The football world cup then is nearing it's conclusion with the semi-finals completed last night with yet another penalty shoot-out in there, so we just have the final left to come on Sunday while third and fourth will be decided on Saturday. The drama continued in the semi-finals to follow up a fantastic world cup that we'd had so far particularly the group stages and the Last 16. The first semi-final saw the hosts Brazil take on the 2006 hosts and 2010 3rd placed side Germany, and Brazil's key absentees in Neymar and Thiago Silva showed from the outset as Brazil were left pretty shell shocked by several first half goals in quick succession as the hosts weak defence was pulled apart along with the dreams of a nation wanting to see their team lift the world cup on home soil. At half time Brazil were 5-0 down and basically out then and things only got worse in the second half as the Germans added a couple more before Brazil got a consolation goal losing the semi-final 7-1. Joining the Germans in the final will be Argentina after they came through a penalty shoot-out against the Netherlands after a dull 120 minutes of play. The first half saw both teams showing a lot of energy and creativity but the defences were solid and up to the challenge and as the game went on and the attacking threat started to tire and weaken the match became quite dull as we went to penalties. Fatefully it was Ron Vlaar and Wesley Sneijder that couldn't convert that penalties as Netherlands bowed out.
Before I get on to the main event of the world cup final I will quickly have a few words on the 3rd place Play-off:
Saturday 12th July:
Brazil Vs Netherlands - Both of these sides now after disappointing world cup defeats will have to pick their heads out of the bin and fight on for their own pride as it's never nice to get to the semi-finals and then finish 4th. Both of these sides were also poor in their semi-finals so they have a lot to make up for, although I think it's to an even greater extent for Brazil who are on home soil and will desperately need to rescue their dignity after a 7-1 drubbing to make something of this. However, defensively Brazil were absolutely rubbish while Netherlands just lacked a little bit of cutting edge against a much stronger Argentine defence than they will face here and I think the side that loses these games is always the one side that finds it harder to pick themselves up and Brazil have a long way to pick themselves up from after such an embarrassing defeat where pretty much everything went wrong tactically.
Prediction: Netherlands
Now it's time for me to take a look at the main event then, as the biggest prize in world sport will be decided:
Sunday 13th July:
Germany Vs Argentina - The first thing that has to be said is that the 2 strongest sides in this world cup have managed to make it into the final which can often be a novelty with some big events in other sports. What the Germans boast is a lot of power while Argentina have the stand out player skill wise in Lionel Messi and probably just have a little bit more skill in terms of players. Germany's defence has been rock solid in these knock-out stages with keeper Manuel Neuer really taking charge of things on the biggest stages and he has been the stand-out keeper of the world cup by a distance in my mind. Both sides have a great amount of quality and once again Germany have one of the best finishers ever to grace the world cup in Miroslav Klose who is now the leading scorer in world cup finals of all time and he certainly knows how to take the chances a top class midfield creates for him. Lionel Messi has been pretty impressive in this world cup, and it's probably been his best world cup performance showing to many that he's the best player in the world and there are a large number of football fans that say he deserves a world cup win. However, one man doesn't make a team and as a whole the rest of the Argentine's haven't played to a collective standard that Germany have as an enormous powerhouse in world football and if anyone deserves a world cup it's them and for me they have been the best side in this tournament and they just need to produce that one more time now.
Prediction: Germany
Whatever the outcome this world cup will go down as one of the best ones for a little while with so much drama in the group stages followed by several knock-out games going down to penalties with a whole host of surprise results as well as quality football and I hope the final can reflect this as well. Wherever you are to watch the final, I hope you enjoy it and I hope you've enjoyed the tournament as much as myself and the whole population of football fans worldwide have.
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