SpainTheir Story So Far - Spain won Group H on goal difference after two wins and one loss. The Spaniards had a very shaky start to the 2010 World Cup, being beaten one nil by Switzerland. Spain started off very unconvincingly and Switzerland were surprisingly dominant throughout the game, Spain's luck then went from bad to worse when Gelson Fernandes scored the winner fifty-two minutes in. Spain cleaned up their act for their next game, though and comfortably beat Honduras two nil, thanks to David Villa. They needed to win their last group match to qualify and the Spaniards got off to a great start, going two ahead before half-time, but Chile pulled one back in the early stages of the first-half. The Red Furies then faced rivals, Portugal, in a game that was expected to be exciting and close-cut, but the Spaniards completely outclassed Portugal, beating the Portuguese one nil, thanks to David Villa, again. Another one nil victory thanks to David Villa came in the quarter-final, where Barcelona's new signing hit home a late winner to secure his team a place in the semis.
Star Players - David Villa, Carlos Puyol and Xavi Hernandes Top Scorer of the Tournament - David Villa - 4 goals FIFA Ranking - 2 Colours - Blue, Yellow and Red Home Stadium - N /A Home Stadium - N /A Manager - Vincente del Bosque Captain - Iker Casillas Most Capped Player - Andoni Zubizarreta - 126 caps Top Goalscorer - Raul - 44 goals Honours - European Championship - 1962, 20 |
GermanyTheir Story So Far - The Germans also topped their group, but with just two wins in three games. They started their World Cup campaign brilliantly, defeating the Socceroos four goals to nil after contributions from Mueller, Cacau, Podolski and the Golden Boot winner of the 2006 World Cup, Miroslav Klose. They then faced shock defeat at the hands of Min Jovanovic and Serbia. But Germany bounced back in their final group game, beating fellow qualifiers, Ghana, thanks to Mesut Ozil. Germany looked to have a tough game ahead going into the first knock-out round, but were pleasantly surprised by England. The Three Lions put on an embarassing display with their terrible finishing and even worse defending. The Germans beat England comfortably four to one after goals from Mueller, Podolski and Klose, though England will feel hard done by because of Frank Lampard's unnoticed goal, but Germany definitely outclassed the English in Bloemfountain. Germany then went on to steamrolled over Argentina, beating them four nil, thanks to Klose, Mueller and Friedrich.
Star Players - Thomas Mueller, Bastian Schweinstieger and Philipp Lahm Top Scorer of the Tournament - Thomas Mueller - 3 goals FIFA Ranking - 6 Colours - White, Red, Yellow and Black Home Stadium - N /A Manager - Joachim Low Captain - Philipp Lahm ( cover for Michael Ballack ) Most Capped Player - Lothar Matthaus - 150 caps Top Goalscorer - Gerd Muller - 68 goals Honours - FIFA Word Cup - 1954, 1974, 1990 European Cup - 1972, 1980, 1996 |