Messi gave Argentina the early lead when he lobbed one past to Reina, who had a terrible day at the office and not just looked out of sorts but also nervous. Higuain made the score line 2-0 in the first half itself. Carlos scored the third goal for Argentina when Reina slipped while trying to clear the ball and Carlos managed to slip the ball past the net.

Spain rested many players who featured in the starting eleven World Cup finals against Holland, whereas there were very few changes in the Argentine side. The interim coach Sergio Batista, who took over from the great Diego Maradona would be extremely pleased with his side’s performance. With no pressure on either side due to the absence of competitiveness, both the sides produced some brilliant football, with Argentina dominating mostly.

Not many would have imagined seeing two European sides fight it out for the coveted trophy and almost no one would have anticipated a “Spain vs Netherland” final. But here we are nearing the end of the greatest sports extravaganza and are about to witness the unlikeliest of World Cup final. 

Although Spain has always been considered a great side, it never really fulfilled its true potential. They have always been termed as the biggest underachievers of world football. Netherlands on the other hand are the surprise finalists. Although they have a decent side with some very good players, not many would have put their money on them. But they have shown immense character and resilience to come this far. Even Brazil couldn’t halt their terrific run as they breezed to the finals. Spain defeated Germany on route to the finals, whereas Netherlands beat Uruguay to make a place in the finals. 

This year’s world cup has been seen turn around as many top sides faltered and the lesser teams marched ahead. Spain, however was favorite along with Brazil, but going by their performances in the world stage, many had doubts if Spain could come this far. 

Netherlands has never succeeded in winning the World Cup, although they have made it to the finals twice. It remains to be seen if they can get lucky this time. This should be a great finale as both these sides are capable of playing some breath taking football and as a football fan we hope they play to their potential and give us a final to remember.

The last meeting of the two teams was in U.S. where Spain won 1-0. The U.S. team owes its success to Bob Bradley who has certainly transformed the entire team. Although the Confederations Cup semifinal is important, U.S. team must be relishing the thought of making it to the ultimate level-the World cup.

The confederation Cup is surely proving a great launching pad for the United States team before the 2010 World Cup. The team is almost certain to play two more games depending on the result against Spain for either 1st or 3rd place. The Spain team looks in great form and in the right frame of mind. They defeated New Zealand by 5-0 in their opener and easily came over Iraq and South Africa to reach the semis.

The United States team therefore has to pull up its socks and come up with something very special in order to keep their hopes alive in this tournament. This is the best chance for the team to create history.

Well my final prediction was half right. I said that Germany would be in the final. You can see it here.

Luis Aragones and company ruled with class and very top caliber play from the group to the final game. I would have to say that this has been very fun and enjoyable.

Now we will all wait until the Olympic Games start to watch some more soccer!  This will be very fun as the youth squads of the world go head-to-head and not the senior clubs. For the men, the age restriction is set at 23 however three over age players are allowed to compete.  For the women there is no age restriction.

More insight will come for the Beijing Games.

1. I would rather see two good team play longer than 90 minutes.  Who really has the endurance to last that long.  Who will fight till the end or just give up.
2. While it is one of the sadest and gives a player the feeling of helplessness, it is one of the fairest.  Both teams have an equal chance.  Both have equal numbers of shots on goal.

Next Up: The first semi-final game is between Germany and Turkey which should be very interesting.  I will like to see the turntout of this game.

Future: Tomorrow Italy plays Spain to decide who will play Russia. Now this will be the game of the quarters. I liked watching Germany and Portugal but I will enjoy watching Spain and Italy do battle. Maybe it is because two of my favorite teams-Barcelona and AC Milan-are Spanish and Italian teams, respectively.

Two Quick Hits: 

1. Barcelona and AC Milan are both vying for the services’ of the Arsenal striker, Adebayor.  An AC Milan scout believes his team has a 50% chance of acquiring the striker.
2. Former Sunderland keeper Tim Carter has been found dead in a park with a rope tied around his neck.  Authorities do not believe that there is any foul play involved and his death is unfortunately classified as a suicide.

Germany beat Portugal today.  While the Portugese side did very well in taking the champions title for their group, Germany snapped up their hopes for 08.  The game got very exciting in the last minutes as Portugal scored a goal to make the final score 3-2.

Future Fixtures:

Tomorrow- Croatia vs. Turkey: I like this game.  The heroics of Turkey in their win against Petr Cech and the Czech Republic proved to the world that they are here to play.  However, they did trail in that game which is a weakness.  At the same time, Croatia did win all of their group games defeating Germany in the process.  Once again, I like this game. 

Saturday- Holland vs. Russia: In short, miracles may happen, but Holland hasn’t shown very many weaknesses.  I like the competition and level of play Igor Akinfeev will be up against but I don’t like his chances.  The power of the Oranje will prove to be too much for Russia on this day.

Sunday- Spain vs. Italy: This will be another good game.  Power vs. Power.  Class vs. Class. What better game than this that pits two top class keepers against one another(Casillas v. Buffon).  The defensive corps each possess.  The midfield so chalked full of talent.  And the strikers to finish.  This is truly the game that I will watch.

 Transfer Rumors:

• Barcelona put out an opening bid on David Trezeguet.

 Italy: defeated France 2-0 today as they will be moving on as the runners up from Group C.  They will be facing Spain in the knockout round-Quarter Final.  This will be a good match.

Holland: ended the hopes of Romania as they are the true spoilers of Group C, first with a tie against France, then with the same result against Italy.  I have a new found respect for the whole lineup aside from the afore posted Chivu and Mutu.  Holland will face either Sweden or Russia who go head to head tomorrow to round off the Group D.

 What’s ahead: Tomorrow Spain will take on Greece who are set to finish in last place of Group D if they do not pull off a win tomorrow against first place Spain.  Spain will finish in first tomorrow even if they lose.  They have defeated both Russia and Sweden making it impossible for them to lose the top spot by points. 

Russia or Sweden: Based on previous games, Sweden has the advantage over Russia.  Sweden only lost 2-1 as Russia lost 4-1.  However, the amount of goals scored does not really give any team the edge.  Russian Goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev is a guy that I really like, however he and his squad are still relatively young.  They will be together for many Euros and World Cups to come.  I will watch this game to just see a good match and I leave no prediction for tomorrow.