African epic ends with Spain, Netherlands final
Johannesburg: Africa's first World Cup reaches a fitting climax on Sunday when the two most impressive teams, the Netherlands and Spain, meet in what is expected to be a fascinating contest for soccer's biggest prize.
The best games in a World Cup often come in the semi-finals but after a month of soccer of varied quality, these two teams are recognised as being the pick of the bunch technically, tactically and temperamentally.
It is a final of firsts in addition to the location. Neither side has won the World Cup despite their undoubted quality, and Europe will win its first trophy on another continent. It is Spain's first final and a third for the Dutch, who were runners up in 1974 and 1978.
Germany took third place on Saturday night after an exciting 3-2 victory over Uruguay in rain-swept Port Elizabeth which was far from the frequent anti-climax of the playoff game.
A header from Sami Khedira won the game for Germany with only eight minutes to go after an evenly-matched contest. It was Germany's second successive third place in the World Cup.
Both Spain and the Dutch perfectly illustrate the big lesson of this World Cup -- that the teams who play as units are superior to those that revolved around the fallen pre-tournament favourites like Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney.
The climax of a successful month-long tournament is also a triumph for South Africa who have confounded years of negative foreign reporting predicting it would be a disaster marred by violent crime, chaos and unfinished stadiums. Read more....
0 Response to "African epic ends with Spain, Netherlands final"
Post a Comment