Football World Cup Finals 2010

The Football [Soccer] World Cup is drawing to a close in South Africa tomorrow.

It has been a month and 62 matches since the start of the mega event.

Just two teams remain in the battle!

The time has come for a new champion to be crowned!!

Spain and the Netherlands will be seeking glory as they will fight it out tomorrow in the World Cup Finals. 

It will be one of the most widely watched event across the world.

Lets have a look at a few things which made news in this World Cup.

Starting with the game itself.

Spain - the reigning European champions made it to the finals for the first time on the world stage, shedding their tag as the glorious under performers. A superb team effort was the driving point. 

The Netherlands also made it to the final - a significant achievement for a team which underperformed in the last two editions. Never to have won the Cup, a lot of expectation is riding on the Dutch team.

Germany - a nation which didn't have any hope from its novice team - saw its team play the semi finals - only to lose to Spain. Today itself they are regarded as the best bets for the next Cup.

Uruguay also made it to the semi finals, albeit for a shameless hand ball by Luis Suarez in the dying minutes of the quarter finals against Ghana.

The teams which carried a a lot of expectations - Brazil and Argentina - were knocked out in the quarter finals.

Portugal and England were eliminated in the Round of 16 itself. The big daddies of European Club football  were clueless on the world stage.

And the finalists from the last edition - Italy and France - were knocked out in the group stages itself.

But today, with the World Cup final just a day away, I have one thought - does it matter if you are knocked out in the first round or in the semi finals? 

I think it doesn't!!

Everyone is here to win the Cup. The gravity of the loss is the same everywhere.

Coming to individual stars, the World Cup has put many players on the pedestal where they will be worshiped like demi-gods.

First is David Villa. The man has been the single most differentiating factor in the Spanish line up, scoring five goals till date.

Next come W. Sneijder. He is the man who has put the Dutch in the finals.

Mirosalav Klose has continued with his superb form in the World Cup matches. He has 14 goals under his belts, and is just two goals away from a World Cup record.

The German team has given birth to several stars of the future - Thomas Mueller, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Lukas Podolski et all.

And this Cup was considered as the swan song of the golden generation from England - Steven Gerrard, John Terry, Frank Lampard.

What else made news at the Cup?

First it was Shakira for her Waka Waka. Shakira is set to close the cup with this song.

Then you had K'naan for his glorious Song - Wavin Flag.

Paul, the octopus from Germany, made his mark for being an accurate forecaster. Till date, he predicted the winners of six matches in the Cup - all of them turned out to be correct. 

The Spanish people hope that he is correct - after all he has predicted that Spain will win the Cup. The Germans hate him. And the bookies want to capture him. 

Diego Maradona promised to run naked if Argentina won the Cup. Thankfully they didn't.

Larissa Riquelme, a Paraguayan model, promised to imitate Maradona if Paraguay reached the semi finals. They didn't and the people were disappointed. Not wanting to let them down, she let her clothes down to celebrate her country's great run at the Cup.

The referees made blunders. Sepp Blatter lost his face, and promised more technological support the next time on.

The Vevezulas made themselves heard. 

The Jabulani - with or without its flaws - made the goals look beautiful.

South Africa and Africa made its mark. People will not forget the country and the continent in near future. Finally it is - This time for Africa!!

This is the month when every other sports event took a back seat. I did not care about the Formula 1 championships. I did not care about the Wimbledon. I did not care about cricket. Only one thing mattered - the Football World Cup.

My team for the finals is Spain. 

Hope that the Spanish Armada rolls through successfully in one more match, to be crowned as the Champions.