Spain 1-0 Holland

The best team in the world have won the biggest tournament in football last night. Andreas Iniesta scored the winner in extra-time as the Spanish were all but kicked out of a game that failed to live up to it's billing.

13 yellow cards were dished out with 1 red card to Everton defender Johnny Heitinga. In truth it could have been more as Nigel De-Jong karate kicked Xabi Alonso in the chest and Carlos Puyol was lucky that Arjen Robben didn't go down when pulled back by the Barcelona defender.

But if your Spanish your response to that will probably be 'who cares!' or more likely it will be 'YESSSSS!'. Holland were evidently annoyed with the amount of cards brandished by Englishman Howard Webb but you start to wonder why when the game had to be stopped constantly because of cynical tackles by the Dutch and moaning by the red fury.

They certainly did have reason to be annoyed but did have the best of the game with Sergio Ramos going close twice in the first 10 minutes. The Real Madrid full-back really acts as a winger when his side are attacking because of a lack of width from four midfielders who are used to playing centrally.

A minute after Ramos drilled the ball across the 6-yard box only for it to be cleared, David Villa volleyed wide at the back post as Spain dominated possesion.

Mark Van Bommel picked up a yellow after going straight through Iniesta as the referee's whistle rang in our ears. Apart from those chances the game was poor as The oranje went out to stifle and hassle their opposition.

Robben had the last say in the first-half but the Munich winger had a driven shot saved by Spain captain Iker Casillas. The 26 year old has had a frustrating tournament and scored just the solitary goal against Slovakia in the last-16.

He had the best chance of the half, no the game just after the hour mark when Wesley Sneijder slipped him in with an accurate pass for a 1-on-1. Usually you'd presume the man who scored 28 goals for Bayern last season would roll the ball in and everything would be hunky dory but Casillas stuck out a leg and the clockwork orange were made to rue their one great chance.

Not to worry though as it was time for take 2 when Robben raced past Puyol with 8 minutes remaining. He couldn't find a finish again though as he tried to round the keeper before having the ball nicked away from him by Casillas.

Substitute Cesc Fabreagas missed a similar chance in extra-time when his left foot shot was saved whilst fellow bench-warmer Jesus Navas had a shot deflected wide which had wrong-footed Stekelenburg in the Dutch goal.

Heitinga was sent off in the second half of extra-time as we saw yet another red card in the final of the competition after Zinedine Zidane was dismissed after a head-butt on Marco Materazzi.

The goal was beautiful, true perfection as Fabregas played in Iniesta who had the half-volley at a tight angle. Not difficult when your one of the best players in the world though, as he hit it across the keeper and sent a nation which has never reached the top of the world into ecstasy.

Spain deserve the trophy. Their manager Vicente Del Bosque has behaved with good grace and modesty and didn't panic when his side lost their opening game to minnows Switzerland. Everyone predicted that they would choke again as they had done in other tournaments but that doesn't happen anymore.

No, this side wins with style and decisiveness with the minimal amount of fuss. The passing is crisp and consistent and they are the best, without a doubt.

Spain 1-0 Germany

Spain are through to their first world cup final in history after a 1-0 victory over Germany in Durban. Carlos Puyol headed the winner late on in game in which the Euro 2008 champions deserved to win.

Controlar el centro del campo, or control the midfield, was the key in this one and that’s exactly what Spain did in a game in which they dominated throughout. Xavi, Andreas Iniesta, Xabi Alonso and Sergio Busquets kept the ball ably and took charge of the middle of the park and pressed hard on Mesut Ozil, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Sammy Khedira to win the ball back.

 The Germans had the advantage of poor opposition mid-fields in previous games. Against England they completely over-ran the centre of the park with Schweinsteiger waltzing through the middle as his side won 4-1.

 Another four were scored against Argentina in a match where the 2006 hosts had Lukas Podolski and youngster Thomas Mueller coming in from the wings to help outnumber the exposed Javier Mascherano and the continuous counter-attacks of Die Mannschaft came down the middle of the pitch and helped for another rout.

 It wasn’t the same however in the Moses Mabhida stadium. The three time champions had just 39% of possession as Espana’s superior technique and style eventually paid off. 

 It’s not been plain sailing for Vicente Del Bosque’s side who lost their opening fixture to Switzerland and never really hit the heights we expected of a team boasting 7 Barcelona players on the pitch last night.

 Spain have scored just 7 goals in the tournament to Germany’s 13 but it only looked like one team would score in this encounter. After 5 minutes Barca youngster Pedro slipped a through ball into the path of David Villa who couldn’t steer the chance past the on-rushing Manuel Neuer who blocked the shot with his body.

