The semi finals start tomorrow and are heavily dominated by Europe. Having suggested only a week ago that the South American teams were doing so well the dominance by one continent at the World Cup has again shifted.
Uruguay are now the only remaining South American country in the World Cup. Their quarter final with Ghana had everything you want from a game of football (as a neutral) in the last two minutes. A red card; a dramatic last kick-of-the-game penalty; a penalty missed; and then the agony and ecstasy of a penalty shootout. Asamoah Gyan was a matter of inches from sending Uruguay out of the World Cup. Luis Suarez, who has had an impressive World Cup will miss the semi-final after ‘cheating’ or ‘taking one for the team’ – depending which camp you sit in. The winning penalty from Sebastian Abreu had an element of class about it as he dinked it over the goalkeeper. Luck seems to be with Uruguay, so should it be a surprise if they go on to beat the Netherlands tomorrow?
The Dutch got to the semi finals by knocking out Brazil. Whenever there is a World Cup, Brazil are fancied. For me, this Brazilian team didn’t have enough about them. Kaka was poor; they missed the injured Elano; and I couldn’t help but think that when they needed a goal or something different, if only they had Ronaldinho or Pato on the bench. Credit to the Dutch though. After a poor first half, they played fantastically in the second half. They seemed to suit the fact that Brazil lost their attacking discipline and men behind the ball meant Brazil just couldn’t break them down. Wesley Sneijder and Arjen Robben have both demonstrated that they are of vital importance to the Dutch side. Sneijder in particular is pulling the strings and in the year he won the domestic treble, the World Cup final is just a game away now.
The other semi final is an all European affair. Spain against Germany. Spain were a lot of people’s pre-tournament favourites, including myself. They were the last team to get through to the quarter finals and then the last team to progress from the quarter finals. They beat Paraguay to get to the semi finals in a game that will be remembered for three penalties in two minutes. First, Cardozo of Paraguay saw his penalty saved by Casillas; a minute later a penalty awarded to Spain was scored by Xabi Alonso; Alonso’s penalty had to be retaken and then was saved by Villar. Spain snuck through thanks to one goal from David Villa – who is proving to be worth every penny Barcelona have paid for him. Spain are yet to find any real rhythm and with Torres misfiring both they and he have got this far playing averagely. It therefore doesn’t bode well for Germany that Spain are due a performance.
Germany in some ways have been the surprise package at this tournament. They’ve played the best football and in doing so they demolished England and Argentina convincingly. There is no doubting that they are the form team. Their victory over Argentina in particular was impressive. Lead by Schweinsteiger they made sure that Argentina’s 20 years of hurt continues for at least another four. Germany’s tactical discipline in keeping their shape and having specific player roles will be tested like never before against Spain. Germany’s tactics so far have been to press the ball and opposition players hard and relatively high up the pitch. That is what Spain like, they like to draw a team out and pass around them. Whether Germany try to repeat the same tactics remains to be seen but if they aren’t careful they may just play themselves right into Spanish hands.
Europe is guaranteed at least one finalist. An all European final would mean that only for the second time in history there would be consecutive all European World Cup finals (the last time was 1934 and 1938). This year, after a slow start the matches are hotting up at the right time – roll on the semi finals…
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Tags: Argentina, Brazil, Doron, Espana, Germany, Ghana, Holland, Netherlands, Paraguay, South Africa 2010, Spain, Uruguay, World Cup 2010
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[...] had a South American dominance in the quarter finals, the semi finals saw a shift of power towards the European teams. There was now a real possibility that the final would be an all European affair, as it was in [...]
Robben has tipped fellow Dutchman Wesley Sneijder to join Manchester United after the World Cup in South Africa. That mabye a good choice for Sneijder.