Final Score - WC2010 Semifinal, Germany vs Netherlands

Tuesday 6th July 2010 - Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town - Att. 62,479
Referee: Ravshan Irmatov (Uzbekistan)

LINEUPS:
Germany (451): Neuer, Lahm, Boateng, Friedrich (Tasci 72'), Mertesacher (Marin 52'), Schweinsteiger, Oezil, Khedira, Klose (Cacau 86'), Podolski, Mueller
Netherlands (451): Stekelenberg, van der Wiel (Ooijer 60'), van Bronckhorst, Heitinga, Mathijsen, de Jong, Sneijder (de Zeeuw 29'), van Bommel, van Persie (Boulahrouz 81'), Huntelaar, Robben

The Netherlands had more reshuffling in their lineup due to suspensions. Nigel de Jong returns after missing the quarterfinals while van der Vaart is unavailable for selection due to his two yellow cards against Brazil. And for once Holland did not have any real problems with discipline but they will still have to alter their lineup with Wesley Sneijder limping off in 29th minute, forcing him out of the final should they beat Germany.

The game was goalless when Demy de Zeeuw came on to replace Sneijder with Holland looking the more dangerous side without threatening Neuer's goal. The German keeper had to be on his toes though when Robin van Persie lost control of the ball on a magnificent run, Neuer scrambling to deflect the ball behind. After the substitution the corner was whipped in where Robben helped it on for de Zeeuw, seconds into his appearance, roofed it for a 1-0 lead.

The Germans looked a little nervous and their one real chance in the first half came very early on when Khedira crossed for Mueller only to see the forward loop his header over the bar. The second half saw Germany start the better side again but also sustained the pressure for longer. Oezil almost chipped a pass through to the strikers after halftime and Giovanni van Bronckhorst had to get his sliding tackle just right with Klose ready to shoot in the penalty area.

After Sami Khedira fluffed a very good chance just before the hour mark it did not look like it would be the Germans day. The Netherlands woke themselves up after this latest scare with de Zeeuw heading another chance straight at Neuer while both sides looked to find another super-sub to come on and perform some magic.

When the magic did come it was not from a fresh face off the bench but the World Cup's top scorer Robin van Persie. A loose ball in the 74th minute was picked up by van Bommel before Klaas Jan Huntelaar neatly found RVP in the goalmouth to head into the top corner. van Persie's sixth goal of the tournament came six minutes later to cement Holland's place in the World Cup final. Huntelaar again was the provider as he pulled the ball back from the goalline for his strike partner to hammer home for 3-0.

Germany did manage to get on the board through Cacau who matched de Zeeuw's feat of running straight from the bench to score on a corner kick, but they would have to settle for the third-place contest.

Germany 1 - 3 Netherlands
Goalscorers:
NED de Zeeuw 28'
NED van Persie 74'
NED van Persie 80'
GER Cacau 86'

Discipline:
NED van der Wiel 17'
GER Podolski 22'
NED van Persie 31'
GER Friedrich 69'

Man of the Match:
NED Robin van Persie

Final Score - WC2010 Quarterfinal, South Korea vs Ghana

Saturday 3rd July 2010 - Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town - Att. 64,100
Referee: Ravshan Irmatov (Uzbekistan)

LINEUPS:
South Korea (451): Ryong, Ri (KH Il 69'), Pyo, Hyung, LJ Soo, Yueng, Woo (Kyung 69'), Hun (KM Soo 80'), Young, PJ Sung, Yong
Ghana (451): Kingson, Pantsil, Sarpei, John Mensah, Johnathon Mensah (Boateng 61'), Annan, Asamoah (I Ayew 88'), Tagoe, Gyan, Prince-Boateng, A Ayew (Owusu-Abeiya 83')

While not a match for the ages, both teams went all out in the opening ten minutes, rushing forward at every opportunity with South Korea not quite able to penetrate and Ghana forcing Ryong to save down low on shots from Johnathon Mensah and Ayew. The next thirty-five minutes was an exercise in futility as both sides locked down their defences tight and played out a largely dull first half.

The second half also started with a lot of excitement. Prince-Boateng couldn't believe his header was saved on the goalline, and he was frustrated seconds later on the resulting corner when his volley fizzed just wide. ten minutes after the restart and there was a goal to celebrate. A fluffed claerance by Richard Kingson fell straight to Hun whose quick thinking split the defence and Park Chu Young drove a hard shot past the shamed Ghanian keeper.

