First and foremost I would like to congratulate all the fans of both Germany and Argentina. I mean it. Both teams deserve to be in the Final. One of the teams has shown very good football, the other has done what is necessary to move on in the tournament.
ARGH!!! I kinda hate this Final... hated it in 86 and hated it again in 90. This time, however, I am a bit more tolerant. It must be my age. Perhaps Argentina will finally win a World Cup without cheating (86) or buying an opponent (78). Plus, its hard not to like Messi, just like it was hard to like Maradona.... Perhaps Germany will now win with a team that actually plays really exciting football, with great team work but allowing for tons of individual creativity.
I am still shell shocked by what happened to Brazil. I am sure very few people that actually watched all the games with no emotional stake would have expected Brazil to win the cup. No one, however, expected the thrashing the team received yesterday. It may actually be a good thing for Brazilian soccer. Jogo Bonito now belongs to Germany and Colombia! Brazil needs to reclaim ownership of that style as well.
One final thought: Many of us thought the group stage of this Cup was memorable for its goals, excitement and overall fun. Well, the knock-out stages have been anything but exciting and fun.... frankly, with few exceptions, most games have been so tactical that excitement has been very scarce.
