[al-Sagar]

so finally we have arrived at the semifinal stage. from 32 nations we are down to the last 4. these are the last 4 teams to be involved.

URUGUAY: ranked 16 in World. Two time world champs. though in ancient time 1930 and 1950. they had quite a easy run upto this point. except for France (who were extremely poor) they haven't face any big guns so far. perhaps Netherlands in the semi will be their biggest test. can they take one more step and go to the finals and fight for their 3rd championship ????

NETHERLANDS: ranked 4 in world. the inventors of total football. they played the finals in 1974 and 1978 but lost both times. since then they have once been in the semis and lost and eventually was 4th in 1998. The Dutch previously had very good teams with good teams but never made a good run in world cups. this time after very easy games initially they surprised all beating brazil in the quarters although still havent really played good like the "clockwork orange" or "the flying Dutchmen". but may be finally this is the year.

GERMANY: ranked 6. no need to introduce the 3 time world champs Germany who now are the favorites to win the world cup for sure. injuries to ballack and rolfes was a blessing in disguise. as it Loew had to play the young attacking minded players like oezil, muellar into the squad and they have been purely inspirational along with another young player khedira and the experienced pros like klose, schweinsteiger, podolski, lahm, mertasacker, friedrich. if they continue the way they have demolished Argentina and England in recent games, there is no stopping Germany.

SPAIN: ranked 2 by FIFA. perhaps the biggest underachiever in World Football is Spain. always had some talented players in there team but always failed in the big stage. but the current generation looks a bit different. after the Euro success in 2008 they look they mean business in this World Cup. already they have qualified in the semis which surprisingly is their first time here. but they now have a high flying Germany, but surely on their day Spain can beat Germany. may be this time Spain can let all those disappointments behind them and get some glory