Young had a chance to make it 2-0 in the 74th minute but, like the last three Korean matches, could not add any more goals with this chance going high after another great pass this time from Sung. Ghana looked bereft of ideas but they would end the match with a man advantage. Defender Cho Yong Hyung was booked for the second time in the 88th minute and will miss the semifinal clash against either Jpana or Portugal.

South Korea 1 - 0 Ghana
Goalscorers:
KOR Young 55' (2)

Discipline:
KOR Yong 4'
GHA Prince-Boateng 30'
KOR Hyung 60'
GHA Ayew 63'
KOR Hyung (off) 88'
KOR Young 89'

Man of the Match:
KOR Park Chu Young

Final Score - WC2010 Second Round, Chile vs Portugal

Tuesday 29th June 2010 - Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town - Att. 62,955
Referee: Héctor Baldassi (Argentina)

LINEUPS:
Chile (433):Bravo, Jara, Vidal, Ponce (Contreras 59'), Medel, Carmona, Isla (Fierro 67'), Valdivia, Suazo, Beausejour, Sanchez
Portugal (433): Eduardo, Costa (Duda 84'), Coentrao, Carvalho, Alves, Mendes, Tiago, Meireles (Deco 69'), Ronaldo (Rolondo 74'), Simao, Danny

Penalty continues to be the buzzword of the second round with Christiano Ronaldo opening the scoring from the spot in the 38th minute. Prior to that, Chile looked to be the better side with Valdivia's shot saved and a Beausejour diving header going wide. Portugal had the first chance of the match though when, in the 9th minute, Danny displayed great skill to get past Ponce and, after a one-two with Man of the Match contender Coentrao, saw his effort deflect into the hands of Bravo.

The game's turning point started with a giveaway by Mauricio Isla. Tiago picked up the loose ball and found Costa whose high cross was punched under pressure by Bravo, then the referee blew his whistle and pointed to the spot. He had spotted Carlos Carmona holding Simao to prevent him getting up to the ball and received a lecture for his method of disagreement as much as the foul.

In the third minute of stoppage time all attention was on Gonzalo Jara who, having been bundled off the ball unfairly by Ronaldo, proceeded to be in prime position for the resulting free kick. The long high ball was met by the head of Valdivia and a wide open Jara was as surprised as anyone when Eduardo somehow pulled off a wonder save to keep Portugal ahead going into the interval.

Two minutes after the restart and Chile were really ruing that late first half chance when Costa made an aggressive run the length of the pitch, getting on the end of a Tiago header to make it 2-0. It was all over before the hour mark when Ronaldo scored again, this time on one of his trademark free kicks. It was not for the first time in this tournament Chile allowed themselves to get out of control with tackles flying in, and one such challenge earned Gary Medel a second yellow card and his marching orders. Simao had a late opportunity to twist the knife after Ronaldo laid it out on a plate for him but his shot lacked power.

Chile 0 - 3 Portugal
Goalscorers:
POR Ronaldo 38'
POR Costa 47'
POR Ronaldo 58'

Discipline:
CHI Medel 33'
CHI Carmona 58'
CHI Medel 62'

Man of the Match:
POR Christiano Ronaldo

Final Score - WC2010 Group E, Cameroon vs Netherlands

Thursday 24th June 2010 - Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town - Att. 63,093
Referee: Pablo Pozo (Chile)

LINEUPS:
Cameroon (442): Souleymanou, Mbia, Assou-Ekotto, N'koulou, Bassong, Emana, Song (Aboubaker 84'), Makoun (Mandjeck 79'), Eto'o, Webo (Idrissou 66'), Enoh
Netherlands (451): Stekelenberg, van der Wiel, van Bronkchorst, Heitinga, Mathijsen (de Zeeuw 77'), de Jong, Sneijder, van Bommel, van Persie, Elia (Ooijer 77'), Robben (Vorm 53')

Eljero Elia had his turn to play for the injured Kuyt and he had a coupld of chances to score. The first came in the 20th minute when van Persie chipped it over the defence for him, but his shot was nicely saved, and then on the stroke of halftime when he got on the end of a very clever pull back from Sneijder but could only shoot over the bar. The Dutch already the lead before that second Elia shot when Robin van Persie scored his second World Cup goal on a rocket of a free kick that found a gap in the Cameroon wall and into the top corner.

