There were a crack 32 teams from four corners of the world that slug it out in the qualifying stages of the World Cup that literally kicked off last June 11, 2010, and when the dusts of battle settles in from the second round up to the semifinal round of the tournament only two teams are left standing. The mighty orange men that is the Netherlands and the resilient Spain overcame separate tough opponents in the semifinals en route to earning the right to have a grasp of the football glory and assures that there are no past champion that will lift the much sought after and the elusive World Cup trophy this time around. The two remaining teams showed the world once again that Europe not South America is the Mecca of the sports of soccer in the planet.
The fourth-seeded the Netherlands earlier dealt two-time winner (1930 and 1950) Uruguay a heartbreaking 3-2 loss to overcome the 16th ranked team who fielded its best team since 1970. While Spain hacked out a shocking 1-0 victory over three-time winner Germany which is led by fast rising soccer superstar Miroslav Klose . Prior to the game the famous oracle sea creature named Paul based in Germany which is an octopus predicted a win by the Spanish national soccer team which materialized and made the certainly not elated Germans wanting the poor psychic fed to the sharks instead. The German team was the World Cup champions in 1954, 1974 and 1990 but there hopes is derailed by the tough as nail Spain team.
The Dutch team is expected to rely on the formidable tandem of Wesley Sneijder and Arjen Robben against the solid striker David Villa and the Spanish team. The championship tussle between these two countries will indeed be unforgettable since both endured many great opponents in the tournament and showed flair and solid teamwork on both ends of the soccer field.
With the departure of past champions such as France, Italy, England, Argentina, Brazil and most recently Uruguay and Germany from the tournament in the semifinals, the finale for this year’s edition of the most famous sports in the world will certainly be memorable and historic since either of the teams that barged to the finals haven’t tasted a championship before.
Spain Wins World Cup
The Spanish Team was triumphant in edging out the Netherlands in a thrilling 1-0 victory behind a goal by an unlikely hero Carles Puyol. The Spain team thus barged into the championship winners of the World Cup such as Brazil, Italy, Germany, France, Argentina, Uruguay, and England.
The team relied on the solid game of David Villa and Xavi and the goalkeeping prowess of Isker Casillas in the early stages of the tournament.
Here are the highlights of the 2010 Soccer World Cup
The 2010 edition of the Soccer World Cup saw a lot of resounding upsets and departure of some of the favored teams throughout the tournament. France, Italy and Serbia were booted out as early as the qualifying stages. Portugal and England were eliminated in the second round by Spain and Germany. Argentina and top-seeded Brazil fell ambush to the Netherlands and Germany. Alas, in the semifinals, previous winners of the World Cup were formally wiped out as Uruguay bowed to giant killer the Netherlands and Spain wielding the upset axe against Germany.
The Seer from Oberhausen, which is actually an octopus named Paul, and hmmm not a human so as to speak gained global prominence by predicting accurately the winner between Germany and Spain in the semifinals. The poor octopus was the center of ire of the exasperated and angered German soccer fans and aficionados. The Germans wanted the sea creature be placed in a tank that contains sharks rofl. The octopus went on to predict the wins of Germany on its battle for third against the 1930 and 1950 champions Uruguay and the title conquest of Spain in the World Cup over shocked the Netherlands. The octopus thus raised its success rate to 12 correct predictions against one foiled prediction.
Photo from telegraph.co.uk
The vuvuzuela the horns used in the World Cup by the fans and pundits was a resounding success and millions worth of revenues will inevitably fickle in to the vuvuzuela inventor and maker who happens to be the 55 year old Freddie Maake.
