Netherlands vs Spain Final: Dream Matchup?

[Bigun]

Important update on our favorite South American Bird...

Larissa Riquelme became a worldwide internet sensation after photographers captured her -- and her cleavage -- enthusiastically following Paraguay as it made the quarter-finals of the tournament in South Africa.


She originally pledged to run naked through the streets of the capital Asuncion if Paraguay won the World Cup. This later became if it reached the final -- and then if it reached the semi-final. And it now appears a quarter-final defeat at the hands of Spain was enough for her to strip down.


"It will be a present to all of the players, and for all the people in Paraguay to enjoy, because they tried as hard as possible and gave it their all on the field," she said.

AN exact date has not been announced...

 

[Reccos]

Netherlands if prepared better than Germany are my choice here.

Spain players have the most incentive to win I suspect. Apparently 600,000 pounds for a win in the final and a meager 120,000 pounds just being in the final. Wonder what the Dutch players are into the game for?

The Dutch expected to lose and didn't even have hotel rooms booked past July 5 so they were scrambling.

The country for the final is huge!




World Cup title worth $31 million
December 3, 2009

Associated Press

ROBBEN ISLAND, South Africa -- The winning team at next year's World Cup will get $31 million in prize money.

FIFA said Thursday the overall prize pool to be divided between the 32 participating nations will be $420 million, a 60 percent increase from the $261.4 million it paid out at the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

Each team will receive $1 million for preparation costs. The winner will get an additional $30 million, the runner-up $24 million, semifinal losers $20 million, quarterfinal losers $18 million, second-round losers $9 million and first-round losers $8 million.

In 2006, when Swiss francs were used, the advance payment was 1 million Swiss francs ($787,000). The winner received $19.3 million, the runner-up $17.7 million, semifinal losers $16.9 million, quarterfinal losers $9.1 million, second-round losers $6.7 million and first-round losers $5.5 million.

In addition, $40 million was set aside to pay clubs, through national associations, for the participation of their players.

Last time, 15 million Swiss francs ($11.8 million) was put in an insurance fund to compensate clubs if their players got hurt.

 

[Captain Shamrock]

At this stage, I don't see money as being an incentive for any of the players........neither country has won this massive tournament and they want nothing more than to parade the World Cup in their country. Having said that, I think too many people are getting carried away with the Dutch 'total soccer'. If you look at their games this year(and it is why they are in the final) they have first and foremost gone out to defend first and attack second. Their 4 - 2 - 3 - 1 set-up in group play and the round of 16 match showed this. They have not been taking many chances on the attack and have relied on the counter-attack far more than in the past. Having said that, they obviously have the players who can do it. I'm not sold on Heiteger and Van Bronckhorst which is likely why they have adapted this system. Don't get me wrong, the Netherlands deserve to be there but I believe it has due to their cautious approach as opposed to the past. It has worked.

Spain looks dangerous everytime they get the ball. I still believe their midfield is as good as anyones in the tournament but they do bomb their outside backs forward a lot more than the Netherlands......they also line up in a 4 - 2 - 3 - 1 for the most part and usually when two teams play this formation, there is very little room in midfield. It would surprise me one bit if the Netherlands won this game but I believe Spain will squeak this out in regulation at 1 - 0 or 2 - 1. Let's also think about when the Netherlands have scored most of their goals in the tournament.

Besides, from my initial 10 pretournament bets, I had Spain to win and Villa to win the golden boot. I would like to see Netherlands win but at the same time, my account says Spain and Villa all the way.

 

[knvb]

It's already been decided.

Damn German Calamari

The Associated Press: Octopus oracle picks Spain to win World Cup

 

[italian_stallion21]

But the octopus only predicts German games though, so its cool.