Victory for Spain

SPAIN WINS!!!!



Spain have won the World Cup after beating Netherlands 1-0. It was a brilliantly boring match. Granted it was tense at times and there were some nice defensive moments. Which really didn't make for an exciting match. The ref was going ape shit with his cards, though, which really brought the pace of the match down. A lot of people will blame the players which is really not fair, this is the biggest match of any of their lives. In a match that big there's bound to be a bit of tension and rough play so as a ref just let them play on. Terribly ridiculous that the ref kept hammering out the yellow cards. It might've made sense in an earlier match but it just killed this match on it's feet.

All that hubbub aside it must be pointed out that Spain won the World Cup fairly. Spain were the favorites coming into the tournament and for once they lived up to the hype. So many teams fell short of their goals, or even minimum expectations, but Spain made it all the way. They weren't the flashiest team or a goal scoring powerhouse in the tournament. They were the best and that's all that mattered. Congratulations to Spain for winning what has been a very exciting month-long tournament.

Now comes the post-Cup lull. It will be four years until another World Cup and that just leaves me with one question, what now? After dominating my life and attention for an entire month I have a huge empty feeling. No more games to wake up early to watch, no more tense knockout matches to cross your finger and hope for an underdog win, no more postulating on winners. It's all set in stone and behind us. The European season starts up in September so I'm not without soccer entirely, but nothing else can really compare to the World Cup. I'd watch some MLS but it's awful, honestly. I'd watch some J-League but there's no where online to catch games. So I sit and wait for September, which will be quite depressing for any Liverpool fan such as myself. Our team is destroyed and only competing in the Europa League. Hardly exciting. But at least I'll have regular games to watch. In two years it's time for the UEFA Euro 2012, the next big international tournament. Next year has the Copa America, South America's championship, though that tends to be underwhelming in comparison to the World Cup or UEFA Euro. So two more years to real international soccer.

World Cup Awards:
Player of the Tournament - David Villa (Spain)

He's a real clutch player that helped Spain get to the final by tying as one of the tournament's top scorers. Was strong in matches against tough opponents, which means everything.

Goal of the Tournament - Landon Donovan (USA) vs Slovenia

As an American there is no other goal that really matters, except perhaps the Donovan goal against Algeria. It was this strike against Slovenia while US was 2 down that brought all our hopes back. A nearly impossible goal to make, but he put it in.

Hilarious Moment of the Cup - Rob Green (England) Fucks up

C'mon, like anything else could even make it in here. His international career ended in the worst possible way, a mistake that saw the ball fall out of his hands and slowly roll across the goal line. Great stuff.

Coach of the Tournament - Diego Maradona (Argentina)

Insanity, people, is almost as much a motivator as tactics and planning.

Hairdo of the Tournament - Walter Martinez (Honduras)
(no fucking picture available! Seriously can't find this guy.)
Crazy dreadlocks dyed blue and white. Ballsy and kinda awesome.

Best Underdog Team - Ghana

Making it farther than any other African country they carried the honor of the continent in this tournament. Not highly favored they managed to get out of a tough group featuring Germany and Serbia. In the first knockout round they beat the USA. If Gyan hadn't failed to convert his PK they would've made the Semis, and then things might've gone a bit differently in the end. Spectacular showing.

So that's my last World Cup blog for four years. It's sad to have to say that, but I can't dwell on this tournament. Have to look forward in life and that means waiting for the next one. There's always another one, even if it's forever away.

So congratulations to Spain and enjoy calling yourselves World Champions for the next four years.