The Audacious Game

Uruguay and Germany will play for the honorary third place of the World Cup on July 10, 2010. Uruguay lost to Germany in the same battle in 1970 with a goal from Overath and that was the last time when Uruguay reached this stage. Germany on the other hand is having a déjà vu from the time it hosted the tournament in 2006 and won 3-1 over Portugal. The two teams host an arsenal of players eager to prove their worthiness. Diego Forlan, Mesut Ozil, and Bastian Schweinsteiger will have one more chance to claim the “Adidas Golden Ball” for the best player of the World Cup 2010. Thomas Mueller on the other hand will be returning for one last time to show why he is the one to be remembered as the “Best Young Player”. Moreover, Forlan and Mueller, again, in addition to Klose will be yearning to score at least one goal to go for the coveted “Golden Boot” prize. And last but not least, Klose will be eyeing another personal glory by equalizing the legendry 15 goals tally; currently registered under the Brazilian Ronaldo’s name. On the team display, I personally have seen a beautiful Germany and a heroic Uruguay. The Germans will be too strong for Uruguay if they managed to demonstrate the same game play of their games against England and Argentina. The speed of the German attack might create problems for the Uruguayan defense. However, even with conceding 3 goals so far in 6 games, I have doubts regarding the abilities of the German defense and especially about Mertesacker’s and Boateng’s positioning. For Uruguay, the good news is the return of the quarter-finals hero, Suarez. Some might consider him as a cheater for his handball against Ghana, but many are awaiting his return to rekindle the lethal partnership with Diego Forlan. If Suarez links up well with Forlan, Uruguay will celebrate the best achievement since winning the title in 1950. When the two nations meet in Port Elizabeth Stadium the question will be: Would it be a game of muscles and individual efforts, or would it be a beautiful game of two teams which proved to be among the elite of the World?