World Cup Soccer 2010 Semi-Finals - Spain vs. Germany & Uruguay vs. Netherlands
He’s done it once again. Paul, the 2-year-old supposedly psychic Octopus in an aquarium in Berlin, was right once again as it was indeed the German’s who saw themselves powering through into the semi-finals of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa with a convincing victory over the Argentineans.
Germany demolished Argentina with a 4-0 thrashing as their ace scorer Miroslav Klose had the time of his life by scoring two easy shots at goal. As a result, he’s become a close candidate for the tournament’s greatest ever goal-scorer. The victory means that Germany will now face Spain who managed to beat Paraguay in the second quarter-final.
The semi-final between these two star teams will take place on Wednesday, the 7th of July in Durban and the team that turns out as the winner will go ahead and book a place in the final of the FIFA World Cup 2010 which will be played at Johannesburg’s Soccer City on the 11 of July, 2010.
Germany, from the start of their match against Argentina, had a head start due to their thrilling performances in the group stages. They scored their first goal in only the 3rd minute of the game as Thomas Mueller gave Germany their first and trend setting goal that evolved into a goal-scoring spree. Out of a drubbing of 4 goals, two were scored by the man who now stands behind world record holder Ronaldo for the most number of goals scored in a World Cup.
Brazil’s Ronaldo has the record for scoring 15 goals for his country in World Cup matches and Germany’s Miroslav Klose stands at 14, requiring just two more goals to surpass the record. He has two potential games to play for the Germans in this year’s World Cup. If Miroslav Klose manages to achieve this feat, there is a close probability that he would probably even earn himself the Golden Boot for South Africa 2010.
The German in their quarter-final encounter gave a classic example of how good they are as they were tactically proved to be better than their Argentinean opponents as they defended and attacked superbly. Argentinean Coach Diego Maradona, despite being devastated from the defeat did admit that Germany were the better team as they mastered the match at their own pace.
In the second quarter-final of the day, Spain, as opposed to the ease of the Germans, were forced to work harder than expected in order to secure their place in the semi-finals by beating Paraguay 1-0. The goal that brought victory to the Spaniels was secured in the 83rd minute as their inform striker David Villa secured the one goal that in the end came out to be the decider. Spain now knows that their next match will be a true test of their nerves and skills as they go up against tournament favourites Germany. Their coach Vicente del Bosque will surely be telling his men to display a repeat of their 2008 European Championship final where they managed to beat Germany.
Thus with the semi-final stage all set, Spain will take on Germany in Durban on Wednesday where as Uruguay will clash against the Netherlands in the first semi-final which will be held in Cape Town on Tuesday. The much sought after Golden Boot Award is another big achievement that everyone is looking forwards to. At the moment, three close contenders including Spain’s striker David Villa with 5 goals, Dutch midfielder Wesley Sneijder and Miroslav Klose with 4 goals apiece stand out as the most likely winners. Even Germany’s Thomas Muller with 4 goals is a likely contender. However, due to his suspension in Germany’s next game, his chances for grabbing the boot seem difficult. So with everything in place, all eyes are glued to Paul the psychic octopus to come up with the final result as soon as possible.
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