On the World Cup 2010: Final thoughts and reactions

So the World Cup has drawn to a close. I don't know about you, but it's pretty depressing for me. Anyway, I want to get right down to the broad strokes of this final and what it means for the upcoming season of club play.

1. Spain's victory. In quite possibly the worst game of the tournament, Spain and Holland continually missed the chance to win the biggest sporting event of either of their country's history. I don't know about you, but I felt like I was watching some chippy Scottish Premier League game where all of the players are drunk off their asses going into the game.

This game produced by far the most yellow cards in the history of the Final, the first ever recorded live action Falcon Kick by Nigel De Jong, two of the worst moments in Arjen Robben's life, an extremely climactic goal from Andres Iniesta off a broken play, and some extremely spine-chilling tears from Spanish captain Iker Casillas.

Let's talk for a minute about Torres. I think that this is the most tragic story of the tournament. Torres went into this World Cup having endured two major knee surgeries, one of the most talked about transfer deals in soccer history, and having had to sit out for the large majority of one of the worst seasons in Liverpool's history. When he arrived on the stage, everyone shit on him non-stop, and he was pulled out of the starting line-up. This was a piss poor decision because Bosque had to change the entire formation so that Villa was a lone striker. Villa is not a lone striker. He scored all five of his goals when Torres was in the game because that meant he could start out on the left, when he's a lone striker, he gets lost amongst the central defenders and his pretty below average aerial game. The decision to pull Torres is the cause of Spain's complete lack of potency in the final. If you noticed, Spain was constantly trying to work the ball through the middle of the defense, which is exactly what Holland wanted and they defended valiantly everytime.

Then when he did finally put him in in the final, Torres tweaked his hamstring again. And that just sucks.

Let's move on now.

2. Thomas Mueller wins the Golden Boot. 20 year old Thomas Mueller won the Golden Boot this year because of a tie break with Forlan, Villa, and Sneijder. He had three assists whereas they all only had one. Mueller with this Boot has become the youngest player since Pele in 1954 to score 5 or more in a World Cup Final, is the youngest player ever to win the Boot, and he's only a few months older than me.

Now, let's talk about Mueller's future. Mueller will return to Bayern Munich next season coming off one of the most impressive displays of the entire tournament. There's a problem though, because the man who currently starts out on the right for Bayern is none other than Arjen Robben, who is probably the second best right winger in the world right now after Lionel Messi. I think Mueller needs to leave Bayern, maybe even stay in the Bundesliga. I would just really hate to see talent like that riding the bench.

3. Diego Forlan wins the Golden Ball. Forlan is my favorite player ever. He's got the field vision, the passing skills to go with it, the shot of a Barrett 50 caliber sniper rifle, the technique, and the grace. He also never dives, never gets carded, and never bitches to the refs. He just does his job, straight up.

A story about Forlan for those who don't know: He dedicates every goal he scores to his sister who was paralyzed in a car accident when they were kids. He became a professional footballer so that she'd never have to pay a medical bill in her life.

He's the last great, classy player.

4. Disapppointments. I'm just going to go through these quickly. Wayne Rooney touched the ball like six times total. Torres (sadness). Cristiano Ronaldo scored a goal I could score and other than that rolled around on the pitch like a bitch. Lionel Messi broke the record for the most shots in a single tournament (30) without a goal. France just screwed everything up. England looked like a bunch of tired old men. Italy.

5. Final thoughts. I hope you all enjoyed this World Cup, I know I did. I'll start covering the transfer craziness and the club season soon. Until next time. Thanks for reading.

On the FINAL: Who will win.

For those who have been under a rock, On Sunday afternoon Holland will play Spain in the 2010 Fifa World Cup Final in South Africa. This marks the first time the final will be played in Africa and the first time that Spain have gotten beyond the quarter final (yes, it's true).

So what we all want to know is, who's going to win? It's an important question. Spain have been waiting 70 years to even have a chance like this, and Holland has been to three finals and never won. The question, who wants it more?

I think I've worked out who's going to win, and I don't think many of you are going to like it. But here goes: Spain 1-0 Holland.

