FIFA World Cup 2010 Final Report: Spain’s path to the final
Spain are all set to face off against Holland in the final game of the World Cup to decide who takes home the title of being World Champions. The journey for the team has been nothing short of amazing. The team consists of World Class players such as, Xavi, Torres, Villa, Iniesta, and Casillas.
None of the Spanish players had an exceptionally good season with their club during the past season. Most of the Spanish side consists of players from either Barcelona or Real Madrid. Both those teams have had rather poor seasons according to their standards with Barcelona winning the league and domestic cup and Madrid winning nothing. Hence the drive and motivation for every player to give it his all was present, so they could have something to show for their season.
Spain were paired in a group that consisted of, Switzerland, Honduras and Chile. Most people thought that this would be a walk through for the Spanish considering neither of the other teams have been very successful in the World Cup in the past. But all of these assumptions were put to rest when Spain suffered a first day shock defeat at the hands of the Swiss.
The world of football was stunned as the tournament favorites were beaten by one of the weakest teams in the World Cup. Spain had a lot to do and a lot more to prove in their next game against Honduras since their credibility was on the line. So the Spanish rose up to the occasion and did just that, by beating the Hondurans two goals to nil, it was a match which Spain dominated but eventually won thanks to, two wonderful goals by David Villa.
In their last group match Spain had to win in order to qualify for the next round as group leaders. They were given a difficult time by the feisty Chilean side, they eventually put the Chile resistance to bed and won the match two goals to one.
Spain were then drawn to play against Portugal in the round of sixteen. Most people thought that this was the end of the road for the Spanish since, the Portuguese were at top form. But when the match got underway everyone saw why the Spanish were considered tournament favorites, they dominated the game and eventually won thanks to another goal by none other than David Villa.
Spain than had to face Paraguay in the quarter finals, the game went as most people would have thought, with Spain dominating but then Paraguay started to pick up the pace and were shocking the European champions, but all the noise being created by Paraguay was put to rest when the Spanish scored and from there on, no one doubted that Spain would go all the way to the semi finals.
In the semi finals Spain went on to face the best offensive team of the tournament, which was Germany. The Spanish did not let the fact that the Germans were by far the best performers, get to them. They controlled the game, barely letting the Germans get the ball and when Carlos Puyol snuck in to head a goal near the end of the game, it was all but certain that Spain were going to be playing the first ever final in the team’s history.
Spain have had a fairy tale of a tournament so far and the best for them to end it would be by taking home the gold. We can only wait and see how the finals un-wrap themselves, but whatever happens the final match between Spain and Netherlands will be viewing spectacle.
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