World Cup Semi Final –Germany 0 vs 1 Spain
Spain booked a place in the World Cup final as the defending European champions played out an enthralling encounter in Durban, to win 1-0 against a young German side who have largely impressed throughout the tournament. For Joachim low’s side, this was a repeat of the heartbreaking 1-0 loss in the Euro 2008 final, but with new and emerging young and exciting players making the breakthrough, Germany are sure to be back in a major final soon.
Vicente Del Bosque’s brave decision to drop struggling striker Fernando Torres to the bench was the talk of the tournament for many football fans, as Bosque decided to replace him with the inexperienced young Barcelona striker Pedro to partner David Villa in attack.
Spain dominated possession, with the midfield trio of Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Xabi Alonso all involved in a combination of one-touch triangular passing, but failed to break down in which was a tight, crowded and well-organised German defence. This was the tactics employed by Joachim Low throughout this summer’s tournament, as his side looked to take advantage with fast flowing counter attacking football on the break.
In the second half, Spain again came out the better side with Xabi Alonso and Iniesta going close from well worked efforts, until the breakthrough finally came through in the 73rd minute when defender Carlos Puyol latched onto a Xaxi pinpoint cross to rocket a header past the helpless German keeper Neuer and send the Spanish into celebration.
As the game went into the closing stages, Spain seemed to be experiencing the same feeling of déjà vu, as the game looked to repeat the same hard grinding result played out against Paraguay and Portugal to book a place in the 2010 World Cup finals against the Dutch.