World Cup wrap-up

The World Cup has been great fun - parties have broken out in the streets of cities across the globe, athletes have impressed us with their talents both on and off the pitch, and millions of work hours have been lost worldwide.

It's now time to say goodbye to the tournament. Some awards were handed out in South Africa by the officials in charge (the Golden Boot for most goals went to Germany's Thomas Muller, the Golden Ball for best player was given to Uruguay's Diego Forlan), but I have some other honours to dole out.

Without further ado, may I present the first-ever In the game World Cup awards:

Most heartbreaking play: With the game tied in extra time, a Uruguayan player blocks a sure goal by Ghana with his hands. Ghana ends up losing on penalty kicks as Uruguay advances to the semifinals.

Most heartmelting player: Iker Casillas. This is a tough call, but the Spanish captain won the World Cup, the Golden Glove award for best keeper, and our hearts this tournament.

Most memorable musical moment: Shakira's World Cup song performance? Nah, it's got to be the chorus of thousands of vuvuzelas at every match. Although I guess I'm not sure if that should be counted as 'musical'....

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Most blogged about person, place or thing: Does an octopus count as a person? Paul correctly predicts the outcome of every German game, as well as Spain's eventual victory over the Netherlands.

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Most disappointing exit: In-fighting and pouting abound in the French camp, leading to poor play on the field and an early trip home.

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Most interesting political involvement: Mandela's appearance at the closing ceremonies, just shy of his 92nd birthday? French President Nicholas Sarkozy's comments on his team's behaviour? South African President Jacob Zuma getting caught in Spain's celebrations? None of these compare to the antics of North Korea's Kim Jong-il. From refusing to show the matches in his country unless North Korea won, to shipping in Chinese actors to pose as North Korean fans at the games, to trying to sneak in an extra player disguised as a goalie, he takes the cakes.

So that wraps up another World Cup.

Until next time (Brazil, 2014)....

The Red Fury vs. The Orange Tide

Today's the big day - in about an hour the final game in the World Cup will get underway in Johannesburg.

On one side, Spain, or la Furia Roja (the Red Fury).


Spain won the last European championship, which took place in 2008, but has never won a World Cup. The closest they came was a fourth-place finish in 1950.





Spanish captain Iker Casillas

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On the other side is The Netherlands.

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The underdogs in today's match, they are also known as Oranje (Orange) after the Dutch Royal Family, the House of Orange-Nassau. They reached the final game in the World Cup in 1974 and 1978, but fell short both times. They are sometimes called "the best team to never win," and upset the heavily favoured Brazilians to get to this point.

Dutch captain Giovanni van Bronckhorts (Gio for short). He is retiring from soccer after this game.

In the 80 year history of the World Cup, only 7 teams have won the ultimate prize: Uruguay, Italy, (West) Germany, Brazil, England, France and Argentina. So whoever wins today joins a very exclusive list.

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This game could be the most watched event in history - so don't miss it!

Paul's final pick

As you probably know by now, Paul the octopus was right. Spain defeated Germany 1-0, and moves on to face the Netherlands in Sunday's World Cup final.

Paul has apparently received some death threats from angry German fans, so some Spanish government officials have offered him amnesty in their country. Given that Paul has also predicted a Spanish victory in the next match, they have good reason to want to keep him safe.

So will Paul be right again? His record is perfect to date, but thus far he has only applied his gifts to games featuring Germany. Do his psychic powers extend beyond German concerns?

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Only time will tell.

The oracle at Oberhausen

As expected, the Netherlands beat Uruguay yesterday.

Today's game features Germany and Spain. Though Germany is the favourite, there's one mollusk who has the Deutschelanders worried: Paul, the psychic octopus.

Paul, who lives in Oberhausen, Germany, has correctly predicted the outcome of all of Germany's games in this World Cup. He even foresaw Serbia's victory over the Germans in the first round (probably the only creature to predict that, octopod or human).

And now he's picked Spain to win today's match. The drama has now shifted from the soccer pitch to the tank: will Paul be right again? Or will he be exposed as a fraud? And what will the Germans do to him when the dust settles?

Stay tuned as we follow this high-stakes game.

(For the record [and in case you were imagining a Professor Trelawny-type trance], Paul makes his predictions by being presented with two snacks, each one in a box decorated with one of the competing country's flags. Whichever snack he goes for is the "winner.")