FIFA World Cup 2010, Semifinals: Barcelona vs Bayern Munich (Spain vs Germany) in South Africa
On 7th July 2010, European Champions Spain are going to go head to head against the very impressive Germans. Germany, for now, has faced a lot of challenges in this World Cup and overcome them very easily with the help of their young talented players and their coach Joachim Loew. On the other hand, Spain has not been totally disappointing. They have possessed the ball much more than any other team. At average, their possession of the ball is more than 60% in every single match.
In today’s game, people believe that the match is going to go to a higher level than all the previous World Cup matches, because of the fact that both the teams have a lot of players from the same club. In Spain, most of the players are from the Spanish club Barcelona, while in Germany, most of the players are from the German club Bayern Munich. Both the teams have the same amount of players from each club. Spain has 8 players from the Spanish club Barcelona, and so does Germany from Bayern Munich. Right from the start of the FIFA World Cup, both these clubs have supplied the biggest number of players in the FIFA World Cup. Barcelona sent 14 players in different countries while Bayern Munich sent 12.
The two clubs, who were in the semifinals of the European Champions League, and the two international sides, who were in the final of the 2008 European Championship, are going to fight it out again in the semifinal of the FIFA World Cup 2010. However, only 6 players from the Vienna final in 2008 would be present in this match, with three from both the teams. From Spain, Xavi, Iniesta and Carles Puyol were a part of that final, while from the German side, Lahm, Schweinsteiger and Miroslav Klose were a part of that match. These players will be joined by the 5 Barcelona stars, Pique, Busquets, Pedro, Valdes and Villa, who missed that match in the 2008 final. For the Germans, the Munich stars that are going to join the three named would be Toni Kroos, Mario Gomez, Hans-Jorg Butt, Holger Badstuber and Muller; although Muller is suspended for the semifinal.
Barcelona and Bayern Munich have had a similar season. Bayern Munich, who are coached by the former Barcelona coach Louis Van Gaal, were able to win the Bundesliga after a close battle with Schalke, which lasted till the last match of the league. On the other hand, Barcelona broke the points record in the Spanish league. Barcelona had a heart-throbbing battle with their arch rivals Real Madrid, who looked to be a very tough side on paper but lost both the matches in the Spanish League to crown Barcelona as the champions. Both Barcelona and Munich have built their success on their own; by training players in their own youth academy. Their season was so similar that they both even qualified for the Champions League. Barcelona, however, were defeated by Inter Milan in the semifinals, while Bayern Munich were defeated by the same club in the final match, which they lost 2-0.
Although both the teams have had amazing seasons, and they both feature 8 players apiece from the respective clubs, the starting line-ups of both the teams favours Barcelona. Six of the Barcelona stars are in the starting line-up of the Spanish squad. They include Pique, Puyol, Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets and the in-form David Villa, while Pedro is used as a super sub when it comes down to 75th minute of the match. On the other hand, the German Coach Loew has restricted Bayern Munich’s players in his starting line-up. Only Schweinsteiger, Klose, Muller and Lahm feature for the German team since their third match of the tournament, as Badstuber, Kroos and Gomez sit outside till the final minutes, just like Pedro for Spain. The goalkeepers Victor Valdes for Spain and Butt for the Germans have yet to make a debut for their respective countries.
Both these teams have the same amount of players from the same club, which is 8; and this is the reason why both these teams are great at passing, possessing the ball and team chemistry. Can Spain be the only team that can stop the Germans in this tournament? They both have won the same amount of points in this World Cup, but the Germans have scored almost twice as much as the Spaniards. What will happen when these two teams collide? We can only wait for the match to unfold to know the answer.
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