This tournament has been historic. It will always be remembered as the first World Cup to go to Africa, in particular, to South Africa – a country that has suffered so much oppression, that has fought to show the world that it is safe and that has shown the world that white people and black people are co-existing in peace.
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.
Once again, the result of Germany vs. Argentina has sided with modern history. I eluded briefly to the history behind this fixture in a preview to the quarter finals and like in 1990 and 2006 it’s the Germans who have emerged victorious. Germany continued their superb form through to the quarter final match and won 4-0 with goals from Muller, Klose (x2) and Friedrich. Germany seem to have the game one in every area of the pitch.
We now know from which eight countries the winner of the World Cup will come. There are four South American nations, three European nations and one African nation.There is the prospect that all four semi finalists could be South American with the draw shaping up like this:
Netherlands vs. Brazil
Uruguay vs. Ghana
Argentina vs. Germany
Paraguay vs. Spain
Three times World Cup winners Germany prepared for the World Cup by beating a selection local players aged under 20 from Eppan in South Tirol by 24 goals to nil. The Germans, who beat Hungary in the 1954 final, Holland in the 1974 final and Argentina in the 1990 final – have thumped a few sides in their time, however the biggest World Cup victory remains the 8-0 win over Saudi Arabia in 2002.
