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It’s hard to
believe that the World cup final is here. It has been an interesting
one month in South Africa and I truly can’t imagine a better organised
tournament. Contrary to all the negative reports from the European
journalists on security, incomplete stadia, etc, prior to the World
Cup, South Africa has pulled off a remarkable feat. I hope those
journalists will now bow their heads in shame. FIFA must be proud even
though this is probably not the final pairing they wanted.

A World Cup final
without the ‘big four’? Who would have thought so? Personally, I love
the fact that today, a new winner will emerge. Who will it be? My heart
goes to the men in orange. They have been perennial underachievers, and
considering Spain are the current European champions, it would be nice
for the Netherlands to finally win a trophy.

Its crunch time and
you hear all sorts of predictions, to the extent that an animal is
involved in the World Cup. You must love the game of football. An
Octopus named Paul has become the most famous animal amongst football
fans. Octopus Paul rightly predicted the outcome of the semi-final
match between Germany and Spain. It’s all quite hilarious.

Not too long ago,
two years ago to be precise, Rafael Nadal won his first Wimbledon
title, dethroning then five-time champion Roger Federer, making him the
first man since Borg to win the French open and the Wimbledon titles.
The same year Nadal won his first Wimbledon title, his country, Spain,
became champions of Europe. Two weeks ago, Nadal won his second
Wimbledon title and Spain of course are in the World Cup final for the
first time. Nadal himself is a passionate football lover and a diehard
Real Madrid fan; I can almost bet anything that he will be at the
stadium later today. Perhaps the wonder boy of Spain will bring them
the title once again. We shall find out in a few hours.

Nadal or no Nadal, the ‘orange boys’ are not joking.

The key man on the
team, Wesley Sneijder, who happens to be my player of the tournament,
has consistently demonstrated his importance to the team by scoring
crucial goals at crucial moments. He is playing like he has a point to
prove. Why not? After all, Real Madrid didn’t think he was good enough;
they off loaded him and Arjen Robben for Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka,
for the most ridiculous of amounts.

Talk about ‘the
stone that was rejected becoming the chief corner stone’. He couldn’t
have asked for a better year, coming from winning the treble with Inter
Milan, he is in the World Cup final and to crown it all, may win the
golden boot today, and he is set to be married to one of Holland’s
hottest TV stars next week. Could life get any better?

Captain, Van
Bronkhorst, will end his career as a footballer today. He scored the
opening goal against Uruguay. I truly hope that he can finish his
career on a high.

Their opponents
today boast an array of skilful players, with most of the team playing
for Barcelona. In fact, against Germany, seven Barcelona players
started the match. Their passes were so sublime that you could see
‘Catalunya’ written all over. Star striker, David Villa, believes Spain
have shown throughout this tournament that they are able to produce
their best when needed. “We’ve shown that in the big moments, we’ve
risen to the occasion,” Villa said.

Like Sneijder,
Villa himself is a contender for the golden boot. Thirty-two-year-old
Puyol for me has been the best central defender in the tournament and
it was rewarding that his header helped his team to the final. He
showed the German young guns what experience can bring. Iker Casillas
made some brilliant saves also from the young Germans but the Spanish
side were unstoppable. They dominated possession as we have seen all
through the tournament. One thing I noticed though is they never take
their chances. Against Swizerland, they had 14 shots on goal and didn’t
convert any. The Swiss had two shots on goal and they took one. If they
do not take their chances against the Dutch today, they will be
punished.

I see free flowing football today, and as much as I want the orange
boys to lift the trophy, I would like to see good football; after all
it is the World Cup final.