Paul the Oracle Octopus

Spain just won its first World Cup in its country's history, beating the Netherlands 1-0. But there's something bigger at work, here. And that is Paul the Oracle Octopus.

Paul resides in an aquarium in Germany. He has attracted some serious attention from the entire country after he correctly picked the winner of every match the German team played in. After calling the shocking loss to Serbia, Paul's fame declined in Deutschland, and recipes for various octopus dishes were being contemplated across the country.

When he correctly called Spain's victory in the semi-final against the Germans, Spaniards were quick to jump to Paul's much needed defense.

The Oracle Octopus went 100 percent in the 2010 World Cup, going 8 for 8. Good work, Paul, and good luck. Those Germans can be pretty mean...

Spain Wins The Cup

For the first time in Spanish football history, Spain has won the FIFA World Cup in 2010, beating the Netherlands in a two-hour extra time battle, 1-0.

This was easily the best match of the Cup this year. Both teams played stout defense, quick and sharp offense, and had their fair shares of runs but also missed opportunities. 4 shots on goal each, 6 corners for the Dutch, 8 for La Roja. The refereeing seemed to be top notch today, and the game was kept under control. Netherlands received 8 yellows and a red card, with Spain receiving 5 yellows.

Dutch players Arjen Robben and Wesely Sneijder played incredible games, giving their all for their country. Robben nearly turned the match in the other direction when his one-on-one with Spanish keeper Iker Casillas was turned wide left in the second half. Their downfall was their loss of composure towards the end of extra time, which they had seemed to have plenty of the entire match. Tenacious defense against a strong attacking Spanish team for 118 minutes is nothing to be ashamed of. Excellently played.

Spain has numerous opportunities to score, including a couple headers by Sergio Ramos sent over the crossbar. It seemed that Andres Iniesta was afraid to use his left foot for a couple scoring chances, but in the end, got the ball on his right foot and blasted it off the right hand of Dutch keeper Maarten Stekelenburg and in the back corner of the net. David Villa had a few chances to score, but seemed to be extremely anxious, spoiling them in different directions. The Golden Boot runner-up did not factor in the final score, but is certainly happy with his team's finish.

For the Netherlands, this is their third Finals heartbreak, but should walk away with their heads held high. Two of the world's top five teams squared off in a match for the ages. Spain wins its first Cup in its country's history, 1-0. El Plaza de Colon is going to party like its 1999 tonight. Viva La Roja.

Until 2014 in Brazil... Go World.

GOL!

ANDRES INIESTA SCORES FOR LA ROJA IN THE 118TH MINUTE! 1-0 SPAIN

It All Comes Down To This

By Sunday evening, one football team will walk away with their country's first ever World Cup. The two teams with the most World Cup wins, but no championships will square off in surely the most anticipated battle in recent Cup history. It's La Roja versus the Flying Dutchmen, Spain against the Netherlands.

The number two country in the world against the number four, respectively. For Spain, they have proven their talent up and down the field, from GK Iker Casillas making some world-class saves in big spots, to goals being netted by striker David Villa all the way to defender Carles Puyol. Fernando Torres, thought to be one of Spain's strongest players, has been shaky of late, coming on in the 80th minute of the semi-final match, only to be snubbed of a pass by midfielder Pedro. I think Spain is a very aggressive team, and if played right, can wear down the Netherlands defense and score late as they did against Germany for the killing blow.

The Netherlands, still undefeated or untied in the Cup have proven they want to be world champions. They are as hungry as any team I've seen to hoist the Cup above their heads. In 2006, Italy and France took the game to penalty kicks, one of the most amazing Cup finishes to date. Even if this game does not go to PKs, it will be more exciting and more nerve-wracking than any match in the history of the sport. Captain Gio van Bronckhorst will lead the Orange into action after his goal of the tournament in the semifinal. Strikers Arjen Robben and Dirk Kuyt have had a stellar run so far, and aren't ready to go home with a silver medal.

Final score, 2-1 Spain. If it goes into penalty kicks, this could be one of my last posts, since I'm not sure I could handle the stress and magnitude of that.

Game time Sunday at 2:30pm, from Soccer City in Johannesburg on ABC.

Germany vs Spain

An unstoppable force meets an immovable object in Durban today. Germany takes on Spain for the last spot in the World Cup Final. David Villa will look to score in his fifth straight game. Germany will have to step up their offense with the suspension of Thomas Muller, and we will see if Gollum can find the Ring of Power.

It will be an absolute battle for 90 minutes, if not 120. I see this one going into penalty kicks, with Spain walking away victorious.

