Preview of World Cup Final
Sunday, 11 July 2010
Bazlul Wahab Shaheen
TWO best teams of this world cup are in the final. Bangladeshi football fans are disappointed by failures on the part of Argentina and Brazil to pass quarter final hurdles. But the good news is, there will be a new world cup champion, no matter who wins. Holland had been in the finals twice, but lost to host nations on both occasions, against the then West Germany and Argentina in 1974 and 1978 respectively. Spain had never been in the world cup semifinal, but this time, they are not only in the final, but also the firm favorite to win it all.
In the recent world cup history, a team who lost a group game and went to the final, did not win the cup. For example, W. Germany in 1982 (lost to Algeria), W. Germany in 1986 (lost to Denmark), Argentina in 1990 (lost to Cameroon), Italy in 1994 (lost to Ireland) and Brazil in 1998 (lost to Norway). In this world cup, Spin lost against Switzerland by 1-0 in their opening game. On the other hand, Holland won all games to go to the final. If history repeats, Holland will be the champion. But there is a good chance that a rampant Spanish team will not let the history repeat.
Spain's playing style is similar to Barcelona (arguably the best football club now) with slick passing and great ball possession. Against Germany, there were 7 Barcelona players in Spain's starting lineup. In fact, Carles Puyol's (Barcelona captain) goal off a Xavi (the world's best playmaker) corner is a typical Barcelona goal. In 2008-2009 "La Liga" season when Barcelona played Real Madrid at Santiago Barnabeu Stadium in Madrid, Puyol scored a goal by a powerful header to beat Real Keeper Iker Casillas (Spain's captain) that helped Barcelona thrashed Real by 6-2.
In that same season when Real Madrid faced Barcelona at Stadio Camp Nou, Barcelona, Puyol headed a powerful header off a Xavi corner which was saved, but Barcelona striker Samuel Eto'o of Cameroon made no mistake to score that important first goal which helped Barcelona beat Real Madrid by 2-0, thanks to a brilliant 2nd goal by Messi. It won't be unfair, if this current Spain team is dubbed as "made in Barcelona." So far, all Spain goals have been scored by Barcelona players (Villa, Iniesta, Puyol). Interestingly it was Dutch legend Johan Cruyff who implemented this aesthetic football philosophy while he was the Barcelona coach in 1990's that had Pep Guardiola (the current Barcelona coach) as its playmaker. Now Cruyff's attacking philosophy that was adopted by Barcelona and now tranferred to Spain national team may beat Cruyff's country, The Netherlands.
As a Barcelona supporter, I am rooting for Spain.
It is also fun to predict a game, as there is nothing to lose to predict. Therefore, I am going to predict the world cup final game.
My Prediction:
Spain 3; The Netherlands 1
(Villa, Iniesta, Pedro) (Van Persie)
The writer can be reached at
e-mail : bazlul@yahoo.com
TWO best teams of this world cup are in the final. Bangladeshi football fans are disappointed by failures on the part of Argentina and Brazil to pass quarter final hurdles. But the good news is, there will be a new world cup champion, no matter who wins. Holland had been in the finals twice, but lost to host nations on both occasions, against the then West Germany and Argentina in 1974 and 1978 respectively. Spain had never been in the world cup semifinal, but this time, they are not only in the final, but also the firm favorite to win it all.
In the recent world cup history, a team who lost a group game and went to the final, did not win the cup. For example, W. Germany in 1982 (lost to Algeria), W. Germany in 1986 (lost to Denmark), Argentina in 1990 (lost to Cameroon), Italy in 1994 (lost to Ireland) and Brazil in 1998 (lost to Norway). In this world cup, Spin lost against Switzerland by 1-0 in their opening game. On the other hand, Holland won all games to go to the final. If history repeats, Holland will be the champion. But there is a good chance that a rampant Spanish team will not let the history repeat.
Spain's playing style is similar to Barcelona (arguably the best football club now) with slick passing and great ball possession. Against Germany, there were 7 Barcelona players in Spain's starting lineup. In fact, Carles Puyol's (Barcelona captain) goal off a Xavi (the world's best playmaker) corner is a typical Barcelona goal. In 2008-2009 "La Liga" season when Barcelona played Real Madrid at Santiago Barnabeu Stadium in Madrid, Puyol scored a goal by a powerful header to beat Real Keeper Iker Casillas (Spain's captain) that helped Barcelona thrashed Real by 6-2.
In that same season when Real Madrid faced Barcelona at Stadio Camp Nou, Barcelona, Puyol headed a powerful header off a Xavi corner which was saved, but Barcelona striker Samuel Eto'o of Cameroon made no mistake to score that important first goal which helped Barcelona beat Real Madrid by 2-0, thanks to a brilliant 2nd goal by Messi. It won't be unfair, if this current Spain team is dubbed as "made in Barcelona." So far, all Spain goals have been scored by Barcelona players (Villa, Iniesta, Puyol). Interestingly it was Dutch legend Johan Cruyff who implemented this aesthetic football philosophy while he was the Barcelona coach in 1990's that had Pep Guardiola (the current Barcelona coach) as its playmaker. Now Cruyff's attacking philosophy that was adopted by Barcelona and now tranferred to Spain national team may beat Cruyff's country, The Netherlands.
As a Barcelona supporter, I am rooting for Spain.
It is also fun to predict a game, as there is nothing to lose to predict. Therefore, I am going to predict the world cup final game.
My Prediction:
Spain 3; The Netherlands 1
(Villa, Iniesta, Pedro) (Van Persie)
The writer can be reached at
e-mail : bazlul@yahoo.com