1 by Joachim Low's side. Choosing to play defensively against Spain played into Vincente del Bosque's plans as La Roja played cat and mouse with their European rivals all game long. The turning pointįrom the opening kickoff, Germany was content to let Spain control possession of the game - mistake No. Germany will play Uruguay for third place on Saturday in Port Elizabeth's Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium (CBC, CBCSports.ca, 2:00 p.m. Spain and the Netherlands, two teams looking for their first World Cup crown, will battle for the big prize at Johannesburg's Soccer City Stadium on July 11 (CBC, CBCSports.ca, 12:30 p.m. Germany, the three-time world champions, were making their third straight trip to the World Cup semifinals, but just as in 2006, they are headed for the consolation game. The Spaniards now have a chance to shed that choker label and finally win the big prize. Euro 2008 was the side's first major title in 44 years. 2 in the world, and has only lost three of its last 56 games, it is still considered the great underachiever on the international soccer stage for bowing out in the early stages of its other 12 World Cup appearances. That play could have proved costly had Germany been able to put an equalizer past Iker Casillas.Īs for Spain, though it won Euro 2008, is ranked No. Pedro chose to go for goal himself instead of passing off to Torres, and the scoring chance was broken up. Spain could have padded its lead in the dying minutes of the game as Pedro and substitute Fernando Torres stormed into the German end on a 2-on-1. Instead of Germany's magnificent midfield of Mesut Oezil, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Sami Khedira taking control of this match as they have in so many games in the tournament, it was their opponents in red who gladly grabbed the reins.įor Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Pedro and Xabi Alonso, it was an easy-breezy day on the pitch, so much so that Spain did not need tournament-leader scorer David Villa to bail them out in the end. Germany, playing without breakout star Thomas Mueller, who was forced to sit out this match because of a suspension, didn't look like the same high-flying team that scored a tournament-leading 13 goals in five games. Spain dictated the pace of this match from the opening kickoff, starving the Germans of possession and tiring their opponents with their textbook tika-taka soccer, a fast-paced, pass-and-move style of game. Spain upended Germany 1-0 on a second-half Carles Puyol goal to put La Roja just one win away from raising its first World Cup trophy. If you can't catch the show live, you can watch the show on-demand by CLICKING HERE. Log on to CBCSports.ca and tune in to Bold (CBC's digital channel) every day at 4:30 pm ET for the CBC World Cup Post-game Show presented by CIBC for a daily wrap-up of the day's news, with match highlights and analysis.
0 kommentar(er)
