Spain has always been renowned for the quality of their club football. Real Madrid and Barcelona have won 12 European Cups between them (Madrid have won the most all time with 9). But up until recently, the Spanish National Team had been a joke. They'd never advanced past the quarterfinals of a World Cup until this year. And now they're the best team in the world.
They beat the Netherlands by controlling the game. Spain only scored 8 goals this World Cup, in 7 games. Compare this to Germany who scored 16 goals. The Netherlands scored 12, Uruguay scored 11, Argentina scored 10 (in 5 games), and Brazil scored 9 (also in 5 games).
That's kind of lame. Spain didn't play a defensive game, they just know how to pass. And pass. And pass. And apart from David Villa, they don't know how to shoot. And their big goals in big games didn't directly result from their adept passing. They beat Germany 1-0 off a set-piece. And they beat the Dutch 1-0 thanks to a fortuitous bounce that found Andres Iniesta's feet.
Don't get me wrong, Spain were the best team in the tournament, but I'd say that Germany, Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, the Netherlands, Ghana, the USA, and Chile were all more exciting.
Germany beat Uruguay 3-2 in the always more wide-open 3rd place game. Both Diego Forlan and Thomas Müller scored a goal. Miroslav Klose did not play, so he's still tied for 2nd all-time with 14 World Cup goals.
The awards:
Golden Boot (most goals, there was a tie so the tie-breaker of assists was used): Thomas Müller (Germany) - 5 goals (3 assists)
Golden Gloves (best goalie): Iker Casillas (Spain)
Golden Ball (best player): Diego Forlan (Uruguay)
World Cup 2014 will be in Brazil.
Best blog ever. Put some Whaler stuff on here and it's extra points!
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