Perennial underachievers Spain has made history after outplaying the Germans to book their place in the FIFA World Cup finals for the first-time ever where they will clash against the Dutch for the top honor in World Football.
Coming into the finals, Spain was considered as the favorites with a wealth of talents in their squad, most of them from club Barcelona, the club which has been very successful for the past few years. Spain was expected to dominate games from start to finish, seeing off opponents with relative ease.
But, against the odds, the Spanish team failed miserably in their opening encounter against Switzerland team who had other ideas and managed to hold the Spanish attack and frustrate the Spanish fans who had expected a Spanish win from the word go.
After the opening match loss, the World started to question their ability, doubt their progress yet again. In their second match against the Honduras however, Vicente Del Bosque's men managed to bring smiles in the Spanish camp with a 2-0 victory which meant the Spanish team still had a hope, infact it was the start of a new journey. Since then they have never looked back, with back to-back victory against Chile, Portugal in the last 16, Paraguay in the last 8 and now the so-called mighty Germans in the Semi-finals.
Though it has been a hard-fought victory but technically they have been solid, with those silky trade-mark play in the middle, short passes and great amount of possession. Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Pedro, Xabi Alonso and Sergio Busquets are all comfortable on the ball and are all intelligent and creative in their movement. Rarely does the Spanish players give away possession. Their patient build up towards the opponent half has been the highlight of the tournament so far.
Their defense has been up to the task as well, especially yesterday against the Germans at pressure situation, Puyol led from the front, besides his crucial goal, he was much ahead of the German strikers in the Spanish penalty box.
Villa their star striker who has 5 goals in the tournament so far has played a major role in each of the Spanish victories. He has been phenomenal and most importantly helped the Spanish make it all the way, despite Spain's other striker Torres struggling for form.
Now the question arises, can Spain beat Netherlands and lift the World Cup? One more match, final hurdle between Spain and the World Cup 2010.
Sunday's final at Soccer City in Johannesburg is sure to be a cracker of a match with both teams on a verge of creating history.
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Coming into the finals, Spain was considered as the favorites with a wealth of talents in their squad, most of them from club Barcelona, the club which has been very successful for the past few years. Spain was expected to dominate games from start to finish, seeing off opponents with relative ease.
But, against the odds, the Spanish team failed miserably in their opening encounter against Switzerland team who had other ideas and managed to hold the Spanish attack and frustrate the Spanish fans who had expected a Spanish win from the word go.
After the opening match loss, the World started to question their ability, doubt their progress yet again. In their second match against the Honduras however, Vicente Del Bosque's men managed to bring smiles in the Spanish camp with a 2-0 victory which meant the Spanish team still had a hope, infact it was the start of a new journey. Since then they have never looked back, with back to-back victory against Chile, Portugal in the last 16, Paraguay in the last 8 and now the so-called mighty Germans in the Semi-finals.
Though it has been a hard-fought victory but technically they have been solid, with those silky trade-mark play in the middle, short passes and great amount of possession. Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Pedro, Xabi Alonso and Sergio Busquets are all comfortable on the ball and are all intelligent and creative in their movement. Rarely does the Spanish players give away possession. Their patient build up towards the opponent half has been the highlight of the tournament so far.
Their defense has been up to the task as well, especially yesterday against the Germans at pressure situation, Puyol led from the front, besides his crucial goal, he was much ahead of the German strikers in the Spanish penalty box.
Villa their star striker who has 5 goals in the tournament so far has played a major role in each of the Spanish victories. He has been phenomenal and most importantly helped the Spanish make it all the way, despite Spain's other striker Torres struggling for form.
Now the question arises, can Spain beat Netherlands and lift the World Cup? One more match, final hurdle between Spain and the World Cup 2010.
Sunday's final at Soccer City in Johannesburg is sure to be a cracker of a match with both teams on a verge of creating history.
Have Your Say!
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