FIFA World Cup 2010: Germany vs. Uruguay battle it out for third place, something’s better than nothing
It is usually derided as the match with no consequences, no brownie points, and no glory. It is painted as the match between teams which had narrowly missed out on glory and now had to settle for nothing but a name tag at the winners' table. Such are the ideas that fly around regarding, what is called, the most pointless game in the tournament. The third place World Cup playoff.
This year's third place World Cup playoff takes place between the dark horses of the tournament, Uruguay and Germany, traditional powerhouses of the game, who had found that youth was the way to the future through the course of this competition. Both teams came agonizingly close but as commentators of the game remarked, they probably just came up against sides which were better. It is hard to argue with that.
Uruguay had the good fortune of being stuck in a quadrant of the world cup, where their only direct competitors could have come from a pool of teams including South Korea, United States and Ghana. Decent teams all of them, but hardly the competitors to send fear tingling down their spines. Uruguay saw off South Korea through a bit of magic from Luis Suarez after a South Korean equalizer had seen the South Americans wobbling. Thereafter, the infamous incident of the new hand of God was seen from Surez against Ghana. The match tied and just a few seconds away from going to the lottery of penalties, Suarez stuck out his hand on the goal line to stop a certain winner. A penalty was given and Suarez was red carded, however, Asamaoh Gyan's missed penalty which must have induced a collective groan from the whole continent of Africa. The Uruguayans went on to win a penalty shoot out during which the Ghanaians' nerves were understandably frazzled. Suarez's rather despicable celebration after Gyan's miss, brought calls of cheat and comparisons were made to Thierry Henry's acts of handballs against Republic of Ireland in the playoffs.
After such a roller coaster ride, the Uruguayan dream, hit the brick wall of the Oranje who were too strong in defence and too creative and threatening in attack. Despite team talisman, Diego Forlan's one man effort to bring his team back in the game, it was never going to be enough.
The German path to the world cup was filled with attacking verve and endeavour. After navigating through thumping Australia 4-0 and then losing to Serbia and beating Nigeria, the Germans had the toughest route to the final than anyone. They first played the highly fancied English side, which continued its perennial act of being rubbish against decent opposition. The Germans triumphed 4-1 in a display which brought the tournament alive and made everyone sit up to notice them. Germany proved it was not a one-off and produced an even better performance against the mercurial Argentineans. They destroyed the team from South America 4-0 after subduing their riches of attacking talent including Carlos Tevez, Gonzalo Higuain and current World Player of the Year, Lionel Messi. In the semi-finals, they came up against pre-tournament favourites, Spain who, like in the case of Uruguay were a little too much for the Germans. The Spanish side's ability to keep hold of the ball starved possession from the Germans and they eventually cracked under the pressure without having shown any of their impressive counter-attacking form.
This is how the teams for what is considered the most pointless game at the World cup were selected. Yet Uruguay are looking forward to the game with Forlan saying that they will not take this game lightly. Forlan has had a fantastic year, leading Athletico Madrid to Europa League glory and has scored four goals during the World Cup as well. The South American dark horses will be looking to end the tournament on a high and cement third place to bring joy to their small nation. The match will also see the return of Luis Suarez to the first team and it is hoped that the talented Ajax striker will be able to show that he can score a lot more nobly than he can stop certain goals. Expect boos from the crowd for him.
For the Germans, they will also be looking to end the tournament on a high. However, the team can come together and help one of their veteran players achieve world cup history. Miroslav Klose, after having added 4 goals in this world cup campaign, is only one behind Ronaldo's record of 15 goals. However, this addition of history to the game has been tempered by the news that Klose is a doubt for the match because of a back injury. It is hoped that the German can recover for the match.
The match may be considered pointless but what it will not be will be boring. With the shackles of expectancy and burden off them, both teams will be looking to attack fearlessly and exit the tournament on a high.
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