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...

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.

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.

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.