be played. Commentators, players, coaches, journalists & past great players are all tipping Spain to win the final on Sunday. Even Johan Cruyff, the Captain of the legendary 1974 Holland team credited for creating the concept of total football believes this great Spanish side (& no doubt they are great to watch) will be crowned World Champions on Sunday.

Nevertheless, despite all the well deserved accolades & all the media hype I believe Holland will be crowned Champions on Sunday!

Whilst Spain are superior in tactical & technical terms & have better individual players overall, most media commentators are ignoring the main worrying signs in the Spanish side & idealistically concentrating on the attractive way they play. Yes! Spain have been one of the more attractive teams of the tournament to watch, but they can not be given so much compliment when they have only crawled their way into the final by three hard fought 1-0 results, a 1-0 loss to Switzerland & only above average performances against Chile & Honduras! This is despite the fact that Germany & in particular Italy have in the past won the World Cup despite mediocre performances on the way to winning the Cup.

Nevertheless, my main reason for suggesting that Netherlands will win the final lies in the great performances of the players in the above photo (photo from Euro 2008). Wesley Sneijder & the fit again Arjen Robben have been underestimated by everyone to their benefit!

For the first time in many years (including Gus Hiddink's Holland side of the 1998 World Cup) Bert Marwijk has managed to instill a great team spirit in the notoriously fickle & egotistic Dutch camp, and a team which achieves much more than the sum of its individual players suggests on paper. ie Here's my point:

Spain as a team have produced much less than the sum of their brilliant players on paper would suggest whilst Holland, led by the magnificent four ie Sneijder, Robben, Van Bommel & Van Bronkhorst have prodced much more than their individual players would suggest.

My other reason to believe Holland can win the final is the fact that 7 of their players have scored in this World Cup whilst Spain have been wasteful, missed many goal scoring opportunities & only 3 of their star studded players have scored their miserly 7 goals in six matches. Whilst many commentators have pointed to at times some less than impressive periods by Holland against Uruguay, they have ignored the fact that they have proven they can score goals & come back from behind, whilst Spain have been struggling to score & lost the one match they fell behind as a result of their inability to score.

So my prediction is we can expect an exciting & tactically enticing world class final, perhaps the best since the 1986 final between Germany & Madonna & Argentina, with Holland to win 2-1.

As for the third place play off which is becoming more & more of a prestigious match, I would like to see Germany to cap off a great World Cup with a big margin win, and for Klose to become World Cup's all time highest goal scorer! That's the least Bastina Schweinsteiger, Philip Lahm (above) & the exciting brave German side deserve after their great displays in becoming the first team since the legendary Brazil side of 1970 to score 4 goals in three World Cup matches.

World Cup semi finals: a showcase of contrasting styles & football cultures & a historic opportunity for European teams to shine

The World Cup's knockout phase has provided plenty of drama, excitement, goals & classic footballing moments & now we are in the final phase of the tournament with only 3 crucial matches plus the third place playoff left to consider.

Having started with correctly predicting only 12 of the 16 teams which qualified for the knockout stage, I managed to predict 7 of the 8 winners & all 4 of the quarter final winners correctly.

A special mention at this stage of the tournament must go to the black stars of Ghana. They preserved the pride of African football with their entertaining displays & in the process proved me wrong in the first knockout phase & were then desperately unlucky not to qualify for the semi finals.

Many of my "non football" friends have commented on Uruguay's Suarez & his handball which earned him a red card but ultimately resulted in the heartbreaking elimination of Ghana. What Suarez did was simple: a heroic sacrifice for his country & an awful act in the eyes of his opponents & many fans. It must however not be judged as a cynical act as he did it as a mixture of reflex reaction, instinct & desperation.

Now to my prediction for the semi finals:

Uruguay vs Netherlands: Whilst my dream final is the repeat of the 1974 final between Germany & Holland, if Suarez was not suspended & the fitness of Uruguay's influential Captain Diego Lugano (familiar to the die hard Socceroos fans) was not in question, I would have tipped Uruguay to potentially beat Netherlands. However, like Argentina & Brazil in the last round, Uruguay have had reasonably easy run thus far & are yet to prove themselves against a world class opponent. On the other hand, holland have won all their games so far & have not lost for more than 24 internationals. All of these factors, & taking into account the magical display of Arjen Robben against Brazil, I tip Holland to narrowly beat Uruguay & make it to their third World Cup final.

Germany vs Spain: The ever insightful SBS football commentator Craig Foster summed it up about Germany when he said "Germany have become lovable & are great to watch!"

As the sign above suggests, Germany are the first team since the legendary World Cup winning Brazil team of 1970 that have managed to score 4 goals in at least 3 World Cup matches. Their young guns are fearless & energetic & in Bastian Schweinsteiger have the "Player of the Tournament" so far. Although both sides are playing down the comparisons to Spain's 1-0 win in the final of Euro 2008, Germany will avenge that defeat & make it to the final.

If Holland win their match & the final becomes an all European affair, a European team will win the World Cup for the first time in Southern Hemisphere/Central America. Regardless of the final outcome of the two semi finals, we are set for two exciting & thrilling football matches with 4 teams with different styles & tactical approaches. The first semi final will be a matter of trying not to lose, whilst Spain & Germany will be aiming to win in their clash.

The World Game's beauty, drama, passion, thrill & heartache on show @ World Cup's first two quarter finals

A devastated Asamoah Gyan after Ghana's drama packed elimination this morning

This morning's two quarterfinals of the World Cup 2010 were a perfect demonstration of why football is "the beautiful game" & why it's "The World Game" & why its simplicity must be preserved.

The lionhearted display of Holland, the stunned talented Brazil, the heartache of the Black Lions of Africa, Ghana, Gyan's heartache at missing a 120th minute penalty & the resilience of the magnificent Uruguay & the personal sacrifice of their champion player Suarez!

The magnificent Wesley Sneidger was instrumental in Holland's win

All the thrills, drama, passion, heartache, tears & joys are at display in this World Cup. And at that this has so far been a strange World Cup. Unlike most previous tornaments, the group round matches were dull affairs & so far the knock out stage has been simply great with all the excitement, thrills, drama & most importantly goals! (except the Paraguay vs Japan match)

Let's hope the remaining six matches continue to thrill!