Spain vs Germany

Spain took the next step towards footballing immortality as they booked a place in their first World Cup final following a 1-0 semi-final victory over Germany in Durban.Flair, culture and aesthetics have underlined the rise to prominence of the European champions and the irony at the Moses Mabhida Stadium was therefore palpable as a no-nonsense Carles Puyol header settled the contest in the second half.Vicente del Bosque’s side won their fourth straight game 1-0 and will now play the Netherlands in Sunday’s final at Soccer City.Spain deserved their victory after controlling huge periods of the match, but once again it was far from a vintage performance.The Germans have been by far the stand out team this tournament overcoming the odds to combine a mixture of efficiency and explosive counter attacking .However ,tonight there was only one team that stepped up to the plate to fulfil their destiny and that was Del Bosques Spain side.I have thoroughly enjoyed watching the Germans master Class and that isn’t frequent, that a football student says that but they have displayed class.Performances all over the field from Bastian Schweinsteiger who has been my pick of the bunch to Mesut Ozil who has defined what a creative midfielders attributes are.Spain on the other side like Barcelona at Club Level are a team that football coaches all around the world show videos to the up and coming soccer stars on how to keep possession,pass the ball,attack the ball and defend as a unit from the furthest player up the field (David Villa) to the solid centre back (Carlos Puyol).Spain coach Del Bosque chose Wednesday’s tie to drop the out-of-form Torres, drafting in Barcelona’s lively young forward Pedro and deploying David Villa as a lone striker.And while Del Bosque’s team certainly looked comfortable as they worked the ball around midfield, Germany showed excellent shape and discipline, and were rarely dragged out of position.The Euro 2008 champions, who defeated Germany 1-0 in the final of that competition, should have scored a second after striking with the sort of counter-attack that had been a trademark of their opponents’ play in this competition, but Pedro failed to pick out a completely unmarked Fernando Torres.Torres had come under the spot light recently after having a frustrating time but looked eager to right his critics wrong and what a way to display that if he plays in the final against Netherlands.Torres scored in the final of the European Championship after receiving criticism and silenced the doubters with the winner against Germany.Vicente del Bosque’s pre-tournament favourites dominated possession and managed to quell the threat of Germany, surely making the group-stage defeat to Switzerland feel like a lifetime ago for those at home in Europe. The final with Holland will now represent a clash between two of the continent’s historical underachievers on the world stage, with the Total Football of the Oranje famously failing to succeed in finals in 1974 and 1978.It will also mean that a new winner of the World Cup will be etched into the history books come the conclusion of events in Johannesburg’s Soccer City at the end of the weekend. Spain 1 Germany 0