FIFA World Cup 2010 Final

Spain have dominated posession against all the teams they've played in the Cup, yet lost to the McValue Meal merchants of Switzerland, and have a biggest winning margin of 2-0 against Honduras (despite having about 100 shots on goal). It really just underlines the fact that they don't have the knockout punch without Fernando Torres firing. It remains to be seen if this lack of killer instinct comes back to bite them at the final hurdle...if you have the Dutch down, you might want to make sure you finish them off. Their passing game is second to none, and early against Germany, the Krauts simply couldn't get the ball. Defensively they've been solid except for the sloppy goal they allowed the Swiss in the first match, and more importantly, they have kept three clean sheets in the knockout stages. David Villa has been in fine form, scoring five of their seven goals...maybe Torres is due for a big game, and then, perhaps they'll be unstoppable.

The Dutch have finally lived up to the expectations of everyone except this guy:

"Aaarrrgghhh the Dutch are just so boring these days! They need to play more like Brazil. Even though they beat Brazil in the quarters, Brazil weren't playing like Brazil, so that doesn't count because it was just so boring...Aaarrrggghhh! If Brazil had of played like Spain that night they would have beaten the boring-as-batshit Dutch bastards! If the Socceroos played like Spain too..."

When I think of the Dutch, this delightful combination is the first thing that comes to my mind:



The Dutch have been keeping a hold of the ball too but not doing enough with it for Fozzie's liking. Not enough movement he says. They've looked alright to everybody else though in scoring 12 goals en route to the final. Arjen Robben and Wesley Sniejder are key players, and expect Kuyt to make the usual nuisance of himself in trying to unsettle the Spanish defense. It was worth noting that Uruguay cottoned on to the fact that Robben always tries to cut in-field onto his preferred left foot (something Slovakia somehow missed) and closed him down in that respect. Spain have no doubt taken note of that too. The Spaniards will also want to close down the area outside the box as there are numerous Dutchmen with a penchant for long-range goals.

Also of interest is the battle for the Golden Boot; David Villa and Wesley Sneijder are tied with five goals apiece. In the third place encounter, Thomas Muller and Diego Forlan have four, as does Miroslav Klose, though he is an injury doubt for the match. It would be sad for football fans if he doesn't play; he needs one more goal to tie Ronaldo's record of 15 World Cup goals. Luis Suarez is the outsider with three goals.

I'm tipping Spain to control the match and win 1-0 and me to win cash. I backed the Spaniards at the start of the Cup, and after a horror start they've come good. Defensively they've been brilliant in the knockout stages, and keeping a red hot German side scoreless emphasises this point. Holland are definitely chance, but I'm calling it Spain 1-0. Obviously I'd like to see more goals, and Fozzie would like to see more movement from the Dutch, but I reckon it's going to be tight and a goal either way could win it. And I think it could be in the script that Torres scores the winning goal...

Enjoy the game...only four more years to wait.....sigh........