It wasn’t the sweeping victory that some expected nor was it the most convincing of performances, nevertheless the Netherlands beat Uruguay in the semi-finals and are through to the World Cup final. They await either Spain or Germany in Sunday’s showdown and they have to be confident of finishing the tournament with a 100 per [...] Read the rest of this entry »

Only four teams are left in the World Cup now and the semi-final draw is quite intriguing with Netherlands facing Uruguay and Spain taking on Germany. There have been a lot of high-profile exits so far and the pattern of unpredictability suggests that there could be a couple of shocks still to come. However, it [...] Read the rest of this entry »

There have been a few matches in the World Cup so far that promised to be truly engaging affairs, but turned out to be disappointing. Brazil v Netherlands in the quarter-finals could change that. Hopefully, anyway! On past record and their results in this tournament so far, Brazil should win. Although this will be a [...] Read the rest of this entry »

Spain came out of the Iberian clash with Portugal as victors, which was not that surprising but they rarely displayed the class that they possess. Whether it is down to key players not being fully fit or coach Vicente del Bosque’s cautious approach, the team selection is definitely holding them back. In contrast to this, [...] Read the rest of this entry »

No matter what happens with video technology within football, there is no changing the fact that England have dropped out of another international tournament for the sole reason of not being good enough. Yes, Frank Lampard did score in their second round match against Germany and it should have been awarded. But that incident aside, [...] Read the rest of this entry »

When FIFA announced that the 2010 World Cup would be staged in Africa for the very first time, the hope amongst all African football fans was that one of the six teams representing the continent could make it to the semi-finals or even the final. Ghana, who are the sole remaining African team in the [...] Read the rest of this entry »

Things are really starting to get exciting with France and Italy both finishing bottom of their respective groups, England scrapping through and also a few surprises. The group stages will be wrapped up on Friday afternoon, although most of the ‘big’ nations have already booked their place in the next round, including the Netherlands. Not [...] Read the rest of this entry »