Day 31 - WORLD CONQUERORS
Spain fulfills its destiny, taking home the country’s first-ever World Cup Championship.

July 11, 2010
by Dan Krier

Spain 1 - Netherlands 0

And so it happened. With an extremely late goal by midfielder Andres Iniesta in extra time, Spain won the 2010 FIFA World Cup, victorious for the fourth straight match by a result of 1-0.

By anyone’s account, it was a substandard affair Sunday night in Johannesburg, with each team taking dives on fouls in order to elicit yellow cards, which came in hordes as both sides were handed a record number of 13, the previous high being 6. And while it could be said that head referee Howard Webb was too quick to book players, a lot of the challenges were overexuberant and came across as dangerous sloppy play.

For the Netherlands, this day will forever go down as a game of missed opportunities. Twice during the second half - in the 62nd and 83rd minutes - Holland’s Arjen Robben was denied by the diving legs of Spanish goalkeeper Iker Casillas on clear-path 1-on-1 breakaways. Robben and the rest of the Netherlands will be replaying those moments in nightmares for the remainder of their lives.

Spain, as well, had multiple chances to score, though nothing as wide open as the runs made by Holland’s Robben. In the 70th minute, World Cup leading-scorer David Villa was given a sliver of space to shoot on a mishandled cross through the Dutch box, but he couldn’t solve the tight angle off the left side of the goal, keeper Maarten Stekelenburg making one of several great saves during the match.

Then in the 77th minute, Sergio Ramos was denied glory when he missed a wide-open header on a corner kick that caromed off his forehead before sailing high over the bar. The game stayed tied 0-0 until the 90th-minute whistle, forcing thirty minutes of extra time.

In the overtime period, things went back & forth, with the best chance to score by Spain’s Cesc Fabregas thwarted by the leg of Stekelenburg in the 95th minute to preserve the shutout. But shortly thereafter, things took a major turn for the worse for the Netherlands, because another rough tackle by Holland’s John Heitinga yielded his second yellow card for pulling Spain’s Iniesta down from behind, which translated to a RED CARD and a send-off, putting Spain in the position of having a one-man advantage.

Finally, then, in the 116th minute, the moment came.

With the prospects of another bland penalty-kick shootout just four or five minutes away, Spain was able to cash in on their power play before it was too late.

On the goal, substitute forward Fernando Torres took the ball on a pass up the left side, where he crossed it to the front of the box toward another reserve, teammate Fabregas, who then slid the ball right, where Andres Iniesta controlled the bouncer just enough to fire a right-foot volley into the net off the bottom of Stekelenburg’s right hand, giving Spain the lead 1-0 in the nick of time.

The goal marked the end of the road for Holland, who couldn’t create a last-gasp chance, falling in what is now their third World Cup Final defeat. Utter joy for Spain, who hoist the cup for the first time in history, this team taking its spot in the books as one of the best ever, having won the 2008 UEFA Euro Crown along with the 2010 World Cup.

Though they only won each of their knockout games by the score of 1-0, Spain is undoubtedly the best team in the entire world. Congratulations.

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Day 30 - BRONZE METTLE
Germany outduels a memorable Uruguay team to finish in 3rd place at the 2010 World Cup.

July 10, 2010
by Dan Krier


Germany 3 - Uruguay 2

For the second straight World Cup tournament, Germany took home the 3rd place trophy, this time winning Saturday’s consolation game against Uruguay in comeback fashion by the score of 3-2.

Playing in constant rainfall in the southern city of Port Elizabeth, the contest featured wide-open football for the full 90 minutes with neither team having much to lose.

Absent from the match with flu-like symptoms was German forward Miroslav Klose, who fans were hoping to see break the record for all-time goals scored, something he would have done had he played and scored two. So without their 32 year-old star, the Germans featured a relatively-new lineup, one that performed exactly the same as the old formation did…successfully.

Thankfully, the match was anything but boring, with goals coming early and often. First it was Germany striking with a 19th minute rope of a shot from 35 yards away by Bastian Schweinsteiger, the ball thumping off the chest of Uruguay goalie Fernando Muslera for a wide-open rebound score by Thomas Mueller and a 1-0 Germany lead.

For the 20 year-old Mueller, it was his fifth goal of the 2010 World Cup, something that will surely bring him the honor of Best Young Player of the tournament.

Back came Uruguay in the 28th minute, when Edinson Cavani took a pass from Luis Suarez up the left side on a break-away and sent in a toe-poke grounder for his first goal of the 2010 World Cup and a 1-1 tie, where things stayed until halftime.

Not too far into the second half, the never-say-die Uruguayans found more wizardry from the foot of Diego Forlan, who cooked up a legendary sideways volley that bounced hard into the turf before skidding past helpless German goalie Hans-Jorg Butt for a 2-1 Uruguay lead and Forlan’s fifth goal of the World Cup.

