Who makes the finals?

[SlavikSvensk]

you mean the poll when everyone said they thought germany would win? logically, it did look that way, based on the quarters performance. but i couldn't help but think spain posed a different kind of threat than argentina or england. you know, the kind that knows how to play defense! but my head kept saying "hold on there, you're really going to back spain over germany?! history FTW?!"

but once paul said his piece, i knew my gut was right. as we said on the first page:

Muller misses the Germany game. So i think thats a big plus for Spain.

tell you what i'll go for for Spain.

spain, unlike argentina or england, can play defense, and they've got he best attacking midfielder in the game in xabi. still wary of their ability to put it in the net, as well as their lack of "bottle," as dy pointed out. but hey...the octopus is on board, so that clinches it for me.

germany feels like brazil to me right now...they're incredibly talented and are punking fools but mainly by piling it on when they already have the lead. what happens if they're down a goal, or it's 0-0 late and spain are hogging the ball? mueller is out, which isn't a deal breaker for germany but will hurt. some of the other guys are young and may not have figured out how to handle a dogfight yet.

it feels strange...almost hallucinatory...to pick a wobbly spanish side over an ass-kicking germany one, but it just feels right.

think all those predictions came to pass. spain were really dominant in every way except putting the goal in the net. if pedro was a little less selfish, it would have been 2-0. of course germany did have a few good chances and never gave up. but as DY said, germany missed Mueller and couldn't crack the spanish defense. the best side on the pitch today won.

plus the officiating was actually good for once!

[C.O.Prodigy]

plus the officiating was actually good for once!

Agreed.