The Three Dads World Cup Wonderland

The reality of life without World Cup is dawning upon me. As I sat enjoying the Spain v Germany semi final I realised that the three day break until the final would then develop into a full 2 year gap until the next major tournament. The structure of my evenings will take on a new form. I will presumably have to step up and take the responsibilities of a normal husband, rather than those of a cocooned oaf, who gets home, fiddles with the telly and settles for a 4-6 hour festival of vuvuzela fun. There's one last hurrah, a final between the two strongest and most resilient teams in the tournament. Spain are like a boa constrictor. With their passing they slowly, and deceptively paralyse their prey, passing, passing, passing, ever tightening their grip on the game before finally delivering the killer blow. Holland likewise have looked strong if not completely convincing. They have enough flair players to pose a threat. I expect Spain will do the business and confirm themselves ...

No need to watch the game tomorrow. In a rather pessimistic move, Paul, the psychic octupus has turned on his team. He reckons the Germans will lose. I think that Paul is starting to play mind games with the Spanish.... I'm going to go against the concensus from the aquatic footie experts, acknowledge the fact that Spain look suspect at the back, and Germany have destroyed both England and Argentina, also safe in the knowledge that if it goes to pens, there's only one winner. Germany v Holland final, making it much clearer for me as to which team to cheer for on Sunday... Yup Yup!

Writing after the Dutch semi-final... Birchy, hats off to your predo at the outset of the tournament.... would have got a decent price at that pt for a NL v ESP final. Many random thoughts from another engaging game.... - Had taken the day off (and tomorrow) to devote to the games... only to be met with a NYC heatwave. 103 degrees meant I did not leave my air conditioned man cave, but suspect it was nuts (and sweaty) in the Dutch bars in town - There's another party in Ruud's hotel room tonight - Did all of the goalkeepers review "Diego Forlan, the Man Utd years" when researching their Uruguayan opponents? This is the only explanation for every goal he has scored this summer being the result of goalies thinking.... "ahh, he's not going to score from there......sshiiiittt!" Kudus though for being the only player to really tame the Jubalani - The Dutch starting to actually look like the Dutch for 20 mins in the second half, with Van de Vaart in the te...

Think you're right Birchy , fatigue is starting to set in on the blogosphere ... which by no means correlates to my enjoyment of the world cup - far from it. I thought the quarters were all great: Holland v Brazil: A frantic match and amazing eye opener as the greatest team on earth imploded the minute they conceded a freak goal. They say dogs look like their owners, and this Brazil team quickly mimicked their emotional jack in a box coach, completely lost the plot and lost their place in the tournament. Someone made Robinho wear a Man City shirt under his Brazil jersey in the second half also. Uruguay v Ghana: There's not a single player who would have not done exactly what Suarez did in this game. However, I'm just glad the media didn't pick up on the fact that my hard earned cash was on Uruguay being eliminated at the quarter final stage (yes, I had thought it would be England beating them at this stage.... hmm ), as this clearly was the final burden for Ghana tha...

So we're down to the final four and I think Stevey and I are as weary as some of the players. Posting on blogs takes its toll too. So to keep it short and sweet. Expect a Spain vs Holland final - see 'predictions' post from 11 June :o)) I expect Uruguay to bow out, missing their volleyball expert Suarez; and the Germans to come up against a strong Spain side that even when not firing on all cylinders; are still a fearsome prospect.