The second half was highly charged and the aggressive play was started by Maarten Stekelenburg taking no prisoners on Pierre Webo, earning himself a red card and given Samuel Eto'o a chance he gratefully took from the penalty spot. The rough and tumble continued with more yellow cards dished out by Mr Pozo, but the game essentially died after the equalising goal sending the Netherlands through and Cameroon home.

Cameroon 1 - 1 Netherlands
Goalscorers:
NED van Persie 30'
CMR Eto'o 51'

Discipline:
CMR Enoh 32'
NED Stekelenberg 50'
NED de Jong 55'
CMR Webo 66'
CMR Essou-Akotto 85'
CMR Emana 90'

Man of the Match:
NED Robin van Persie

GROUP E
Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Netherlands	3	1	2	0	5	1	+4	5
Japan	3	1	2	0	3	1	+2	5
Denmark	3	1	0	2	2	7	-5	3
Cameroon	3	0	2	1	3	4	-1	2

Final Score - WC2010 Group G, Portugal vs North Korea

Monday 21st June 2010 - Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town - Att. 63,644
Referee: Pablo Pozo (Chile)

LINEUPS:
Portugal (433): Eduardo, Costa, Coentrao, Carvalho, Alves (Pepe 60'), Mendes, Tiago (Liedson 80'), Meireles, Ronaldo, Simao, Danny (Almeida 57')
North Korea (451): RM Guk, CJ Hyok (NS Choi 45'), Nam, Jin, RJ Il, Chon, Jo (Myong 65'), Hak, Se, PN Choi (Kim K Il 84'), MA Guk

The effort put in by a very lackluster Portuguese team was not going to break down this highly determined North Korean side and in fact could have even lost the game. Portugal controlled a lot of game but their constant passing without penetration led to few real goalscoring chances, and it wasn't until stoppage time in the first half that Ri Myong Guk was truly tested when he stopped a good header from Alves.

Guk would again keep the game scoreless when, at full stretch, he prevented Jo from scoring on the breakaway. Prior to this the North Koreans had some shots of their own. Pak Nam Choi felt ambitious and tried his luck from thirty yards, sending it well wide, but their golden chance came to Jong Tae Se who was completely unmarked in the penalty area; his shot saved very smartly by Edurado.

Portugal 0 - 0 North Korea
Goalscorers:
None

Discipline:
POR Simao 18' (sus)
PRK Jo 48'
POR Ronaldo 74'
POR Costa 84'
POR Pepe 90'

Man of the Match:
PKR Ri Jun Il

GROUP G
Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Brazil	2	2	0	0	3	0	+3	4
Portugal	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	2
Cote d'Ivoire	2	0	1	1	0	1	-1	1
North Korea	2	0	1	1	0	2	-2	1

Final Score - WC2010 Group C, England vs Algeria

Friday 18th June 2010, Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town - Att. 64,100
Referee:Ravshan Irmatov (Uzbekistan)

LINEUPS
England (442): James, Johnson, Cole, Terry, Upson, Barry, Lampard (Wright-Phillips 61'), Milner, Rooney, Defoe (Heskey 73'), Gerrard
Algeria (433): Bohil, Yahia, Bougherra, Halliche, Lacep, Yebda, Khedir (Mansouri 67'), Belhadj, Djebbour (Saifi 82'), Ziani, Matmour (Ghezzal (61')

Ashley Cole was 50/50 after he picked up a knock during England's game against the USA, but the England fans were very happy he made it as he put in a man of the match performance. And it was him leading by example in defense that England needed in the first half as Algeria were playing at a high tempo, testing David James on multiple occasions while their opponents looked inept and without any ideas.

If Bougherra, Djebbour or Ziani had taken at least one of their chances then the upset may have been well and truly on, but the game turned at halftime and Algeria would not get another good look at goal. Instead a controversial goal from Wayne Rooney sunk their opponents. Glen Johnson had run the length of the pitch and with a deft flick split the defense, finding the striker a yard offside but missed by the linesman.

There was a suffocating blanket covering the Algerians from that point on and England only generated another two chances of their own: Gerrard shooting high with the goalie beaten, and Milner not giving Bohil too much to worry about with his very long ranged effort.

