Village Idiot

Also, a big for Forlán getting the Golden Ball, utterly deserved it and glad he overcame the "only finalists win it" rule.

I'm particularly happy about being Iniesta, of all players, the one that scored the winning goal. This is the second time in a year that he makes me immensely happy with a last-ghasp goal. Time to drop those B/W photos of Zarra scoring in the 1950 WC I grew up with and get used to this: http://estaticos04.marca.com/albumes/2010/07/11/final_mundial/1278882342_extras_albumes_0.jpg Oh man oh man oh man oh man this has to be a dream.

Man, still can't believe I have seen Spain win a World Cup. Over the fucking Moon right now. This is History with capital H for our country

How does that work? But yeah, I agree more or less.

I'm trying to set myself up for a defeat. Winning this shit would be too damn fucking amazing and I don't want to get my hopes up

One of the best things of this WC is the fact that it's players like Forlán and Villa who have shone, while the usual suspects have more or less flopped. Everybody with a clue knew they were good, but never got the spotlight.

Pedro starting today, from Spanish third flight to a World Cup final in one year

Amazing but I'm obviously partial Taking out Spain's run (it's going to be f***ing great even if we lose the final), I think it's decent. Honestly think it's been better than the 2006 one, and maybe even the 2002 which wasn't that great either. Nothing like the 1998 or 1986 ones though, the greatest I remember in my lifetime (only have flashes from 1982).

That's actually god damn true. Injuried myself many times in tackles on those shit artificial/sand pitches. 5-a-side concrete pitches are even worse.

Marca reports that Madrid have bid €8m for Khedira.

Aye that makes the most sense and is simple.

Pretty sure he picked the left one for Germany - England

How is he supposed to predict a draw, by the way?

Still don't know what Cacau is doing in the German squad, he had that hot streak this Spring but nothing else.

Suárez would have saved that.

Third place playoffs are generally very entertaining affairs, usually moreso than the final since teams aren't so cautious. Dunno why people whine.

Ronaldo >>>>>>>>>>> Klose Glad the fat one will keep the record to be frank.

Interesting article, thanks for that, though I think sometimes our obsession with numbers and lines can hamper our understanding of how a team is organised. (I'm also a bit surprised that you said that Spain don't play like Barca, because to me they look very similar.) Just observe the amount of players Barça breaks with, instead of the 3-4 Spain usually puts forward, which frustrates the hell out of me. Barça play with only one deep lying midfielder (Busquets), instead of two (Busquets/Alonso). This allows one extra central midfielder pushing into attacking positions and drawing defenders and thus creating space for others. To compensate for the relative lack of men in the defensive area of midfield, our defence line also pushes higher to help press the opposition and give more quick transitions to attack since we win the ball back closer to their goal. Of course, we are much more vulnerable to counterattacks than this Spanish side, but at the same time more incisive.

There have been a lot of stories that he doesn't get along with Mancini.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2010/jul/09/world-cup-2010-tactics-the-question Mint article, which more or less coincides with my current thoughts on football trends. Although he is wrong in saying that Spain plays like Barcelona, Del Bosque is far more cautious than Guardiola. Which is probably a reaction on how 90% of theams play against us.

Honestly you should go all gloryhunting and get Rosenborg or Skonto or some other team that wins the league every fucking year to give yourselves a well deserved break.

Ghana and Ireland will love it.

http://estaticos02.marca.com/blogs/el-otro-mundial/imagenes_posts/2010/07/09/bandera.jpg

There are tons of players that have match-winning contributions, but the great ones are the ones that do it game after game. We wouldn't be in the final if Casillas hadn't saved that pen, for example.

I actually think he's a worthy investment in the long term, just that won't do much for you just yet. I'm however surprised that he wants to leave Everton in such a way.