World Cup!!!

[steve]

Holland over Spain 2-0.

As a spaniard, I completely disagree and hope that it's the opposite :-)

(Besides, the octopus Paul said that we'll win - go Paul!)

I've just added octopus ceviche to Saturday's menu.

[Claudie]

That stupid octopus. *grumbles grumbles* I'm still going to cheer for the Netherlands, and 2-0 would make me happy. I'd more expect a 2-1, though.

[Bryan Russell/Ink]

Gotta love those 3rd place games. Always entertaining. Comes down to a crossbar in the final second... good stuff.

[Matthew MacNish]

Gotta love those 3rd place games. Always entertaining. Comes down to a crossbar in the final second... good stuff.

I only caught the second half but I was pleasantly surprised by how entertaining the action was. I do have to disagree with Ian Darke though. I don't blame the fans one iota for booing Saurez. He cheated Ghana out of the win, hands down - or up rather.

[Nick]

Great game so far. Dutch are playing better, but not significantly so. Still believe Spain can win this. Round of 16 was won with a late-ish goal against Portugal after level at the half. Quarter final was won with a late goal against Paraguay after level at the half. Semifinal was won with a late-ish goal against Germany at the half. Only five minutes into the second half now and the Spanish have kept the Dutch off the scoresheet. Granted, the Dutch have kept the Spanish off as well, but this has very much been Spain's game since the knockout phase began.

[Heather B]

Wow... Unlucky buggers. Good game, though.

[Claudie]

ARRGH. Aaaagh. *breathes* Okay, they lost and I am sad. And I would have loved to see that famous denied corner, but I'm not sure it'd have made a difference.

Does anyone knows who David Arque is? Iniesta had "David Arque siempre con nosotros" and I'm wondering if it's someone famous, but I couldn't find anything on our friend the net.

[Bryan Russell/Ink]

Ah, the beautiful game...

Iniesta was brilliant, and that was a worthy goal to end this thing. Gotta feel bad for the Dutch, though. They really played great. And certainly brought some muscle to the game. Really, both sides were worthy. I'm just sad the games are done. No more football! Say it ain't so...

[xouba]

YEEEEEEAAAAAAAHHHH BAAAAABYYYYYY!!!!!!! WORLD CHAMPIONS!!!

At last. At last, after so many years. You can't (or maybe you can) imagine the din on the streets: makeshift vuvuzelas are everywhere, cars are honking, people are shouting "¡Campeones!". Men, women, children, everyone is on the streets.

Tonight will be a long, long, looooooong night in Spain :-)

PS: And in case someone had doubts, Paul the octopus was right again!

[Nick]

Fine result for the Spaniards. European champions two years ago, and now the greatest title of them all. Fine footballing nation finally getting the honours they deserve. Of course I would have loved to see the English in this, especially see them lift it, but I can't begrudge Spain any. The lads played well. Am worried about El Nino, though. Dogged by injuries last season, finally back from his latest injury and steadily getting his form back, and now he's gone and been injured again tonight when our first pre-season friendly is on Saturday. Afraid this one ahead may be another rough season for him.

And the Dutch fans really should be thankful to Webb. Webb really did his best to help both teams out. Any other ref would've sent de Jong off for going all Karate Kid on Xabi, and there were a few other places where things could have turned out more ugly for the Dutch.

In the end, great game. Great result. And I wish I was in Spain because there will be some fantastic partying.

[xouba]

Does anyone knows who David Arque is? Iniesta had "David Arque siempre con nosotros" and I'm wondering if it's someone famous, but I couldn't find anything on our friend the net.

To be precise (and to ease Google searches), it was "Dani Jarque". He was a spanish football player that had a heart attack in his hotel room during the pre-season, in August of 2009. He played in the Espanyol, and he was only 26 years old. He had been just chosen to be the captain of the team. It was a tragedy for spanish football.

I've just found that there's a wikipedia entry for him: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Jarque

[Claudie]

To be precise (and to ease Google searches), it was "Dani Jarque". He was a spanish football player that had a heart attack in his hotel room during the pre-season, in August of 2009. He played in the Espanyol, and he was only 26 years old. He had been just chosen to be the captain of the team. It was a tragedy for spanish football.

I've just found that there's a wikipedia entry for him: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Jarque

Hee, thanks! I must have misread the shirt. Iniesta was, after all, running around with it, and it had folds. :) It's such an awesome thing to wear at the final.

[Matthew MacNish]

The guys from work and I watched it at the Taco Mac in Alpharetta and though I was quite sad to see Holland lose it was still a blast! There were hundreds of people in orange at the bar and even some actual men speaking dutch! One lady even had an orange Vuvuzela!

Good times were had by all.

[Bryan Russell/Ink]

So who else is going through withdrawal? I've been kicking a stuffed soccer ball around the house while puffing on a little tin whistle. Tweet. Foul. Free kick. Off the lampshade.

[Nick]

So who else is going through withdrawal? I've been kicking a stuffed soccer ball around the house while puffing on a little tin whistle. Tweet. Foul. Free kick. Off the lampshade.

Eh, Liverpool's pre-season starts on Saturday, now that the heat is down I can play football with friends again, and I've got FIFA 10 for when the heat rockets up. My football addiction is covered.

If you mean tournament withdrawal, there's not much in 2011 unless you want to watch the Women's World Cup or the Copa America or something. However, there's Euro 2012, the 2013 Confederations Cup, and the 2014 World Cup all on the heels of one another. With qualification for all of these taking place between August/September and differing amounts of time before the events. Heck, qualification amongst confederations is spread out. UEFA don't begin qualification for Brazil '14 until after Euro 2012, however Oceania's will begin with the 2011 Pacific Games. And then some confederations, like our own CONCACAF have yet to announce when exactly it will be. And actually, the group stage of qualification for Euro 2012 begins on 3 September. After this result I'm sort of hoping Spain will earn their third Euro title and their third major honor in a short span.

Personally I'm ecstatic. Always am, really.