Tom's Corner

MATCH 64: NETHERLANDS v SPAIN

The Netherlands will play their third World Cup Final in history, but for European Champions Spain it will surprisingly be only their first.

Holland have lost twice against the host country before - In 1974 they lost 2-1 against Germany and in 1978 3-1 against Argentina. Will it now be third time lucky for Oranje?

MATCH 63: URUGUAY v GERMANY

The history of the ‘small’ Final has never been very interesting. A lot of countries have played their last game for the third place at a World Cup with their ‘second’ choice players - players who didn’t get play-time or much play-time, so that they can at least get some World Cup minutes in this match.

Four years ago Germany took the match more seriously when they beat Portugal and came third, but they played on home soil and had to give a good performance in front of their home fans.

MATCH 61: URUGUAY v HOLLAND

The first semi-final is one between the surprise package of the tournament Uruguay against one of the favourites Holland.

Uruguay is the only South American team to make it to this stage of the tournament, after big brothers as Brazil and Argentina were sent packing in the quarterfinals.

Uruguay will fall back on a good defense and strong attackers. For the game against Holland they will definitely miss their red-carded striker (and occasional goalkeeper) Luis Suarez and maybe the leader of the defense Diego Lugano due an injury.

MATCH 59: ARGENTINA v GERMANY

This quarterfinal between Argentina and Germany is the real final of the tournament. Till now the 19th World Cup has been known for boring football and especially for the disappointing performances of the favourites, but Argentina and Germany have been the only big footballing nations who have lived up to their reputations as favourites.

MATCH 57: HOLLAND v BRAZIL

Holland v Brazil will be one of the big games of this World Cup. Both teams have a big history when we talk about World Cup finals. Holland twice lost the final against the host country in 1974 (Germany) and 1978 (Argentina), while Brazil is the only country to win the World Cup on five occasions.

The first World Cup on African soil isn’t a successful one for most of the African teams and it isn’t a surprise to me. In a column for the Belgian Football magazine “Sport/Voetbalmagazine” I wrote six weeks ago that I didn’t expect any of the African countries to shine at this World Cup except for Ghana and maybe Algeria. Why?

First I will start with the hosts South Africa, a country what wasn’t able to qualify for the last African Nations Cup in Angola in January. So if a country isn’t good enough for the best 16 of Africa, what can you expect at the World Cup?

MATCH 55: PARAGUAY v JAPAN

Paraguay is one of the many Latin-American countries that has displayed its strong qualities at this World Cup.

Paraguay surprisingly won their group after beating Slovakia and drawing against New Zealand and Italy. Five points were enough to become the group winners and that could be a sign that they aren’t that special.

MATCH 53: HOLLAND v SLOVAKIA

One of the favourites for the World Cup, Holland, won their group without any difficulties as victories against Denmark, Japan and Cameroon gave them a maximum nine points from three games.

The atmosphere is good in the Dutch team and coach Bert Van Marwijk seems to have selected a homogenous group with a lot of attacking qualities. The only question is whether they can also be strong in defence when necessary, the problem ‘Oranje’ always have after the group stages in a big tournament.

MATCH 51: GERMANY v ENGLAND

This game could be a final for many people and it will be sad that one of these big footballing nations will have to leave the tournament so soon.

Germany started brilliantly with a 4-0 victory against Australia, but then surprisingly lost 1-0 to Serbia, before securing qualification with a 1-0 victory against Ghana.

This German team has played attractive offensive football and is definitely one of the favourites for the title.

MATCH 49: URUGUAY v SOUTH KOREA

Uruguay qualified as group winner in a group with France, Mexico and South Africa. Their victories against South Africa and Mexico plus a draw against France showed the real strength of the South Americans who can rely on a strong defense, while they have strong attacking qualities with players like Diego Forlan and Luis Suarez.