By know, I'm sure you've heard... 2018 in Russia, 2022 in Qatar. Golly, playing football in 50C heat always brings out the best, doesn't it? Your thoughts?

The United States has withdrawn their bid for the 2018 World Cup, and England has withdrawn their bid for 2022. No non-European nations are bidding for 2018 now. Remaining bidders for 2018 are England, Russia, Spain/Portugal, and Belgium/Holland. Competing against the United States are Australia, Japan, Qatar, and South Korea.

As a Liverpool fan who came to the game under Rafa Benitez, I'm waaay too familiar with the 4-2-3-1 formation so commonly used at this year's World Cup. It still pays dividends at the international level, where defenses aren't quite as familiar with each other or their opponents, but it feels like its time has passed at the club level. Last season was a debacle for many reasons at Anfield, but one of the key problems was the isolation of the striker. When fit, Torres was often stranded upfield, knocked about by a double-team from opposing center backs, and harassed to the point of being taken out of his game. Torres still finished with a respectable goal total for the games he played, but he never looked comfortable or happy on the pitch. When a lesser player like David N'gog filled the role, he was even easier to negate. Benitez had success with the system in the EPL up until last year because of Xabi Alonso's destabilizing effect on a defense. His ability to spray the ball to any part of the final third from midfield meant the wingers had to be constantly accounted for -- not just where they were, but where they could run to. That forced defenses to play with more spacing. Without him, though, fullbacks could simply mark the wingers by themselves and the CBs could sit on/assault the striker the entire game; no one was likely to send a long ball to the perfect spot any longer. Xabi Alonso is an extremely rare talent, and while 4-2-3-1 has worked without him elsewhere, it now feels somewhat 'solved' by Premier League defenses without his particular abilities on the field. No system should require such a tough-to-find caliber of player to be effective, and I'm hoping to see less of it at Liverpool this year. Sadly, though, Roy Hodgson is known for a 4-5-1, which is basically a flatter, more defensive (gulp) version of the 4-2-3-1. And once again, it leaves the striker all by his lonesome. Today in the Guardian, Jonathan Wilson forecasts the emergence of the 4-2-1-3, essentially the Barcelona formation which the Spanish national team also deployed with many of the same players. The key differences between 4-2-1-3 and 4-2-3-1 are: 1) the forward presence of the wingers alongside the striker, and 2) the more withdrawn presence of the central playmaker (Xavi at Barca, Fabregas at Arsenal). Wilson highlights the value of the wingers/central playmaker's ability to interchange positions and flit in and out of the gaps of the defense. Because they're farther upfield and out of the way of the withdrawn playmaker, the wingers can cut inside without killing the spacing of their attack, and this has proven very effective against a traditional back four of late. It basically provides the same destabilization as a Xabi Alonso -- because players are working the gaps more effectively, defenders need to keep better spacing, and there's room to pass and move for everyone up front. What Wilson doesn't stress is how helpful this is for the lone striker. Instead of being isolated up front in the 4-2-3-1, he's aided by wingers who stretch the D out wide but also cut inside to draw attention from the center backs. When your striker is your best player, as in the case of Liverpool, the 4-2-1-3 feels like the key to freeing him up to wreak havoc (however much a banged-up Torres struggled in the World Cup). With a front 4 of Gerrard/Cole/Kuyt/Torres, Liverpool could employ this formation to great effect. Sadly, I suspect a conservative coach like Hodgson would never dream of such radical reform. Wilson suggests Arsenal are migrating to this formation; perhaps they'll be able to show the Prem's curmudgeons that 4-2-1-3 is the way of the future. Until the next major tactical development, of course.

If any England fans are still wondering what went wrong in South Africa, allow Sir Alex Ferguson to illuminate you:

With inquests continuing into England's lacklustre showing at the World Cup, Ferguson lamented the continued absence of a mid-season break from the English football calendar (which would need the approval of the Premier League) as a major contributing factor to the struggles of Fabio Capello's side. "(The FA) has to give the country the best possible chance of doing well in the World Cup and because of the nature of our game and because of the demands from television to have a programme every week, the idea of a winter break, which I was first talking about 30 years ago in Scotland and have done since I came down to England, nothing has happened about it," Ferguson said. "They must realise that, going into the World Cup, they have handicapped their team."