 The best chance of the first-half came soon after as Iniesta’s cross from a short corner was headed over by his club team-mate Puyol. The 32 year-old was just 6 yards from goal when he missed the chance and as the half wore on it looked like they might just rue the miss.

 Sometimes you watch Spain and think ‘what a great passing side’ and sometimes you watch them and shout ‘just get the ball in the box!’ or words to that effect. As aesthetically pleasing on the eye they may be, you just wish a player like Fernando Llorente was picked to be a real target when teams are frustrating the 2002 quarter-finalists. 

 Indeed, Germany nearly capitalised on this on the half-hour mark when Piotr Trochowski, the man who replaced the suspended Mueller, had a fierce drive saved by Iker Casillas.

 Just before the end of 45 minutes Ozil had a shout for a penalty. The Werder Bremen mid-fielder was tripped by Gerard Pique but the infringement was just outside the penalty area. Spain haven’t been that convincing in defence in the competition but in this game they were strong and were rarely troubled by a miss-firing forward line.

 Xabi Alsonso and Villa both had two opportunities in the second half, Villa stretching out a leg after Iniesta drove a pass across goal, but at times you started to wonder ‘is it Germanys day?’.

 It wasn’t, and Puyol won the game with a bullet-header from Xavi’s pinpoint corner and Spain went on to the final in Soccer City. His run, from the edge of the box, gave him momentum and his team now goes into Sundays final with momentum of their own.

 Germany will have their day, maybe, but they have now gone 20 years without winning a world cup for the first time in their illustrious history.

 So, roll on the final, roll on David Villa and roll on the Spanish onslaught. VIENEN A ESPANA!

Holland 3-2 Uruguay

They're still not playing that well. They're still not making bucket-loads of chances. They're not playing 'total football' but what the Dutch are doing is winning. Three goals by the flying dutchman in the green point stadium and they were rarely threatened despite conceding two goals.

Bert Van Marwijk's 4-2-3-1 was effective throughout. In the first-half the two defensive midfielders of Mark Van Bommel and Demy De Zeeuw could slow the play down, with the odd cynical tackle, and also feed the flair players ahead of them.

Also the no.10 role for Wesley Sneijder fits the Inter Milan star into the system fantastically well. The 26 year old can drop deep to receive the ball and distribute from his own half, drift out wide and swing his accurate crosses in or shoot from the edge of the area.

La Celeste played their part though but just couldn't function without the hero of the quarter-final Luis Suarez. Oscar Tabarez had to tweak his formation because of the suspension to Suarez and it affected them badly. His 4-3-3 turned into a 4-4-2, a formation used just once before by Tabarez against France in a 0-0 bore draw.

This meant that when the impressive Diego Forlan retreated from the final third, Edison Cavani was the only player who he had to aim for. The Palermo striker put the effort in but just wasn't good enough to affect the game like Suarez could.

Unfortunately, Uruguay lacked creativity from their midfield four in this game. Stocky Egidio Arevalo worked hard for his team and defended manfully but was unable to supply any decent pass in a game the sky blue couldn't impose themselves on.

In truth it was a game which failed to impress as we expected pre-game. The Netherlands controlled the first 10 minutes but didn't have any inspiration or invention in the final third. Dirk Kuyt's cross was headed over by Arjen Robben on 9 minutes whilst Sneijder's stinging dive hit Robin Van Persie when it looked goal bound.

You felt it would take something special to light up the opening period and it came from the most unlikely of sources. giovanni Van Bronckhorst lost in a world cup semi-final 12 years ago in France and wasn't about to go out of this one as well. The Feyenoord defender smacked the Jabulani from all of 40 yards from way out on the left and hit the inside of the post before nestling in Fernando Muslera's goal.

It was out of the blue but on the balance of play the clockwork orange deserved it in a tight encounter. The Uruguayans reacted well though with Forlan starting to find his touch. The Athletico Madrid forward was the man who found the spark in this one, and what a way to find it.

The 31 year-old kept cool to slide the ball onto his weaker left foot and hit it past Maarten Stekelenburg. The keeper was partly at fault but the two time champions were level. If Uruguay had gone to the final you'd have to say forlan would have been in the running for the player of the tournament but alas his side could not deliver.

A positive change at half-time for the Oranje. De Zeeuw was taken off and Rafael Van Der Vaart came on. The Real Madrid man failed to show his true ability but it didn't matter in the 69th minute.

