Tonight I return to Mabhida Stadium for what might become one of the greatest World Cup matches of all time: Spain v Germany. The winner to face The Netherlands in the final on Sunday at The Ukhamba (calabash in isiZulu). Today’s rematch of the Euro 2008 final (hence the photo) is the biggest thing to hit Durban since Nelson Mandela cast his first vote in a free and democratic election here in 1994.
Spain is the side many fans and pundits (including me) picked to win the 2010 World Cup. At its best, La Furia Roja plays delectable futbol romantico that is not only pleasing to the eye but also supremely effective.
Germany is the highest scoring and top performing team in this World Cup. But do the memorable thrashings of England (4-1) and Argentina (4-0) mean that the Nationalmannschaft has peaked too early? That German octopus thinks so.
6 replies on “The Curse of the Octopus?”
The diviner octopus may be completely oblivious of the fact that the spanish defense doesn’t have the height and pace to counter the German scoring machine.
It’s going to be an exciting game. The Spaniards, in my opinion, will struggle with this young, tough (and a bit lucky!!) German squad.
3-2 germany is my pick!!
Peace
La Furia is due, they will turn it on today and win in a convincing manner. Torres and Villa will score. A new nation will join the World Cup winners club. ¡Que viva España!
Spain masters its passing game as well as Jordan’s Chicago Bulls, mastered their triangle offense. Technical precision added to a tactical control and discipline of Spain deprived Germany from the necessary spacing needed for deploying their game.
This game did not become the greatest game of the World Cup of all time but surely on one of the most studious, and for a semi-final, one of the cleanest game. There were very few fouls and no yellow card. Football. A homage to the Game of Football.
Now in the history books. Yes, a great match for coaches, players, and fans who appreciate the strategic, tactical, skillful, and historical aspects. In fact, if you didn’t like the match, you are probably from the USA and think ESPN is a great source of socca coverage and analysis, (by the way, it isn’t).
The better, “right” team won, in fact only rarely looked as if they might make a mistake that would have given the game to Germany. Deutschland obviously missed Muller for his pace and ability to link up with midfielders, though I’m not sure he would have performed under the circumstances; we forget how young and inexperienced he is.
The only question I have is if Pedro will ever see the light of day in the final. He played well enough, but he never looked to pass the ball despite this being Spain’s primary m.o., and his refusal to pass to Torres to seal the deal at the end was criminal. And I think he knows it. He’s a very lucky fellow that 1 goal stood up.
The Germany team that played in that semi-final was strange and unrecognizable…and it lost to a team that was so unwilling to win that it took a defender to score the only goal. This unwillingness to score was most evident in what that young man called Pedro did…after ensuring that the well placed, visible and unmarked Torres could’t get a chance to try a shot at the goal he, like Yakubu Aiyegbeni in the Nigeria versus South Korea match, missed the most difficult to miss goal.