World Cup 2010 : Netherlands , Uruguay book Semis slots

World Cup 2010 : Netherlands , Uruguay book Semis slots
images from Getty/video from YouTube


Europe vs South America !

Yes! World Cup 2010 fans are going to see a Europe vs South America match in the first Semis on July 7 in Cape Town!

As expected , Uruguay, the much higher seed based on FIFA World rankings, beat Ghana!

But not after the game had to be settled on penalty shootouts (0-0,e.t.0-1,1-1)(PSO 4-2)! The Black Stars of Ghana struck gold first on Sulley Muntari's curling shot blasted from 38 yards at extra time in the first half. Uruguay , however, equalized on Diego Forlan's free-kick near the left corner in the 55th minute that fooled GK Kingson.


Regulation ended with the game still undecided at 1-1 ; thus ,it went to extra time !

Ghana missed the chance to win the match in extra time after Gyan 's penalty kick in the dying seconds just hit and flew past the bar.The penalty kick was awarded after a Suarez intentional ball slap at the goal mouth, as shown in the following video:



With the game still at 1 all after thirty minutes of extra time, it then went to penalty shoot outs that settled the final score at 4-2 mainly on successful saves by Uruguayan keeper Muslera .


Joy and sorrow!

In the Netherlands - Brazil match , it seemed that the Dutch started the game with a man less as its defense was harassed by Brazil's frenetic and unceasing offensive juggernaut right from kick-off! After a series of threatening passes ,a beautiful lead pass to Robinho from midfield enabled him to pierce through the heart of Dutch defense and gave Brazil the go-ahead goal only ten minutes in the game!


Felipe Melo after a sorry own-goal header and a red-card

The Dutch, however, never gave up and fought back to level the count at 1 all after Sneijder blasted from far up in the left that was accidentally headed in by Melo in the 53rd! With the match tied , the Dutch regained their confidence while Brazil lost not only its focus but also its swagger ! It was anybody's game from thereon . Sneijder then headed the winner off Kuyt's back flip header from a Robben corner kick with 22 minutes remaining to give the Netherlands its Semis ticket to the dismay of the cocky and over confident Brazilians! Compounding Brazil's problem was the ejection of Felipe Melo after foot stamping a Dutch player( Robben?) not long after Sneijder's header.

Sneijder celebrating his winning header

And so , its going to be the Netherlands against Uruguay for the first Semis match on July 7 at Cape Town!

In the meantime ,for the rest of the Quarters, it's efficient Germany against smooth-playing Argentina at 10 pm tonight ! Later, in Johannesburg at 2:30 am on July 4, it's going to be heavyweight Spain against unfancied but tough Paraguay!

It's going to be another thriller between Germany and Argentina. Germany is the slight favorite for this match although Argentina may draw inspiration from Brazil's loss to move on to the Semis ! Spain should breeze through Paraguay for a historic game against either Germany or Argentina on July 8 in Durban!

So what's your call for tonight's games?