Here's the thing, the Final is characteristically low scoring. And that makes sense. Everyone's nervous out of their damn minds, it's no wonder that chances are so rare. But I think Spain will be able to pull this out for a couple of reasons.

1. Midfield. The war is going to be won and lost in this game in the midfield. You've got Dutch enforcers Mark Van Bommel and Nigel De Jong trying to get the ball up field to Sneijder. On the other side, you've got Sergio Busquets, Xavi, Xabi Alonso, Andres Iniesta, and Pedro passing like demons and trying to snipe Villa on a diagonal run. The key man here is De Jong. He's got to avoid a yellow card while still kicking the crap out of Xavi, which isn't easy.

I'd say Holland's best chance is Sneijder's passing ability from the midfield out to Robben and Kuyt. Their best chance is to get Robben cutting in from the left or Kuyt laying a ball in to Robin Van Persie. But I think Spain's central defense got a pretty stern talking to, as they were playing like maniacs in the game today. I honestly think Puyol is going to die before he lets a ball get by him.

2. Psychological battle. Spain come into this final with absolutely no expectations. They've never been here before. And they could be the favorite, but Holland beat Brazil for God's sake. It's not like I'm calling a 3-0 route here, which will not happen I assure you.

But I think the key here is the mental state of Holland's players. They come into this game knowing the mournful history of their side in the final. They've got aging stars like Robben, Kuyt, Van Brockhorst, and Van Bommel who know that this is probably their last shot. They've got guys like Van Persie who are frustrated out of their minds with their inability to find a scoring chance. They've got one of the largest travelling fan bases in South Africa. I think all of the weight of expectation is on Holland, and I'm not sure they're ready to cope with that.

Not only that, but there has been simmering discord amongst the Dutch side. Like when Van Persie was whining after being taken out and saying that Sneijder should have been taken out, if anyone. Or when Van der Vaart came over and told Robben that he was going to take the corner, and Robben sort of grimaced and walked away. Seconds later, Van der Vaart missed absolutely everyone. I think that if this team gets down early (which they more than likely won't) the tensions may rise considerably.

3. Set pieces. Xavi. That's really all I have to say, but I'll elaborate. As today's game has shown us, as well as this entire tournament has shown us, set pieces are key in these massive games. And I think Spain have the best chance of converting one. Xavi is immaculate, and he never flinches in big game situations. Don't go get a beer when Spain has a corner, that's all I'm saying.

4. Substitutions. Substitutes are going to be key in this game. Particularly for Holland. Eljero Elia, if he comes in, could be capable of unlocking the Spanish defense. Klaas Jan Huntelaar, despite his young age, is a fearless striker and I think may deserve the start over a frankly pathetic Van Persie. Rafael Van der Vaart, as much as I hate him, is very capable at pushing the tempo and catching defenses off guard.

On the other side, Fernando Torres can come in and perhaps redeem himself. Maybe he scores the only goal in the Final as he did in the Euro 2008 victory over Germany. Jesus Navas can come in and do his little whirling durvish thing all over everybody's face. Cesc Fabregas, if he's not too hurt, can come in and just be better than Busquets in every facet of the game.

The question is, which coach will take more chances? Bert Van Marwuyk, the passionate, eloquent fan boy? Or Vicente Del Bosque, the stern, unforgiving Champions League stalwart. Frankly, I think both men are equally ballsy in their selections.

5. Wildcard. Weird shit happens in the World Cup Finals. The Hand of God, Lampard's "Goal that Wasn't" (As I've coined it), and Zidane's infamous headbutt. I think in this final we need to watch out for stuff like that. Maybe Xabi Alonso upper 90s one from half field, as he has been threatening to do all tournament. Maybe Villa scores a goal with his ass off a deflected shot, who knows.

I also think, as the projected scoreline shows, that Villa will hold on my prediction and go on to win the Golden Boot, making him the hottest player in the world just as he enters Barcelona.

These are my keys to Spain's first World Cup win. Want to defend the Oranje? Let's discuss. (Sidenote I'm for Holland).