Welcome To The Final Four

With the first semifinal match minutes away, the World is on edge. The first match will feature underdogs Uruguay up against the seemingly insurmountable Dutch team.

The quarterfinal match between Uruguay and Ghana was certainly dicey. In the 121st minute, a free kick by Pantsil of the Ghanaian team was put into the box, batted away, kicked away, and then smacked away from the goal line. Breakout striker Luis Suarez was to blame, receiving a red card, and getting suspended for today's match. Uruguay is looking to show the world that they deserve to be on the it's biggest stage.

The Netherlands has not lost any steam throughout this tournament. They are the only remaining team to have won every contest thrown their way. Today isn't going to be an exception. It will be a battle, with Uruguay's 4-4-2 formation up against a Dutch 4-5-1. I think we're looking at a final score of 2-1.

Quarters Are Set

The Round of 16 finished up yesterday with 2 wickedly exciting games. Paraguay-Japan gave us out first penalty shootout of the tournament, and two of the world's best, Spain and Portugal fought it out for 90 minutes, the world number one living up to their ranking. So we're all set for the quarterfinal match-ups starting Friday at 9:30am EST.

The first match is between the Netherlands and Brazil. Brazil seems to be heating up of late, really finding their stride, and really working together as a team. Netherlands is one of two undefeated or untied teams in the tournament, and they play with such poise, precision and determination, it will be tough to stop them. I think in the end, Brazil will become frustrated at seeing their runs killed over and over by the stalwart Dutch defense, and what will ultimately bring them down will be a strong counterattack from The Flying Dutchmen. I wouldn't be surprised if this game ended 3-2.

Netherlands advances.

Later in the day at 2pm EST, Uruguay will take on Africa's last hope, Ghana. As we saw in the Ghana-USA game, Ghana's speed is tough to beat, but they can be worn down. Uruguay is a tough defensive team as well, and they may not have to tweak their game plan much to be successful. Both attacks will be fun to watch, but when it's all said and done, i think Uruguay will walk away, 2-1.

Uruguay advances.

Saturday, the match-up of a lifetime hits the pitch, when Germany faces Argentina. Argentina is one of the strongest looking teams in the field, and are still my favorites to win it all. The attacking force of Klose, Ozil and Podolski is tough to stop, but with the chemistry La Albiceleste are working with, I think shutting them down will be more than reasonable. The magical Lionel Messi is still looking to break through and net his first goal of the Cup, and will look to send Argentina into the semis. Although both teams seem to score at will, I think we'll see a 1-0 game.

Argentina advances.

Finally, powerhouse Spain takes on Paraguay. Only one South American team has been eliminated so far, but this match will be quite a contest. Spain did the seemingly impossible when David Villa scored against Portugal to advance in a 1-0 win. Their world number one ranking could also be somewhat of an advantage for support. Paraguay is an excellent team. They struggled against Japan but were tough defensively and used every attacking chance to its fullest, This game will be exciting, but I think another 1-0 win is in sight for La Furia.

Spain advances.

Go World.

2-0 Argentina!

Argentina was onsides this time, and with some nice footwork by Gonzalo Higuain, stole the ball and may have potentially stolen the match. That was Higuain's 4th goal in his 6th international cap.

GOL!

ARGENTINA SCORES IN THE 27TH MINUTE, 1-0 LA ALBICELESTE!

Three Lions Caged

England is the third team out of the World Cup in the knockout stages, falling to European rivals Germany, 4-1. The Germans wait to see the winner of the Argentina-Mexico game, in the middle of the first half now.

Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski put England in a headlock with 2 goals in the 20th and 32th minute respectively. However, Matthew Upson headed on a ball crossed by Steven Gerrard and scored 5 minutes later. And it wouldn't be a World Cup game without some referee controversy.

Frank Lampard played a loose ball at the top of the box, and dropped one over the head of German keeper Manuel Neuer, off the crossbar and in. Or was it? The ball clearly bounced a foot or two past the goal line, but popped back out into the hands on the keeper, and the call on the field was no goal. Unbelievably tough break for England.

"The goal was very important. We could have played a different style," said England coach Fabio Capello. And that's absolutely true. Game tied or not, in the second half, the English defense looked very similar to the US defense last night, very slow and possibly asleep. Two counterstrike goals were scored, pushing this game out of reach, 4-1.

Germany played an extremely good game, and for all of England's struggles in the group stage, this comes as no surprise. England is the 8th European team to get knocked out of the Cup.