Van Persie sublimely controlled a long pass and squared to Sneijder. The champions league winner creeped the ball into the corner and 3 minutes later the champions league runner-up Robben headed, yes headed, home for the third to make it a formality.

Maxi Pereira curled one in on 91 minutes but it was all in vain as the Dutch go to their first final since 1978. They'll find it tough. But with the returning Gregory Van Der wiel and Manchester City midfielder Nigel De Jong after suspension they might just back themselves to win their first ever world cup.

Uruguay 1-1 Ghana aet (Uruguay win 4-2 on pens)

Ghana are the final African team to fall at the 2010 world cup after losing on penalties to Uruguay in Soccer City.

It could have been different though, had Asamoah Gyan not missed a penalty in the last minute of stoppage time. Sulley Muntari gave the black stars the lead in the first-half but Diego Forlan cancelled that out with a stunning free-kick 10 minutes into the second period.

This was one of the best games of the tournament so far. Both teams had spells of pressure in which they could have won but in truth La Celeste deserved the victory which sent them to their first semi-final for 40 years.

The first 20 minutes or so were all Uruguay. The Ghanaians looked unsure and a shadow of the side which had dominated the USA in the round of 16. Pace and power were lacking, with Kevin Prince-Boateng not impsing himself early on and several mistakes being made.

Uruguay though were playing well. Ghana nearly scored an own goal when John Mensah headed towards his own goal only for Richard Kingson to save with his face. Luis Suarez went close to his 4th goal of the tournament but his half-volley was tipped over by Kingson.

The black stars decided enough was enough. The quick and direct play of their other games was coming back. Isaac Vorsah headed wide from a corner. Whilst a minute Prince-Boateng fed Gyan who shot wide after a quick counter-attack.

The goal came out of the blue. Muntari probably thinking 'well, may as well have a go'. And that he did. The Inter Milan midfielder struck a sweet shot from 25 yards into the back of Fernando Muslera's net and Ghana went into the break ahead.

Uruguay have won two world cups, in 1930 and 1950, and weren't going down without a fight. Forlan delivered a knock-out blow when his free-kick moved in the air and past an outstretched Kingson.

Chances followed, both in normal and extra time, but the best chance was for Gyan... from the penalty spot. The ball was bouncing around in penalty-area after a corner but Suarez managed to block the ball on the line.

Only thing was though, he did it with his hands. The linesman spotted the infringement and the ref pointed to the spot and sent the Ajax striker off. Suarez watched from the side-lines as Gyan hit the top of the bar with the last kick of the game.

Ghana missed two spot-kicks. John Mensah missed after a one yard run up and Dominic Adiyiah missed, Sebastian Abreu scored the winner and Uruguay advance. Simple.

Holland 2-1 Brazil

So, two days of thumb-twiddling, grass growing and watching paint dry is over. Yes football is back and my word did it come back with a bang. Holland go through to the semi-finals for the first time since 1998 whilst Brazil go out in the quarter-finals for the second tournament in succession.

Perhaps it would not have been so bad for Dunga's side. However a pragmatic, defensive style in all likely-hood counts him out of carrying on the job of his country despite a bright start for the 5 time champions.

Bert Van Marwijk was beeing equally as criticised during the tournament. The men in orange had not really played like they know they could, despite winning every game and conceding two goals, and in truth today was no exception.

However two goals from set-pieces and some slack defending meant that Brazil lost their first-half lead. Robinho scored early on but a Felipe Melo own-goal and a Wesley Sneijder header meant that brazil will not host the next competition as champions.

If you had only watched the opening 45 minutes you'd have been forgiven for thinking the second-half would be a bit of a formality. The yellow and green passed well and never gave Arjen Robben a second on the ball in a dominant performance.

Gilberto Silva passed right through the middle of the Dutch defence after just 10 minutes and Robinho slid home the ball to celebrate his second goal of the tournament. Patient build-up was on show here. Daniel Alves and Luis Fabiano kept the ball for long periods of time in their oppositions final-third, creating chances for Kaka and Robinho.

Kaka looked back to his best in this game. The Real Madrid midfielder evidenced his exceptional touch whilst braking from deep to spring a deadly counter attack. The full-backs were also on their game. In particular Maicon, who bombed on past Dirk Kuyt and looked classy and confident when taking on Giovanni Van Bronckhorst.

The best move of the tournament was to come for the Samba boys. Robinho danced away from two defenders, passed to Fabiano who back-heeled for Kaka. The 28 year old curled a shot towards goal but Maarten Stekelenburg was equal to the effort.

