Semi-Finals

Uruguay 2-3 Netherlands

Germany 0-1 Spain {Carlos Puyol}

*SOB!* Tell me about it.
Well done Germany, you're in the Loser's Final. Again.
Seriously, it is just awfully & tremendously sad.
My team will never be there!

Who wants Netherlands to be there?!

And Spain is wonderful, but they don't still stir my heart.
I cry more when Germany loses a Group match, then when Spain loses a Final.

The first final in history where either Brazil, Argentina, Italy or Germany are not in the final. :|

Anyway. Viva Espania!

And, I thought, since it was twenty years ago that Germany won the world cup, it would be so cool if they won this year, a few days before my twentieth. No such luck. They won the loser's final [as usual]. Sadly, Klose did not get to play, and get that goal, make him the top goal scorer in a world cup, along with L.Ronaldo, but he had a flu. Seriously.

They said it was a matter of national pride, which was not much, since they couldn't win a proper thing, ever. Winning the Loser's, which they did, as always, is not something very celebratory. Sami got the last goal, which was a nice touch, to end Germany's 2010 South Africa, World Cup.

You can't win next time, Ger, since it would spoil the Brazilian party.
And by the time you do win, poor ShwinsTiger would be playing with a walking stick.

Anyway. May Allah Almighty guide you all to the Straightest Path. Ameen!

URUGUAY vs GHANA

2/7/10 Soccer City, Johannesburg

Uruguay (1-1) 4-2 [penalties] Ghana

RED CARD: Suarez

Please, a moment of silence for this mournful day of soccer.

I hope that cheating Suarez gets banned for years.

Asamoah Gyan missed the penalty that could have taken Ghana to the Semis.

Then, Ghana lost on penalties. Hey, Allah knows.

Suarez said he saved the match, and was awarded for it.

I can't stand the Uruguayans, and all they do is keep advancing.

They will probably win the world cup.

And Forlan will be standing there, grinning slyly at us.

Netherlands and Uruguay are in the Semi-finals.

Please, give me strength.

Uruguay vs S.Korea

27/6/10 Nelson Mandela Bay, P. E.

LAST 16

Uruguay 2-1 S.Korea

Goal Scorers: Suarez [U] [twice] and Lee Yong [K]

So, the Last 16. It was a rather dreary start to next stage, but I hoped that Korea would beat the South Americans, but these guys are just too good. South Africa just gave them a boost of confidence when they lost so sorely to them. Suarez might be a diver, but he scored a beautiful goal. And so Uruguay became the first team to enter into the quarters.

Mexico vs Uruguay

22/6/10 Rustenburg

Uruguay 1-0 Mexico

Goal Scorer: Luis Suarez

Uruguay beat Mexico by one goal to nil, making them Group A's winner with 7 points, being the only team to advance without having a single goal scored against them. Mexico became the group's second qualifier with four points, edging out in front of South Africa by a goal difference. This would have helped Bafana had they scored one more goal. [Remember that offside goal?! If only the linesman hadn't been so miserly]. Actually I would have preferred if Mexico and Bafana went through instead, the Mexicans play cool soccer. And I don't like Diego Forlan or that diving Suarez.

South Africa vs Uruguay

16/6/10 Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria

South Africa 0-3 Uruguay

Goal Scorers: Forlan scored 2 goals, one of them a penalty & Alvaro Pereira

Oh, I think I'll go on on crying for Bafana for a few days. What happened?! Why did it?! That red card was so very unfair. I want to be optimistic and full of fizz, but its just dreadful. I knew they were going to have a tough time getting beyond Uruguay, but the way they crumbled, scattered all over like crumbs and those giants squashing them. There has been the constant sound of the vuvuzela blowing since the World Cup began, but when the game ended the silence was eerie. 

There we have it. I don't think the team was full of attitude, thinking they would easily beat the Uruguayans. They were so nervy, they could not think. They don't have the mental strength to take the pressure, neither the physical power to take on these teams. I'm sorry about it all, but if we remember just a few weeks ago, we did not have any hope in these boys. We didn't think they were capable of scoring, and their confidence was just as low. We had a lot of fun supporting them and it felt great. And we shall continue to cheer on South Africa, no matter if our team is in or not. 

Bafana's coach lashed out at the referee and I hope that dude goes straight home. 
He called Busacca "the worst referee in this competition so far." "I hope I don't see his face in any game anymore," he said.


ITUMELENG KHUNE apologized:  "The guys (Bafana players) came to me and said sorry, but I think I owe them an apology as well to the rest of the South Africans. It was not deliberate and there was nothing I could do, but the nation deserves an apology, because they have been there for us as a team, so it wasn't nice for them to go through that," said the 22-year-old. 

Yes, Uruguay beat us blue. They know how to play soccer. The End.

France vs. Uruguay

                                                                               

                                                              


11/6/10 Group A. Green Point Stadium, Cape Town


France 0-0 Uruguay 

Les Bleu have never been my favourites. This is mostly to do with beating Brazil in '98. I was eight years old that year, my soccer world featured Ronaldo, bright yellow and no one else. Certainly not the Frenchmen. That win, 3 goals to nil, made me rather traumatized. Then, beating them once again in '06, against a not very good Brazilian team, showed France to be Brazil's nemesis. Man, they just crumble when they see that rooster.

I know that France is a very good team, they have mastered the art of playing both European football with a French and African twist. Extraordinaire Zidan made the team move as if they were in harmony, he made them flow. Also, I don't like the coach at all. Raymond Domenech is scary, and those dark eyebrows add to it.

So seemingly without Zidan and the unsure feelings regarding the coach, I wondered what the French players would do. There is one irritating thing about them though. They start of in this lackadaisical manner, and somehow just end up in the semi-finals. Why do they do this? Can't they just play well from the beginning?

With nobody taking much notice of Uruguay, they played an important strategy. They kept most of their players in defence and had few chances at goal. It was clever, and the French, who don't find it very easy to finish and get goals, even if their midfield might be powerful, couldn't break through. Henry came on with much show as usual, and had his first try at offside. I don't know if he enjoys it.

Even though the French players kept banging at the posts, they came away with a draw. Better for South Africa I guess. They might have not gotten very far in their first game, but France, burbling with big names like Malouda and Ribery, is full of strong talent. We will see them when they play Bafana.