U.S.A. Is O-U-T

Stunning loss for the Yanks today. They went down early in regulation, down early in extra time, and down early in the chase for the Cup, losing 2-1 to Ghana. Ghana will face Uruguay in the quarterfinals match-up.

It took only 5 minutes for the Black Stars to get on the scoresheet. Kevin-Prince Boateng was practically given a goal by the still cold defense. Ricardo Clark misplayed the ball, and could not catch up to Boateng as he shot a low roller by Howard to the near post. 2 minutes later, Clark was booked for a reckless challenge, receiving a yellow card. A poor decision by US manager Bob Bradley to even start Clark in the match today, Bradley then chose to use their first of three subs on replacing him with Maurice Edu 31 minutes in.

The Stars and Stripes were dying a slow death, with the Ghanaians running the show for practically all of the first half. Benny Feilhaber came in to replace a lackluster Robbie Findley at the start of the half. I don't know what it was Coach Bradley said during the break, but USA came out firing. They put pressure on the defenders, and didn't give the Ghana forwards any breathing room.

Ghana seemed to start panicking, and in the 61st minute, finally, the US' chance to shine. Clint Dempsey was caught from the back to the right side of the box, and the US was awarded a penalty kick. Landon Donovan lined it up, and struck it perfectly off the right post and in. Tie game, 1-1.

Going into extra time, the US looked flat out tired. Herculez Gomes was subbed in for an uncharacteristically lazy Jozy Altidore. Unfortunately, the tired US legs just couldn't keep up with the Black Stars. The final nail in the coffin was smashed in by Asamoah Gyan 3 minutes into extra time. Again, a slip-up on defense led to the easy goal. At that point, the cord had been pulled clean out of the Americans.

The clock struck midnight on the US, as for the second World Cup in a row, their last game was a 2-1 lost to the Ghanaians.

Uruguay Moves On

South Korea fought hard, but in the cold rain Uruguay came away with a 2-1 victory. Luis Suarez scored both goals, with Lee Chung-Yong scoring for the South Koreans.

Suarez's first goal came in just the 8th minute, with a pass that went clean across the face of the goal, drawing keeper Jung Sung-Ryong, enabling Suarez to put in the cross easily off his left foot. The match went without too much action for the rest of the half.

In the 68th minute, Chung-Yong scored off a ball played into the box that he headed on for the equalizing goal. Uruguay wasn't about to go away. On the attack, their forwards did some solid passing, until Suarez inched closer to the left corner of the 18 yard box, and ripped a bending shot off the far post and in to unknot the contest. Beautiful goal.

So Uruguay will move on to play the winner of the USA-Ghana match coming up in just about 2 hours.

Round of 16

All the first round group stage games are complete. Now its time for the real World Cup action, the knockout stages. The field of 16 is set, and the match-ups range from two unlikely opponents, to old rivalries, to expected finals meetings.

I'll obviously be looking forward to the matches tomorrow, first to see who will be the USA's potential next competition, then to see if they can get past Ghana to play another round.

Picks: Uruguay to face USA. I don't think South Korea can keep up any longer, and Uruguay seemed to have no trouble in their group play. As for the USA, I know Ghana will have the support of an entire continent as their 12th man, but I think the US has too much momentum, and are too ready to move on.

On Sunday, perhaps the four biggest names in the greatest sporting event on earth will square off. England, the dark horse of the tournament, up against Germany, 2006's third place finisher, and Argentina, my personal favorite to win, against Mexico, who looked uncharacteristically shaky in group play.

Picks: Germany to face Argentina. Some big names have already fallen from the tournament, and England's performance in Group C doesn't give me any confidence in them. And many people have had their shots to take at Diego Maradona, but I think his knowledge of the game has rubbed off on La Albiceleste and will give them yet another reason for the upper hand against Mexico.

To start your Monday off right, the powerhouse Netherlands team, winning all three group stage games, will take on Slovakia, capitalizing on Italy's early exit from Group F. Then perennial favorite, Brazil will take on fellow South Americans, Chile.

Picks: Netherlands to face Brazil. The Netherlands have just rolled over their competition, and seem too strong to be stopped by the Slovaks. While Chile battled valiantly against La Furia, I don't think that Brazil will go down easy. They know what is at stake, and have not played fewer than 5 matches since 1990. They are experienced, and I have no doubt they want to establish themselves as the top South American team.

And the final day of the Round of 16 on Tuesday, features Paraguay and the surprise nation of Japan. The later match will be another pre-Cup potential Finals match-up. A hungry Portugal squad will face the favorites, star-studded Spain.