Both sides have much similarities. Both have two defensive midfielders and both look awful when they are not playing well. In the first-half, Nigel De jong and Mark Van Bommel looked like they needed some creativity in the middle along side them whilst in the second half, Gilberto and Felipe Melo couldn't drive their team forward.

Melo not only lacked drive, he also scored an own-goal. Sneijder's left footed cross skimmed of the Juventus mans head. Keeper Julio Cesar jumped into Melo and left an empty net which was soon bulging as the clockwork orange knew they had time for another.

and just 15 minutes later they did get another. The smallest player on the pitch, Sneijder, headed home Dirk Kuyt's flicked header from a corner to send the crowd into raptures.

It had never been easy for Dunga. His side just don't play like the boys of 2002 or 1982, when the canaries only made the semi-finals, simply because of the style they play. However winning the Copa America against Argentina 3-0 in 2007 gave him some time and beating the USA in the confederations cup last year gave signs that despite not being liked he would win.

Not this year though, Holland will play Ghana or Uruguay in the semi's and will reckon they will be walking all the way to soccer city on the 11th of July.

Spain 1-0 Portugal

David Villa's goal won a tight Iberian derby for Spain against Portugal in the Green Point stadium. The new Barcelona forward scored of the under-side of the cross-bar on the rebound after a tight and tense encounter with a very defensive Portuguese side and a Spanish team dominating possession.

It took under a minute for the Euro 2008 champions to test the goal-keeper. Fernando Torres's shot was pushed away by Eduardo in what was the only real contribution from the Liverpool striker. Villa was then twice allowed to tuck in from his left wing role and test the keeper again.

However "the red fury" couldn't turn their pressure into goals and Portugal even went close on a couple of occasions in the first half. There is no doubt that Vincente Del Bosque's side can be got at. Set pieces are especially dangerous as experienced defenders Pique and Puyol look unsure when dealing with crosses and balls into the box.

Tiago shot from range on 20 minutes which almost led to the opening goal. Iker Casillas deflected the ball into the air as Hugo Almeida smelt a chance. Fortunately for the Real Madrid keeper he was able to claw the ball away before 6 foot 3 inches Almeida could head it in.

Ronaldo was also denied from a free-kick about 35 yards out 7 minutes later. Casillas again looked dodgy but pushed the ball away. Something about playing for Portugal just doesn't suit Ronaldo. The former Manchester United midfielder has scored 33 goals at the Bernabeu this season but often walks around the field having some kind of hissy-fit.

Almeida could have opened the second half with a bang. In truth though it was a dink that deflected inches wide which nearly gave the 2006 semi-finalists the lead. Really though you never felt that this side had the quality to beat their illustrious opponents.

As soon as Fernando Torres was taken off Spain looked more likely. Athletic Bilbao Striker Fernando Llorente added a physical presence and within seconds he had a diving header into the arms of Eduardo as Spain started to tick over.

Just 2 minutes after he came on Spain had scored. Xavi back-heeled the ball into the bath of Villa and the former Valencia man netted on the rebound to score the only goal of the game. Llorente's influence clearly led to the win and begs the question: why did he not come on when Spain were losing to Switzerland?

Ricardo Costa picked up a straight red card for an "elbow" on Joan Capdevilla late on which didn't change everything. Potugal have left the tournament conceding just one goal but only managing to score goals in a single match against North Korea. Admittedly though it was seven goals.

Spain look like their setting up a semi-final game against Brazil in what will be without doubt the best game of the tournament. They should breeze past Paraguay and will believe they have just as good a chance as any.

Japan 0-0 Paraguay AET (Paraguay win 5-3 on pens)

Poor game, defensive tactics and a flat atmosphere. So, penalties is what it took to separate Japan and Paraguay as the 4th South American side makes their way into the quarter-finals. Oscar Cardozo scored the winning penalty after Yuichi Komano hit the crossbar with his effort.

Not that either side deserved to win in a tepid encounter in which the white and red just edged it. Roque Santa Cruz shot just wide from a corner whilst Lucas Barrios's excellent turn could only be poked into the arms of the grateful Eiji Kawashima.

This was really the worst round of 16 match since a certain game on sunday which we won't mention. Tulio Tanaka's header wide just after the hour mark was the only good chance for the 2002 second round side who failed to replicate the form which saw them soundly beat Denmark just last week.

Extra time was what you'd expect really. Both teams looked nervous and failed to make chances until the Paraguayan's won the shoot-out and go on to face Spain or Portugal in the next round. Good luck.

This wasn't the worst game of the tournament of course, that game involved Algeria and another team. I won't bother telling you who that was.