Day 27 - SPANISH LULL-A-BYE
Spain defeats Germany, punching a ticket to the World Cup Final for the first time in history.

July 7, 2010
by Dan Krier

Spain 1 - Germany 0

Spain’s national football team has made up its mind to systematically win the 2010 FIFA World Cup in the same exact way an explosives expert goes about diffusing a bomb: slow, deliberate, and surgeon-like. Call it a bore, but it’s a successful bore.

In a match that never saw the Spaniards lose their cool, the men of Germany were defeated 1-0 on a 2nd Half goal that propelled the 2008 UEFA Euro Champions to their first-ever World Cup Final, where they will take on the Netherlands.

Spain rather had things in control from the opening kick-off, consuming a large portion of ball possession, probing just outside the German penalty box almost at a constant clip. But the score remained tied 0-0 at the half, despite a great running attempt by Spanish striker David Villa and a missed header on a corner kick by Carles Puyol that flew over the crossbar.

Germany had its share of chances as well, but nothing that could considered a missed opportunity. Really, the Germans found themselves without much offense at all, most likely due to the loss of Thomas Mueller, who was serving a suspension for his second yellow-card of the tournament during the team’s win over Argentina. Without Mueller around to attract attention, Miroslav Klose became the lone focus of the Spanish efforts on the back-end, and consequently he was shut down all game long. I’ll be the first to say I was shocked by how much Klose was kept away from the action.

So the game moved along, and Spain kept pressing forward in waves when finally, in the 73rd minute, the first goal came at long last. The score occurred on a fantastic out-bending corner kick by Xavi that was hammered home off the head of fullback Puyol, who made the most of his second chance, giving his country the 1-0 lead.

After the goal, the Spanish were able to eat up clock on skilled ball-handling and back & forth passing, displaying a presence that now makes you think this 1-0 trend is exactly what they wanted all along.

Perhaps we’ll have one more of these games to endure on July 11th, or perhaps it will be the Netherlands who score early and force Spain to play with some pizazz. Either way it will be a monumental moment, as both teams get the chance to compete for their first-ever World Cup Championship.

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