In spite of my many detractors, my prediction came to be: Spain beat Germany today and thus the final game on Sunday will be Spain versus the Netherlands. And to pat myself further, the way they won their semi final match is quite close of the way I envisioned it.
To cheer you up, in a little while I will put a poll up. And my prediction is that Spain will win even though my heart is with the Oranje. But do not trust me, I am not Paul! (You need to be a fan to understand that last one :) )
PS: on June 7 I am on record predicting Spain. Even if they do not fulfill my prophecy next Sunday I will have at least placed them in the final game. Some of you may start eating crow whenever....
Paul should be appointed planning minister
ReplyDeleteBut do not trust me, I am not Paul! (You need to be a fan to understand that last one :) )
ReplyDeleteAnd even some fans still don´t know him, errmm it
In Spain we have many recipes for Paul:
ReplyDeletePulpo a la Gallega, al ajillo, en escabeche, a la plancha, al horno, en su propia tinta, frito con papita..
Carlos I.
Thanks for the opportunity to vote.
ReplyDeleteI'm for the team that Hugo is against. I'm sure that team will win!
ja ja ja
Patrick
It's interesting that within team dynamics varies tremendously between games. Spain was definitely the better team, but the Germany they defeated was not the same Germany that easily defeated Argentina and England. Did the absence of Mueller make such a big difference? I don't know. It obviously hurt Germany, but I don't know by how much. It was a pleasure to watch at the end of the game the good feelings between Spanish and German players: Spaniards consoling Germans and Germans congratulating Spaniards--a class act that is becoming rarer. If Spain plays the way it did against Germany, Spain will win the cup.
ReplyDeleteAnd hats off to Uruguay. I thought Netherlands deserved to win by a squeaker, which is what the 3-2 result turned out to be, but Uruguay dominated much of the game. Forlan is definitely among the three best players in this cup. At the end Netherlands deserved the win, but barely. The absence of Suarez definitely hurt Uruguay. And also the absence of Lugano.
Whom am I rooting for? I don't know. I don't remember a World Cup semifinal in which I sympathized with all four teams, but this is what happened to me this world cup: I liked the teams of Germany, Netherlands, Spain and Uruguay, and was sorry that two of them had to lose. The same with the final. I like both teams and feel sorry that one of them will have to lose. My head says that Spain will win, but my heart does not want either one of them to lose.
Yes, that Paul stumped me too. I agree with you, though, Daniel, Spain are going to be exceedingly difficult to beat; they just never give the ball away. The Dutch will have lots of fans in SA but I can't see them winning unless they get an early goal and then a lot of luck in defending for the rest of the match.
ReplyDeletePaul the Octopus has predicted Spain to beat Netherlands, nuff said!
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