England 1 - 0 Algeria
Goalscorers:
ENG Rooney 47'

Discipline:
ALG Yahia 28'

Man of the Match:
ENG Ashley Cole

GROUP C
Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
England	2	2	0	0	3	1	+2	6
United States	2	1	0	1	2	2	0	3
Algeria	2	1	0	1	1	1	0	3
Slovenia	2	0	0	2	0	2	-2	0

Final Score - WC2010 Group F, Italy vs Paraguay

Monday 14th June 2010 - Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town. Att: 62,869
Referee: Benito Archundia (Mexico)

LINEUPS:
Italy (451): Marchetti, Zambrotta, Criscito, Cannavarro, Chiallini (Gattuso 66'), De Rossi, Montelivo, Marchisio, Gilardino, Iaquinta, Pepe (Di Natale 66')
Paraguay (442): Villar, Bonet, Morel, da Silva, Alcarez, Caceres, Valdez, Vera (Ortigoza 73'), Barrios (Cardozo 60'), Santa Cruz (Gamarra 82'), Riveros

The Italian midfield bossed this match without generating many chances as Paraguay stood resolute in defense, led as they were by Claudio Morel. Claduio Marchisio was dominant throughout the ninety minutes, displaying good control and strong tackling, and it was himself along with Montelivo that dictated much of the play.

Marchisio had a great chance to score himself in the 13th minute when Gianluca Zambrotta, who himself had just sent a shot into the side netting, crossed for the midfield maestro six yards out only to see his header stopped on the goal line. After this Paraguay found their rhythm at the back and looked to smother the game, breaking for a chance if they could. And their best chance of the match came late in the opening half when Vera and Riveros played some nice football out on the wing before a pullback to Paulo da Silva, who had remained forward after a failed set piece, and his shot deflected kindly for Marchetti to save.

Italy came out firing on all cylinders in the second half with Gilardino shooting at the keeper, and Di Natale squeezing his shot through a crowd only to be saved.  These two attacking players would have more chances in the latter stages of the match when, after a fine team move, Iaquinta played in Gilardino one-on-one only to see him fluff his lines and Di Natale scoop the rebound high over the bar.

Italy 0 - 0 Paraguay
Goalscorers:
None

Discipline:
ITA De Rossi 31'
PAR Vera 55'

Man of the Match:
ITA Claudio Marchisio

GROUP F
Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Italy	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	1
Paragauy	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	1
New Zealand	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Slovakia	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Final Score - WC2010 Group A, Uruguay vs France

Friday 11th June 2010 - Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town. Att: 64,100
Referee: Yuichi Nishimura (Japan)

LINEUPS
Uruguay (442): Muslera, M Pereira, Fucile, Lugano, Victorni, Arevalo, A Pereira, Perez, Saurez (Lodeiro 86'), Forlan (Fernandez 76'), Cavani (Abreu 59')
France (451):  Lloris, Sagna, Evra, Gallas (Planus 23'), Abidal, Toulalan (Cisse 80'), Diaby, Gourcuff, Anelka, Ribery, Govou (Henry 63')

The second game of Group A was a more even affair thanks in part to a rather dire first half. Both sides were content to sit back and pass the ball around for the first half hour, only an injury to William Gallas twenty-two minutes in somehow slowing the pace even more. But once Diego Forlan scored in the 28th minute - after an interception, surging run and pinpoint crossfield ball from Alvaro Pereira - the game opened up and France were able to get onto the front foot, generating good chances for Govou and Anelka to waste before half time.

The second half threatened to be a repeat of the first as both sides were again reluctant to commit bodies to the attack. It was France who ended up taking the initiative with probing moves but no real penetration, and the missing final ball was a costly omission when, 69 minutes gone, the other Periera, Maximilliano (no relation), tackled French sub Henry and his high ball was flicked through by Arevalo. The result was a mistimed header from Jorge Fucile that fooled everyone, including the goalkeeper for a 2-0 Uruguayan lead.

France tried to come back but continued to lack anemic in the final third of the pitch leaving Uruguay looking more likely to score as they continued to look attack-minded.

Uruguay 2 - 0 France
Goalscorers:
URU Forlan 28'
URU Fucile 69'

Discipline:
URU Fucile 35'
URU Forlan 52'
URU Victorino 89'

Man of the Match
URU Jorge Fucile

GROUP A
Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Mexico	1	1	0	0	3	0	+3	3
Uruguay	1	1	0	0	2	0	+2	3
France	1	0	0	1	0	2	-2	0
South Africa	1	0	0	1	0	3	-3	0