Viva España!

The South African 2010 World Cup will deliver us a brand new world champion after Spain beat Germany 1-0 in Durban last night, to set up a tantalising final against fellow world cup 'virgins' Holland on Sunday. It will be Spain's first-ever final, as they beat the 'new' favourites Germany in a tense encounter at the Moses Mabhida Stadium. It also turns out that Paul the psychic octopus might just be actually psychic after all. That was his 6th prediction that he got completely correct as he opted for the Spaniards over the Germans...spooky stuff! (Despite currently residing in Germany, he was actually born in Weymouth!!)

Germany had come into the game on a high. They had thumped Argentina and England, were in great goal-scoring form and looked invincible. Spain, on the other hand, had one out-of-form centre forward who's involvement in the starting line-up was stirring up a fierce debate, and had not really clicked into gear, despite having got themselves to the semis. Spain has been largely untested throughout this tournament, except the first game against the Swiss. Although, they haven't been the best to watch, they have got with scoring just the one goal, in recent games and winning. Why is this? Well, they have dominated the midfield with their pass and move game and last night was no different.

Germany were without the suspended Mueller which made life a bit difficult for them. In his place, came Piotr Trochowski. We were hoping to see a much improved Spanish side after their less-than-vintage performances in recent games. Unfortunately we still didn't see one last night, and one wonders if we ever will in this tournament. The big question was whether Del Bosque would start with Fernando Torres upfront, but he chose instead to leave him on the bench and instead opt for a 4-5-1 with Pedro drafted into midfield and David Villa as the lone frontman. It was a different substitution to what many people predicted: most were expecting to see Fabregas start for the first time this tournament, but perhaps that leg injury in training prevented Del Bosque from playing him. Llorente had also impressed when he had come on for Torres, but he was also left out this time.

The game started off with the first pitch invader of the tournament, finding his way onto the field of play, but the Italian fan was promptly pulled away by South African security guards and was probably arrested for his actions I guess! Despite that minor disturbance, Spain soon settled into their standard passing rhythm, dominating large passages of play and possession. It was difficult for Germany to get the ball and counter-attack, frustrating many of their players up front such as Oezil who hardly saw any of the ball in the first-half. However, Spain were unable to pick any holes in the German defence and were reduced to shooting from long-range. Villa did force a save from Manuel Neuer early on in the half though and the two Spanish full-backs, Puyol and Ramos missed glorious chances to get their names on the scoresheet. The best chance for a counter-attacking move came for Germany after 20 minutes had passed, but unusually there was a lack of communication with Oezil and Podolski, breaking down the move and thus Spain went unpunished.

Germany were the better side as the opening half came to an end, they were pressing much better now and pushing the Spanish back a lot deeper into their own half. Oezil was much more involved in the game now and had what appeared at first to be a strong penalty appeal turned down. He had managed to weave away from the Spanish defenders and Ramos made a last-ditch tackle bringing down Oezil, and not getting anything on the ball. However, replays later showed that contact had occurred outside the area. It should have been a German free-kick though, but it was not given by the Hungarian referee.

The period following the half-time break was a spell of Spanish pressure as they got closer and closer to getting in the lead. They were once again, fluent with their passes and movement and starved Germany off the ball. Alonso tried twice from distance and saw the ball going either side of the posts on both occasions. Then came a big moment of panic for the German backline as first, Pedro got his shot away from 22 yards out which forced a good save from Neuer, after some great build-up play by Iniesta, Capdevila and the final lay-off by Xabi Alonso. However, Germany failed to get the ball clear and Iniesta pounced on to it sending a fine cross through across the face of goal, only inches away from the feet of David Villa who could have made it his sixth of the tournament. Sergio Ramos had a similar opportunity but could not connect properly with Xabi Alonso's ball and also missed another good chance.

Then, Loew threw on two substitutions - Kroos and Jansen in a bid to change the game. Once he had made the changes, Germany were playing better and it was now they who were pressing. There was a short spell where they were able to have more possession of the ball and work their way into the Spanish half where Kroos forced a good save from Iker Casillas. That was the closest Germany got, before Spain got their vital goal. Spain had a corner kick which was taken by Xavi, and he picked out an on-rushing and unmarked Carlos Puyol, who slammed home the header, despite the keeper being in a good enough position to make the save. It was a Robben-esque goal and sparked wild celebrations from the Spanish bench as Spain were now only a mere 17 minutes from making their world cup final debut.

Germany were looking laboured, desperate and lacking in ideas about how to take the game to Spain. So far in this tournament, Germany have only won when they have scored the first goal, but we have never seen them recover from being a goal down - for example in the Serbia game. Perhaps they should have been a bit riskier upfront and really got at the Spanish defence, a lot earlier in the game because having gone a goal down, they were put on the backfoot. Spain can pass the ball and are always comfortable in possession, and so they were happy to pass, pass, pass and generally, give Germany the run-around. The German team were getting more and more frustrated as the minutes ticked by but Spain proved resilient and even got close to getting themselves a second. Inevitably, Germany were left desperately short at the back as they sought the much-needed equaliser and in what looked reminiscent of the England-Germany game, it was the Germans, this time, that were being subject to quick counter-attacks. Torres was brought on by Del Bosque in the 81st minute and would have probably scored his first of the tournament, had Pedro not been so selfish. Pedro had managed to race clear, and with Torres up alongside him and only Friedrich to beat, he had tried to shoot himself instead of passing to an unmarked and totally free Torres, who was absolutely furious after Friedrich had somehow managed to get the ball clear.

Sunday's final will produce an eighth different winner of the World Cup and for the first time, the Dutch will not be facing the host nation in the final. Many predicted Spain to go all the way this year and it seems incredible t0 believe that a nation with such a great footballing set up, a wonderful league and some unbelievable talent, will be playing in only its first ever world cup final. Hopefully we will see a good game. Holland have become more counter-attacking than we are used to and Spain play the opposite - they keep the ball, they pass, they like to play attacking football and go forward. It will be good to see a clash of the two styles and it will be intriguing to see which one comes out on top.

As for Germany, well they came into this competition with not really much off a chance at winning it. Yet, with this young side they defied the odds, producing some of this year's most scintillating football and really adding to the entertainment value that we have seen in the tournament. They scored plenty of goals but unfortunately could not do enough yesterday to overturn their Euro 2008 rivals and get revenge. The great thing about this team is that they are young and so will have chances later in future tournaments to come back and prove their worth. Germany were responsible for kicking England out of the tournament, but the way in which they played and the talent that is present in their squad made it less difficult to take. England were beaten, and beaten well. Argentina, too. Therefore, the Germans can be proud of their achievements in this tournament, although having lost in a second successive semi-final in the World Cup will be a bitter pill to swallow. It has often been said that the worst defeat you can experience is in the semi-final of a tournament. Well, having reached their 11th semi-final and having lost it can't be hard to take but they will go on, and come back, as they always do, dogged and determined as ever.