Farewell to the King
By Ulysse Pasquier, writing from Paris
Thierry Henry announced on Thursday to the American press that he was putting an end to his international career and that the loss against South Africa was his last game with “l’Équipe de France”. We had expected the 32-year-old to make this move after a excruciating season highlighted by controversy, injuries and bench-warming for the former Barcelona striker, who just signed a 4-and-a-half-year contract with the New York Red Bulls. Although they were only half-surprising, both news came as a shock to me as it marks the end of a generation. The Arsenal legend was the last survivor of the French team who won the World Cup back in 1998 and I feel this is the sad ending to a wonderful career for one of the best strikers we have ever had the pleasure to watch.
The Team Of The Tournament
By Dominic Vieira, Writing from Portugal
It wasn’t easy selecting the best XI from the World Cup, especially because many players performed at such a high level. This squad plays under the 4-3-3 formation, the winning tactic used by the Spanish national team and its not a surprise that the team is dominated by them.
Casillas (Spain): The Spanish captain was a key player in the team, conceding 2 goals in 7 matches, defending a Paraguayan penalty and stopping Arjen Robben twice in the final. He was outstanding and a top performer, and it’s no wonder that Spaniards are now calling him San Iker!
Honourable mentions: Eduardo (Portugal), Stekelenburg (Netherlands)
Spain Are Kings Of The World!
By Dominic Vieira, writing from Portugal
The world has been painted red and yellow! Andres Iniesta made history last night scoring the winning goal in the grand final against the Netherlands in front of 85,000 at Soccer City, Johannesburg. The 26-year-old majestically controlled a sublime Fabregas pass in the 116th before blasting the ball in the back of Stekelenburg’s goal. It was a very close battle between two strong, organised, and collective European sides.
The best and most consistent team won their first ever World Cup trophy which was lifted by Iker Casillas, the best goalkeeper of the tournament.
The Netherlands were not able to make it 3 times lucky after successive defeats in 74 and 78. Overall their performance was sub par; they defended well but rarely caused danger for Iker Casillas as they had several problems organizing and constructing scoring opportunities. However, Arjen Robben was the best Dutch player of the night. He had a golden chance to score in the second half but his was one vs one attempt was brilliantly saved by the Spanish captain. The Orange never managed to find their rhythm and most of the time were defending with 10 players, Kuyt was constantly playing as a left back. The Netherlands will continue being known as the best football nation to have never won the tournament, 2014 will be on their minds.
To be honest, it was not Spain’s top performance either. The Dutch closed them down in most of the times which made it hard for them to play their “tiki-taka” passing game, however they dominated both halves. The Orange managed to block the spaces where the likes of Xavi and Iniesta pass the ball to which made them focus passing the ball down the flanks, Sergio Ramos was a constant threat. David Villa, one of the tournament’s best player was playing in a central position instead of his preferred left side. His position and the aggressive marking from the centre-backs made it challenging for him to make an impact on the pitch. He was not able to become the tournament’s top goalscorer, instead Thomas Müller did for Germany. Spain are a complete team which have been playing top class football 4 years.
NED vs SPA: The Grand European Final
By Dominic Vieira, writing from Portugal
The whole world stops on Sunday the 11th at 19:30PM GMT to turn their attention to one nation. One nation which has represented a unique continent filled with a myriad of passion, happiness, colour, music, love and devotion for the most popular sport on earth, football. The World Cup final kicks off where the competition started; at Soccer City in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Not a soul will want miss the clash between European giants Netherlands and the almighty Spain. Neither of the teams have won lifted the World Cup, Spain are playing in their first final where as the Netherlands are aiming to make it 3 times lucky after losing consecutive finals in 74 and 78. Either Casillas or Van Bronckhorst will be holding the most desired cup and making history as they as part of the first European nation to win the tournament outside of Europe. Can this final get more exciting?
Despite an African team not fulfilling the greatest dream, playing in the first World Cup final on African soil, the locals will not plan on missing the grand final and will certainly create a beautiful atmosphere amongst the 94,000 spectators. This match is not a one sided game and as it is a final, neither team can be labelled as the favourite.
