2 MATCHES LEFT

Uruguay 2-3 Holland
Germany 0-1 Spain

Well folks, the bird, Mani, predicted the Uruguay-Holland match wrongly but same like the octopus, Paul, predicted Spain victory against Germany. I guess you can say two brains are better than one. Haha! Watch the video below. Will they ask Paul to predict the 3rd/4th and the eventual winner?



Therefore, it will be a Spanish-Dutch final. Forlan was trying all he could while playing under pain but he could not finish the match. He was still spectacular, scoring another beautiful scorcher! It is clear that Uruguay lacked the experience to contain Holland in the match. They did not capitalize with the opportunities they had. They were always giving too much space behind when they were being attacked.

As for Germany-Spain, I was actually quite worried with this on-form German side. Who wouldn't after they demolished England and Argentina with scorelines of 4-1 and 4-0? Their confidence was sky high. I have to say that Spain should receive credit for their patience in playing their passing game as they tried to find spaces to sneak in some attacks. They also contained the Germans well with good marking to avoid any dangerous counter-attacks. They gave Germany very little chance to control the ball in the entire match. Still, Germany were more effective in their counters. Spain were too slow and should improve on this to make full use of the advantage presented. Germany also made life difficult for Spain by making sure no spaces were open in the entire match, making the field looked extremely tight.

For me, Germany lost the strength in defence once they substituted Boateng. I thought he closed the spaces well in defence. Pique is a serious worry for me in the whole match and will be the weakest link in the final. I hope del Bosque finds a solution soon! Pedro also wasted a golden chance to score a goal by whether it is unskillfully or selfishly not passing to the open Torres in a 2 against 1 situation. I suggest playing with a lone striker in Villa by adding Fabregas into the final match. Play someone as the attacking midfielder just behind Villa to give him support. It can be Fabregas or Iniesta or both, taking turns to switch.

There are few reasons why I want Spain to win apart from the fact that I am their fan. Their fair play is the best in the entire tournament and I believe they deserve to be where they are. They did not receive any cards for the semifinal match against Germany too. They are giving football a good name, playing nice football and just showing how it should be played. That to me is already a good achievement by itself. The Dutch, some of the players I know very much, are good play actors and divers. Let's put Robben as the first name. However, I have very much respect to Wesley Sneijder. Even when he was in Real Madrid, he was one of my favourite players. Therefore, I believe the only way to contain the Dutch is to mark Sneijder well and not to be too near to Robben. He will fall magnificently before you even touch him.

Both Spain and Holland have never won the World Cup before. It will be the first time for whoever that wins the title. All the best to both teams and may we have a really great final to cheer on and enjoy ourselves!

3rd/4th Placing
Uruguay VS. Germany
7/10/10 7:30 PM BST

FIFA World Cup 2010 Final
Netherlands VS. Spain
7/11/10 7:30 PM BST

Spain lead World Cup fair play standings

AP

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AP) -- Spain are the best behaved World Cup team, leading the fair play standings which ranks teams according to sporting behaviour on and off the field.

According to standards set by a FIFA panel of coaching experts, Spain lead with 925 points, 44 ahead of South Korea with Argentina a further 11 points back in third.

Spain completed their three group matches without collecting a yellow card, and have received only three bookings in winning two knockout matches to reach the semi-finals.

Uruguay, which reached the semi-finals after a notorious handball against Ghana, are in 11th place, just ahead of the United States.

Mexico are last of the 16 teams eligible to be ranked after playing at least four matches.