Picks: Paraguay to face Spain. South American is harvested respect from the entire world, and I don't think that Japan's style of play will hold up for 90 minutes against Paraguay. Brazil-Portugal will probably be the most exciting game of this round. The two teams are heavily favorited, but since flopping doesn't appear anywhere on the stat sheet, the Portuguese will be headed home at night's end.

USA - Ghana, Tomorrow 2pm

The final group stage games were played out today, with the final 2 in the second half right now. (Spain 2 - Chile 1, Switzerland 0 - Honduras 0). The Brazil-Portugal 0-0 tie was extremely disappointing. Neither team really had to do anything, but I can imagine the 64,000 that packed in to see the action were quite dejected after the lackluster performance.

Tomorrow begins the knockout stages, starting with the USA-Ghana game at 2pm on ABC. Even if you didn't care about the World Cup before now, you should start caring. In 2006, the US lost their final group stage match against Ghana 2-1, and now have a perfect shot at revenge. Riding the momentum from Landon Donovan's goal in the 91st minute against Algeria, the US will look to keep their attacking game sharp against a newly defensive-minded Black Stars squad.

The game will be as tense as any match, with the US knowing that they have one of the best shots at a potential semi-finals appearance. The winner of this next game will go on to face the winner of Uruguay-South Korea, a match that the US would be favored in. Find some friends, tune in to ABC tomorrow, and get crazy.

Go USA.

USA! USA! USA!

IN THE 91ST MINUTE OF THE MATCH, JOZY ALTIDORE CROSSES A BALL IN FROM THE RIGHT SIDE, CLINT DEMPSEY'S SHOT IS DENIED, REBOUNDED BEAUTIFULLY BY LANDON DONOVAN WHO NETS THE GAME'S ONLY GOAL TO THE BOTTOM LEFT CORNER PUTTING THE STARS AND STRIPES ON TOP OF POOL C!!!

Honestly, that was the most painful match to watch for the full 90 minutes. Time and time again, corners and free kicks were wasted. Headers flew yards over the net, rebounds were spoiled wide, Dempsey was wrongly called offsides then denied himself of another 2 goals. Just agonizing to watch. It looked like the referees were going to take the top of Pool C. The US team just outplayed and out-hustled Algeria in every fashion.

Decent shots were put on goal for the Desert Foxes, but easily handled by keeper Tim Howard. The US had 20 shots, 8 on goal, but seemed like they were attacking every other minute, holding the ball 54% of the match. Personally, I gave up on the US in about the 87th minute, but once I saw the extra four minutes, I knew they still had a spark. Hell of a game, hell of a finish.

The Yanks will wait to see who their opponents from Pool D will be later this afternoon.

England vs Slovenia - First Half

Jermain Defoe netted the first goal of the match in the 22nd minute to give England an early advantage and strong momentum going into the half in just a minute.

In front of 40,000, these two teams are both lighting up the pitch. Not a particularly clean game, but that's perfect for the rough and tough Three Lions. England needs a victory to move on to the next round. A draw, and USA will have to draw and be outscored by 3 goals. A loss, and one of the world's most prestigious teams will be headed for an early shower.

USA vs Algeria - First Half

In case anyone didn't see what happened in the USA-Slovenia match, this was milliseconds before Maurice Edu put away USA's third unanswered goal to take a 3-2 lead. Only problem is, the goal was disallowed, and the US took a 2-2 draw.

Today's match against Algeria is in the 37th minute right now, and it's deja vu all over again. Another goal disallowed citing Dempsey offsides. The US just had 3 excellent scoring chances in a row, and they seem to be hot on the trail of a goal. Algeria is using an extra striker today, and without Oguchi Onyewu, the Yanks will have to be wary of the counterattack.

Go USA.

Italy vs New Zealand

The Kiwis did the impossible today. While they didn't get a victory, the 78th ranked team in the world held the defending World Champion, 5th ranked Italy, to a 1-1 draw.

Shane Smeltz scored in just the 7th minute, off a free kick that was pushed towards the goal by captain Fabio Cannavaro's thigh. The Azzurri scored off a penalty kick in the 29th minute by Vincenzo Iaquinta. A cross came through the box, and Daniele De Rossi was questionably forced down by Tommy Smith of New Zealand.

The second half was full of furious and desperate efforts by each team to unknot the match. Even with an extra 4 minutes added on, neither team could break free. A fantastic game by New Zealand, and a stunning disappointment for Italy, who are now in danger of not making it to the Round of 16 after winning the Cup just 4 years ago.