Suggested Readings:
Philippine Azkals Images or Pictures
The Impressive Philippine Azkals
Meet the Equally Tough Philippine Azkals
The Road For Glory of the Philippine National Football Team – The Azkals
The March for Glory of Spain Team in the 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup
Spain vs the Netherlands in the 2010 FIFA World Cup Final
The 2010 Soccer World Cup :: Group of Death :: Teams and Young Players to Watch
Tags: and England, Argentina, Brazil, Carles Puyol, David Villa and Xavi, France, Freddie Maake, Germany, Here are the highlights of the 2010 Soccer World Cup, Isker Casillas, Italy, Netherlands and Spain, octopus named Paul, Seer from Oberhausen, Uruguay, vuvuzuela, vuvuzuela inventor and maker
Football, Soccer | howitzer | 
September 13, 2010 8:40 am | 
Comments (3)
Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands – GM Wesley So posted two straight victories by whipping GM Dimitri Reinderman of the Netherlands in the 7th round in 2010 Corus Chess Open at the De Moriaan Commercial Center. Riding on the crest of his first win in the tournament against third seeded European Champion Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu in the sixth round, So posted his first back-to-back victories by subduing Dutch Grandmaster Dimitri Reinderman in the seventh round. So carried the fight out of the booklines and trounced his opponent with two active bishops and passed pawn in the end game. So extracted the full point after 36 moves of Dutch Defense Stonewall Variation. Finally showing his fierce fighting form So is on the verge of capturing his one of opponent’s two rooks with a lethal bishop move to b5. With the win, So hikes his score to 4.5 points to jumped into a tie for the second to fifth places with 4.5 points, a full point behind local hero GM Anish Giri who agreed to a draw with his compatriot GM Erwin l ‘Ami.
GM David Howell of England, GM Ni Hua of China and GM l’ Ami tied so with similar 4.5 pints. Howell pulled of a win over Finnish GM Tomi Nyback, while Ni agreed to halve the point with top seed GM Arkadij Naiditsh of Germany. So will have his hands full when he meets Ni Hua in the eighth round, playing the disadvantageous black pieces. While current pace setter in Group B Section Giri will face Howell.
In the elite Group A Section hostilities, GM Hikaru Nakamura of USA provided the biggest and shocking win in the eighth of the tournament by nipping undefeated GM Alexei Shirov of Spain in 41 moves of the Sveshnikov.
Tags: 2010 Corus Chess Open, Alexei Shirov, David Howell of England, Dimitri Reinderman, European Champion, Germany, GM, GM Arkadij Naiditsh, GM Dimitri Reinderman, GM Erwin l 'Ami, GM Ni Hua, Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu, Netherlands, Spain, Tomi Nyback, Wesley So, Wijk aan Zee
Chess | howitzer | January 25, 2010 5:16 pm | Comments (0)
Johor Bahru, Malaysia – Iran eked out a win over the though Philippine Team 83-73, in overtime to finish third in the Fiba Asia U-16 Men’s Championship Friday night at the Bandaraya Stadium.
Jeofrey Javillonar missed an easy layup in regulation that could have have lifted the Philippines to a win for the Smart Gilas Team, whose offensive game did’nt flourish well in overtime thus allowing the Iranians to secure the win by virtue of a 13-o run to clinch the third place trophy.
In the championship game, the mighty and tall China crushed South Korea 105-69, to bag the much-coveted championship. China and South Korea clinched the two berths to the Fiba World-U17 Men’s Championship in Hamburg, Germany next year.
This is the second heart-breaking loss for the Philippine quintet against Iran. The Philippines lost a 70-76 in their quarterfinal meeting.
The fourth place dished out by the Filipinos, is the best in years. Ravena collected 18 points, four rebounds, and four steals to lead the losing cause of the Filipinos.
Tags: Bandaraya Stadium, China, Fiba Asia U-16 Men's Championship, Fiba World-U17 Men's Championship, Germany, Hamburg, Iran, Jeofrey Javillonar, Johor Bahru, Malaysia, Philippine Team, Smart Gilas Team, South Korea
Games | howitzer | November 29, 2009 3:51 pm | Comments (0)
Iran using its edge in heft and size subdued previously unbeaten Nokia Team-Pilipinas 76-70 in their quarterfinal match in the Fiba U-16 Men’s Championship at the Bandaraga Stadium in Johor Bahru, Malaysia.
Big man mir Fattahi collected 20 points and grabbed down 17 rebounds and point guard Sheil Yousefi scored 15 points and hauled down 17 rebounds to lead the Iranian assault and inflicting loss to the Philippines whose three game winning was snapped for the first time.
With the sorry loss Philippine must hurdle its last semi-final assignment Jordan to gain entry to the semifinals.
A victory by the Philippines over Jordan will paved the way a Philippine-China tip-off, while Iran will clash with South Korea for the other finals slot. The top finishers in the tournament will earn automatic berths in the 2010 Fiba World Cup U-17 Men’s Championships in Hamburg, Germany next year.
Kiefer Ravena, scored a game-high 26 points and sparked a RP rally from a 12 point deficit and even gained a one-point lead in the early minutes of the fourth quarter.
But the bulky Fattahi made his presence felt , as he helped his team dominate the succeeding stages of the fourth quarter to seal their thriumph.
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