It's certainly possible that taking a short break mid-season could be beneficial. A little rest and recuperation could help prevent some injuries and strains and keep players at peak performance levels - I won't argue with that. But it's also possible it wouldn't do jack shit if you've got players who are, for example, so accustomed to being the stars of their club teams that they forget how to play as a full squad and blunder around the pitch, communicating as badly as Palin's Twitter feed. Besides that, it's simply no guarantee that taking a couple of weeks off six months before the World Cup would have any impact whatsoever, so while it's fine to say that maybe this is an idea to think about, it seems a little egregious for Ferguson to essentially say the failures are the FA's fault because they have not granted him his birthday-candle wishes for 30 years. It is not definitive that the team is "handicapped" by not having a winter break. It is far more definitive that Ferguson misses having officials on the pitch to complain about and just wants it to be mid-August already, guys! Plus, even if the FA did kneel before Zod SAF and implement a break, we all know it would either be too long or too short for Fergie, depending on how United played in their games following resumption of play.

You do it with the dance, not the kick! Ugly. Vulgar. These are the words Dutch icon Johan Cruyff used to describe his homeland's gameplan in the World Cup finals. He also sided with those who felt de Jong and van Bommel should've been tossed in regulation by Howard Webb. I suppose it's uncool to throw your countryfolk under the bus after they already lost (and the rest of the world is doing the bashing for you). But as the man credited as the most important cog in the creation of the adored Dutch national identity of Total Football, I can see why you'd fret over the destruction of that reputation -- especially when all the ugliness delivered was another loss in a final. Not that we should imagine Cruyff being kinder had they won. Then his accomplishments would've been eclipsed by a new Dutch team promoting everything he hates about the game. If anything, it's more fun to imagine how much harsher he might've been had Robben slotted home in the 62nd.

8 goals in 7 games net Spain the World Cup. Despite the paltry scoring, they're deserving champions -- I'm not sure we've ever seen a midfield dominate possession so completely and effortlessly in every game. They sent teams chasing after the ball until an opening presented itself, usually late, and they could punch home a goal. There's not a lot to report from the 120 minute foul-fest inflicted on us by both teams other than that the 12 total yellow cards doubled the previous record in a final. We saw the Dutch abandon their Total Football roots to become a chest-kicking, groin-bashing mixed martial arts squad, and the plan nearly worked. Spain still held the ball for more than 60% of the game, but there was much less flow and build-up than we normally saw from them. Full time plus extra time saw the best 2 teams in the world put only 8 shots on target, and even that makes the game sound better than it felt. Holland's Arjen Robben had a couple glorious chances to win the World Cup. His best came when Wesley Sneijder put him through in the 62nd, all alone vs Casillas. Robben fired to his left, and Casillas laid out for the ball. Only a few of his outstretched toes caught the ball, but it was enough to deflect the powerful shot and save the day for Spain. The Dutch had a few other chances to go ahead, but they were far from the only team to blow chances. David Villa missed one from point blank, Sergio Ramos wasted an unmarked header, and Iniesta found new and interesting ways to dribble the ball into defenders in the box. But no one will be complaining about Andres Iniesta after today. In the 116th, Torres flopped a ball that wound up in Fabregas' lap at the top of the box. He rolled it to Iniesta on his right, who took a touch and then sent a low ball to his left and into the net. Van Stekelenburg had been solid in goal for the Netherlands the entire tournament, and he managed to get an arm on Iniesta's shot, but it was hit too true to be flung off course. Still, I think he caught more of the ball than Casillas did on that earlier Robben breakaway; tough to take if you're the keeper, no doubt. With that, Holland's negativity went unrewarded, and that's probably for the best. Sneijder, Kuyt and Robben made great impressions the last few weeks, but it would've been depressing if a team capable of beauty were handed a trophy after raking in 7 yellows by themselves. Spain engaged in some nasty contact, too, and also had some embarrassing dives (including Iniesta's that sent Heitinga off in the 112th), but they were the more positive team. Every team -- including new-look Germany and the Netherlands -- went all out to defend against Spain. While every single one of them succeeded in making it an ugly game, they were all sent home for their negativity. Germany lamented their unwillingness to go forward after their loss; I wonder if the Dutch will feel the same? So what have we learned from the 2010 World Cup? Among many other things:

