June and July is World Cup fever! 32 teams vying for the World Champion title, the right to lift the coveted Julius Rimet trophy. The right to be called The World Champion!!
Group matches were semi exciting. A few matches lit up the stage with a few upsets here and there. South Korea beat Greece, a former European Champions, Japan beat Cameroon, Switzerland beat Spain, the reigning European Champions, Mexico beat France, Germany lost to minnow Serbia, New Zealand drew mighty Italy, France lost to South Africa, another minnow, Slovakia beat Italy and Japan beat Denmark. France and Italy were sent home packing with their tails between their legs! England barely made it to the Last 16 but USA deserved to be in the last 16. South Korea and Japan went through with some great performance especially the 30 yard free kick goal from Honda!. Slovakia was the surprised package of the Last 16. Some gutsy performance from them.
The Last 16 round was good. Uruguay vs South Korea, USA vs Ghana, Germany vs England, Argentina vs Mexico, Netherlands vs Slovakia, Brazil vs Chile, Paraguay vs Japan and Spain vs Portugal. A few mouth watering encounters especially Germany vs England and Spain vs Portugal. I was rooting for a few teams. South Korea, Japan and North Korea, Brazil, Netherlands, Spain and England. Yes I know. Why England u ask? Well, I have no idea except for the fact that I have an affinity for them since I was young. Must be all those growing up with English Football on the telly. Well..South Korea lost Uruguay 2 - 1.The South Koreans can leave South Africa with their heads held high as they have performed very well. Ghana gunned down the US Mavericks. No last minute goal from them. Germany swept England aside with a pathetic 4 - 1 margin. Never mind the fact that one blatant goal that went in a yard from the goal line! Both referee and linesman were blind! German was superior in one way or another. Argentina easily went past Mexico. Tevez scored two goals - one from a blatant offside position and a legit one. The Netherlands entertained one of the surpised package in the Last 16 - Slovakia. It was a close one with the Oranje nicking it 2 -1 to go thorough to the Last 8. Brazil made light work of Chile by cruising to a 3 - 0 win. Japan played to a 0 - 0 draw with Paraguay after extra time. They eventually lost in the first penalty shoot-out of the tournament (I thought they were unlucky to lose). Spain narrowly beat Portugal 1 - 0. On to the last 8.
Last 8 match up. Netherlands vs Brazil - the final that that was two matches early. The first goal was a gem - a through pass that by-pass all the Oranje defenders and a goal for the Samba boys. Oranje scored an equaliser and then an own goal by Brazil. That pretty much sums up the game. Brazil lost 2 -1 and went back home early. No samba celebrations this time. Up next, Uruguay vs Ghana. Played to a draw and a blatant handball that prevented Ghana from scoring was ignored. Amateur referee refereeing a high profile match. They lost 4 - 2 in the second penalty shoot-out of the tournament. A real heart-breaker and injustice for Ghana. The second final was between Germany and Argentina and a close contest was anticipated. However, that all fizzled out as soon as the Germans scored their first goal in the 4th minute. They finally cruised to a 4 - 0 win. Like Brazil, they are sent home packing in a rude awakening. Spain played Paraguay and struggled to beat them. One penalty each for both sides, both missed before Spain scored in the 83rd minute, the only goal of the match,.to go through to the semi-finals.
The Semi-Finals. First up, Netherlands vs Uruguay. A 3 - 2 thriller. The Oranje are in their third finals since being the losing finalist in both the 1974 and 1978 World Cup finals. A 12 year gap. We now have to wait for Spain vs Germany game to see who will be in the finals to contest the right to lift up the Julius Rimet trophy.
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