FIFA World Cup 2010

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Spain have a lot of talent, more than Germany in my opinion, but they don't seem to be gelling as a team yet. They are grinding out the 1-0 wins but that could just be due to the sheer individual quality they have rather than an inspired team effort. Germany are a cohesive unit who looking a like a real team.

Germany too were humbled by Serbia so it shows they can be beaten but that could just have been early nerves. I think it will be a fantastic match, but the key may be that everyone expected Spain to cruise through going in to this tournament, whilst Germany with 6 newly promoted players from the Under-21 squad would have been considered lucky to get to the quarter finals. The pressure wil be on Spain to prove themselves.

I think Spain are fine so long as team cohesion is concerned, its not just talent. I wouldnt look too much into their narrow victory margins, compared to Germany's larger ones. Germany have benefitted from scoring early and taking advantage on the counter attack in both the England and Argentina games. Germany can be stopped quite easily when they are the ones under pressure. They struggled a bit in their 2nd and 3rd group games. Also, while the England scoreline was 4-1, the English were quite unlucky. The 2nd dissallowed goal saw their momentum compleletely neutralized. Had it not been that way, it would have been a very different game, and England would not have conceded 2 more goals so easily. But thats all in the past.

My point is, dont take this Argentina victory as a sign that the Germans are indestructible. Far from it. Germany rely heavily on the counter attack from the sides and Spain have good wingers or players that can be pushed wide to neutralize this. This was not the case with either Argentina or England. Also the Spanish style is not about pushing for goals, it is about dominating possession and outplaying the opponent for long periods, a style which is more suitable against a counter attacking team like Germany.

Still Germany is quite young and full of energy, and have certainly proven themselves as being capable. Time will tell....

But Sneijder and Kuyt have got nothing on Robben, he's definitly the best player on our team.

Robben is very talented and is very good at the cut in-swivel-shoot that he has used many times this year, but I dont think he is at the same level as Sneijder. Also his performance against Brazil did leave quite a bit to be desired, as I thought he was selfish and squandered chances, particularly a simple one at the end setup by Huntelaar. Sneijder on the other hand is a true attacking midfielder (not just a winger) at the backbone of the team, and could be even more effective in a slightly different Dutch formation (I am not particularly a fan of the current one). In spite of this, Sneijder has been more effective than Robben. Kuyt is not as talented as these 2, but in this world cup he has been attacking and defending, working harder than anyone else, and has been producing results at the same time.