But sadly for the lone South American team left standing, Germany’s best trait is scoring goals, and just five minutes later in the 56th minute, a long cross from right to left from Jerome Boateng swung through traffic and was headed in by Marcell Jansen for the 2-2 tie. It was a highly unlikely combination during open play being that both men are defenders.

From that point on, the Germans seemed to be in command, finally putting away their adversaries in the 83rd minute on a corner kick that bounced through the box before being headed into the top-right corner of the net by 23 year-old midfielder Sami Khedira for his first-ever goal for his country and the 3-2 lead.

As the match reached its final seconds, Diego Forlan had an opportunity to tie things up with a 20-yard free kick, but his shot on goal deflected off the top left of the crossbar, ending the game and a wondrous run for Uruguay, a team that far exceeded expectations in every way possible. Congrats to them, and also to the Germans, who proved once again that they are one of the best football-playing countries in the world year after year after year.

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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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Day 18 - CLASS ACTS

Things are getting tasty at the World Cup with Brazil & Netherlands both winning on Monday to set up a monster of a match between the two on Friday.

June 28, 2010
by Dan Krier


Netherlands 2 - Slovakia 1

The men of the Dutch national football team found themselves flying atop the field Monday afternoon in Durban, breaking out their wings once in each half en route to a decisive 2-1 win against a prominently overmatched Slovakian side.

Netherlands scored their first goal in just the 18th minute thanks to a spectacular one-man effort from fully-healed Arjen Robben, who appeared back on top of his game while slicing his way down the right sideline alone before turning back in to fire a left-foot blast that laced its way down the tiniest of channels into the back right of the net.

Holland took the meager 1-0 lead to halftime, but in no way did the game feel in jeopardy for the men in technicolor-bright orange. Slovakia simply didn’t have the pieces necessary to solve the Dutch defense.

The second half saw several good chances for both sides that were saved by stellar goalkeeping. Slovakia’s Jan Mucha got some luck along with his skill in the 51st minute, blocking a sure second Dutch goal with his face of all things. And then, in the 67th minute, Netherlands netminder Maarten Stekelenburg stopped not one, but two mono y mono Slovakian shots, one by Miroslav Storch and one by Robert Vittek seconds later.

In the 84th minute, the Netherlands were rewarded for their hard work, getting a well-built goal off a quickly-taken free kick that sent a long pass to forward Dirk Kuyt, who worked free up the left sideline before delivering a crispy little cross into the box that was slapped in by Wesley Sneijder for the 2-0 lead. That was all she wrote.

Slovakia’s Vittek did knock in a stoppage-time penalty kick to make the final score 2-1, but the referee blew the final whistle as soon as the ball crossed the goal line, so it was the equivalent to an NBA player hitting a 3 at the buzzer with his team down by 6. Not gonna do it. Vittek does finish his Cup run with four goals, tournament-leading at the time. Well done.

So now Netherlands moves on to face World Cup juggernaut Brazil on Friday in a match that will most-likely decide who ends up in the finals from this half of the bracket. It’s going to be like watching two #1-seeds go at it in the NCAA tournament. Can’t wait.

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Brazil 3 - Chile 0

The Brazilian soccer machine was running on full power Monday night in Johannesburg, as the 5-time Champions behaved like a cobra in an open basket, rising up to strike whenever it felt the need, unleashing its fangs on Chile three times in a 3-0 blanking.

The Chileans charged out the gate like gangbusters, and Brazil let them, sizing up their enemy for the first half hour before getting a proper gauge on where and when to exploit the pressure points. Soon it was all going their way.

The Brazilians began moving into Chilean territory around the 30-minute mark, with Maicon delivering ball after ball across the middle on several free and corner kick attempts.

Then in the 34th minute, an outstandingly perfect pass found its way into the net. Maicon’s out-swinging corner from the right side hooked hard and fast, sailing over the helpless Chilean defense to where Juan got hold of the ball high in the air for a header that scored top shelf over the leaping goaltender. 1-0 Brazil, and there was no looking back.

Just four minutes later, Chile’s reeling defense surrendered another goal on a lightning-quick counterattck that saw Robinho find Kaka up the middle, who acted as a pinball bumper, one-timing his pass to Luis Fabiano for a perfect side-step fake-out of the goalie for an open net. 2-0 Brazil, and it was all but over.

The second half was filled with Brazilian scoring chances, one of which was capitalized on via a Ramires run up the middle from midfield to the penalty box, where he dropped off a pass to Robinho, who one-touched the ball on a lovely finish into the right side of the goal. Great assist, great teamwork, great team. 3-0 final, Brazil’s eighth consecutive victory over Chile.

So the 2002 Champions move on to yet another quarterfinals, where they’ll face Netherlands, whom they played and defeated in both the 1994 and 1998 World Cup. Holland is great, but I’ve seen nothing to make me believe the result will be any different this time around.

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