Rate the New World Cup Ball

Yahoo! Sports - Several players are going all out against the new World Cup ball, with more than one comparing it to those bought at a supermarket.

And this time it’s not only goalkeepers who are complaining. Strikers, defenders and midfielders are also lashing out at the Adidas ball just a few days before the monthlong tournament is to begin in South Africa.

The ball is called Jabulani, which means “to celebrate” in isiZulu, but not many are celebrating it so far. It’s hard to find a player who is happy with it, and those who don’t like it are not saving adjectives to describe their feelings.

“It’s very weird,” Brazil striker Luis Fabiano said Sunday. “All of a sudden it changes trajectory on you. It’s like it doesn’t want to be kicked. It’s incredible, it’s like someone is guiding it. You are going to kick it and it moves out of the way. I think it’s supernatural, it’s very bad. I hope to adapt to it as soon as possible, but it’s going to be hard.”

Brazil goalkeeper Julio Cesar on Saturday called the ball “terrible” and was the first to compare it to those plastic ones bought on a supermarket. Italy striker Giampaolo Pazzini said the same thing, calling it a “disaster.”

“It moves so much and makes it difficult to control. You jump up to head a cross and suddenly the ball will move and you miss it,” Pazzini said. “It is especially bad for the goalkeepers if it means they concede a goal because they can’t judge the trajectory.”

Adidas traditionally launches new balls for each World Cup and they usually cause controversy because of the changes prompted by the new technology being introduced. Most of the time the ball becomes speedier and goalkeepers are the ones most affected by it. But this time the livelier ball is causing problems to field players, too.

“There is no way to hide it,” Brazil midfielder Julio Baptista said. “It’s bad for the goalkeepers and it’s bad for us. It’s really bad. The players try to cross it and it goes to the opposite direction they intended it to go.”

Spain goalkeeper Iker Casillas also expressed his anger at the design of the ball after the European champion’s 3-2 friendly win over Saudi Arabia on Saturday.

“It’s sad that that such an important competition like the World Cup has such an important element like this ball of appalling condition,” he said.

Hey, tell us how you really feel, guys. I mean, I have to agree. After seeing the ball from the 2006 World Cup, I think adidas needs to relax. Yeah, they look cool, but they really do feel like they're coated in plastic, and just don't feel natural. But hey, the people are buying them, so I guess you can't really point the finger at them. It is rather unfortunate that the players have to deal with it, but everyone has to make the adjustment, not just a few of them, so get over it.

South Africa: Pool D

Gotta' be honest here, with the exception of Germany and maybe Netherlands, in the next two pools, I'm not really too sure or concerned with who else is going to move on. But I'm gonna give you my opinions anyway, and hopefully you like them. If not, then that's cool too, you bastards. Pool D. Germany will own. It's Serbia's first year of competing without Montenegro. And in my mind its a toss-up between Australia and Ghana, but with Ghana taking a serious hit from the absence of Michael Essien, I'm not so confident in how they'll fare.

Germany
Australia
Serbia
Ghana

Since 1954, the first year they won the Cup, Germany has exited in the second round once, the quarterfinals three times, and the other seven appearances with at least a 4th place finish. Polish-born striker Lukas Podolski (72 caps, 37 goals) will attack alongside Miroslav Klose (95, 48) whom would prove formidable against any defense in the world. Klose's teammate on Bayern Munich, Bastian Schweinsteiger (74, 19) is Germany's third leading international scorer who will hit the pitch alongside a very young midfield corps. DF Philipp Lahm (64,3) has assumed the role of captain in the stead of injured FW Michael Ballack, and will lead a veteran defensive unit that features four players with over 30 caps. The Germans came in a tough third place in the last World Cup, after finishing as the runners-up in 2002.

The Socceroos are always an interesting team to take a look at. This will be their third World Cup appearance all-time, with last year's exit coming in the Round of 16. They're a more experienced team, with the average age being 28 years old. Captain DF Lucas Neill (54,0) will lead the defense, against some quick and strong attacks in this pool. Controlling the ball at midfield will be key in these matchups, and with players like Brett Emerton (72, 17), leading goal scorer Tim Cahill (38, 19) and Marco Bresciano (53, 11), Australia has put themselves in a solid position. Australia seems to be lacking in their attack, but they are a determined team who plan on jumping on the back of veteran striker Harry Kewell (45, 13).


This pool will provide for the most interesting uninteresting games in the Cup. Of course, that's my opinion, and it's all just on paper right now. Serbia has some good players, but I just don't think they'll be able to pull it together on the world's biggest stage.