Ok firstly, WHAT THE FUCK?! This was SOUTH AMERICA's year! How the hell do we now have to witness an effin' all-European borefest for the final?! I guess this was the World Cup where traditions and patterns didn't just matter... South Africa became the first hosts to be knocked out in the groups, and now Europe will win the World Cup outside Europe for the first time. It's just sad. This has been a sad world cup, fewer goals, fewer moments of magic, Messi being the only superstar that turned up and now an all-European final. The only good thing was that Italy and France both finished bottom of their groups. The quarters and semis were really really painful to watch, save 2 matches...
QUARTERFINALS
NED 2-1 BRA
A surprise to say the least, and not just because Brazil were tournament favorites. The first half saw complete Brazil domination, and we even saw glimpses of the genius that used to be Kaka but everything fell apart in the 2nd half. Sneijder's cross was headed in to his own goal by Felipe Melo (though FIFA awarded the goal to Sneijder) and then 15 mins later, Brazil conceded again from a corner, Sneijder the goalscorer again. Whatever chance Brazil had of getting back was jeopardized when Melo (the antagonist again) decided to stomp down on Robben and get sent off. Brazil pushed and pushed for an equalizer but the lead held and shockingly Brazil were out at the World Cup quarters for a second successive time.
URU 1-1 GHA (Uruguay won 4-2 on pens.)
Match of the round. A close game as expected with two of the most spectacular moments of magic in the entire tournament. First, in first half injury-time when Sulley Muntari, star of 2006, scored from a few yards in front of the center circle (!), with a late spin on the ball catching Muslera completely off guard. But just 10 mins into the second half, and Diego Forlan, the best South American player in the tournament, unleashed arguably the best free kick of the tournament (and God have we had an embarrassingly less number of those) to draw Uruguay level. Extra time ensued, and the biggest moment of drama in probably the entire tournament was reserved for the last minute of 2nd half extra time injury time! Ghana were awarded a free kick and from the goal-mouth melee that followed, Luis Suarez pulled off one of the best saves of the tournament. However, he used his hands and thus was sent off, thereby giving Asamoah Gyan the chance to send Ghana through with a penalty. As fate would have it, Gyan, who had already converted 2 penalties in previous matches, blasted his penalty and Ghana's chances of advancing into the post and into the crowds and penalties ensued, in which Ghanian captain John Mensah and young star Odiyiah missed to give old warhorse Loco Abreu the chance to win it for La Celeste and win he did, a la Antonin Panenka. Cue the wildest Uruguayan celebrations since the Maracanazo and pictures of a sobbing, inconsolable Asamoah Gyan.
ARG 0-4 GER
The biggest what the fuck moment I've seen in the 3 World Cups I've witnessed. Argentina, quite contrary to their past performances, were absolutely dreadful in this match. Romero might as well have been a mannequin in a boutique when Mueller headed in Schweinsteiger's free kick in the 3rd minute while the Argentinian midfield completely failed to break through the fortress that was the Nazi defence. Messi put together some of his usual solo runs but couldn't find the finish in any of those. Higuain was like a ghost in the forward line, failing to take the few chances that he did have and also failing to receive any proper service from the midfield. Maxi Rodriguez and Tevez both disappointed while Di Maria proved to be the only glimmer in a drab midfield display. The defence was even worse as the scoreline suggests, completely falling apart in the second half. The match would best be summarized by saying that Germans didn't deserve to win 4-0 but Argentina did deserve to lose 4-0. And yes, that does make sense. On a historical note, Miroslav Klose has now scored more World Cup goals than Pele and as many as Gerd Muller.
PAR 0-1 ESP
Fucked up refereeing was in full show again as this match, in which Paraguay were definitely at par with, if not better than, Spain, was marred by 2 very poor decisions which would have influenced the game in a very substantial way. First, a legit goal from Nelson Valdez was ruled offside because the dumbfuck linesman failed to notice that the Paraguayan who was offside didn't actually touch the ball. Second, Oscar Cardozo's saved penalty wasn't allowed to be retaken even though Spanish defenders clearly encroached the penalty area before Cardozo released the shot. This is particularly glaring since Xabi Alonso was made to retake a penalty because of the same reason. That he didn't score was somewhat of a serving of justice but that Villa did get the winner again and again with a scrappy goal wasn't. Spain didn't deserve to win this match. Perhaps the fairest result would have been one of the teams exiting on the penalties.
With Argentina out, I really didn't give much of a crap about who won anymore, but I wanted Uruguay to win, being the only South Americans left...
SEMIFINALS
URU 2-3 NED
That didn't happen ofcourse. If you're an Argentinean fan, you'll know how weird it is to support Uruguay but I really did want them to beat the Dutch, but it wasn't to be. This was actually a solid match. Giovanni van Bronckhorst scored what along with Maicon's effort, is one of the goals of the tournament, following which Forlan scored another cracker, this time with his left foot. In the second half, the Dutch got lucky again. Sneijder's weak shot was deflected just about enough to beat the outstretched hands of Muslera and only 3 minutes later, the Uruguayan defence was caught out again, this time via a classy header from Robben. The match seemed to be over but deep into stoppage time, Maxi Pereira got one back for the Uruguayans to throw caution to the wind for the final minute of the game, but the Dutch held on and returned to the World Cup final after 32 years. Europe was now sure to win the tournament. :(
GER 0-1 ESP
After the thrashing of Argentina and the injustice over Paraguay, you'd have expected a different result. But a Mueller-less Germany looked hapless and out of shape. Spain were clearly the better team and played well for the first time in the tournament and got their 3rd consecutive 1-0 win of the tournament. Puyol scored the winner with a great header and thankfully we didn't have to see David Villa scramble the ball into the net for the winner.
There you have it. The most fucked up World Cup I've seen has now reached its climax. I'm pretty sure the 3rd place game (URU-GER) will be better than the final. I'll just see them out of habit and compulsion. I don't give a crap who becomes the 8th team to win the tournament. I'm not making any predictions this time.
The obligatory...
Final call for the week whatever the dates were...
Match Of The Week: Uruguay beating Ghana in the quarters. Drama of epic proportions.
Team Of The Week: Netherlands (for eliminating Brazil and scoring 3 goals in a match for once)
Player Of The Week: Wesley Sneijder (best player in both of Netherlands' games, will probably win Golden Ball)
Goalie Of The Week: Fernando Muslera (pulled off 2 saves in the shootout to push Uruguay into the semis)
Medio Of The Week: Wesley Sneijder
Striker Of The Week: Miroslav Klose (for his date with history) and Diego Forlan
Goal Of The Week: Gio van Bronckhorst vs Uruguay in the semi
Shock Of The Week: Them Nazi sons of bitches beating Argentina 4-0
Moment Of The Week: The last-minute drama in the Uruguay-Ghana quarterfinal! Best of the tournament.
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