• Fernando Torres is a mess, physically and mentally. He pulled another hammy at the end of this game and looked miserable in the post-game celebration. He goes from game-winning scorer at the 2008 Euros to ridiculed dead weight at the 2010 World Cup. Ouch.
• David Villa's the best striker in the world. Valencia have to be kicking themselves for selling before this run, and with Barca/Spain teammates Xavi and Iniesta feeding him every game, Villa should put on quite a show in 2010-2011.
• Germany's kids are outstanding. That third-place game left a lot of people wondering how 2010 Golden Boot winner Thomas Müller might've impacted the game against Spain had he not been suspended. They had stars all over the pitch -- Schweinsteiger pulled the strings masterfully, Ozil came out of nowhere to wow us in the group stage, and Neuer looked solid in goal.
• If David Villa isn't the best striker in the world, Diego Forlan is. Not only can he finish in the box, not only can he drill free kicks from anywhere in the field, but he has outstanding vision and passing touch. He won the Golden Ball as the best player of the tournament and I don't see how anyone but Villa could argue. It'd be nice to see him get one last chance on an elite team.
• Wesley Sneijder also has an argument, actually. He's the best quarterback in the world. And not a bad finisher, either.
• England still sucks.
• Everyone wants to love Diego Maradona even though he's a selfish, bigoted ass. Remember, this is a guy who ran over a photographer and then called him the asshole.
• Negativity was prevalent, from Switzerland to Holland (that's a lot farther in World Cup terms than geographic terms) to Paraguay, but unlike the Champions League, it came home empty-handed.
• Brazil was the second-best team of the tournament. They deserved to go out thanks to Felipe Melo's meltdown, but they were the only team that might've been able to impose a will of their own against Spain. But hey, they were unusually negative themselves, so if they were gonna blow a tourney, I'm glad it was this one.
• Will football ever sound right without vuvuzelas again?

It's all over now, folks. What'd you take away from the 2010 World Cup?

Boy, Thursday came and went, dinnit? I blame my staycation, which has sapped my Kuyt-esque work ethic and left me a Diet-Coked-up FIFA 10 addict. But enough about me, let's get back to the insights of Liverpool's least hated American associate, nate! Last time, we talked about the World Cup and England's shortcomings. Now we turn our attention to the transition as a fan from the international game to the club game -- how did nate do it? Who might he recommend following at the club level from this World Cup? And yeah, we get into whatever Liverpool's become, as well. Join the conversation after the jump!

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Iker Casillas gives grateful thanks to the curly game-winning locks of Carlos Puyol. Neither team played up to their potential, and both teams were maddening at times. Possession and set pieces were nearly even, and there were no cards handed out. But Spain outshot Germany 13 to 5, and in the end it was one lone shot of those 13 that mattered, when Carlos Puyol got his head to a corner from Xavi in the 74th minute. The first half was not highly impressive. Spain controlled possession well for much of it, but weren't really combining any solid push forward with their pass-pass-pass-pass-passing. There were a couple of chances - Puyol almost got that headed goal much earlier when he connected with Andres Iniesta's cross into the box, and Spain had a good free kick opportunity around the 40th which they oddly wasted with a strange short effort from not far outside the 18 - but overall it was a quietly dominating first half from the Spanish. Germany did look dangerous a couple of times on the counter, but just weren't seeing enough of the ball to put anything together. Piotr Trochowski made Iker Casillas work for a save on a good long-range effort, and Mesut Ozil had an opportunity to put pressure on the Spanish keeper as well, though he took a bit too much time with it. Just before halftime, Ozil went down in the box and the Germans were angling for a penalty, but the ref was having none of it (and rightly so). So while both sides had their moments, they were just that, and as I said, neither seemed to be playing to their capabilities nor to the expectations of the public. The second half began much like the first, though Spain was showing a lot more life and saw a few good chances, with two just-wide efforts from Xabi and one from David Villa. Soon after, Manuel Neuer barely got his fingertips to a shot from Pedro, and Villa somehow missed a tap-in as Iniesta sent the ball across the goal mouth. Germany finally started putting forth a stronger effort near the 70th when substitute Toni Kroos found space and nearly put Lukas Podolski's cross away, but for a great save from Casillas. Minutes later came the corner and Puyol's goal, and subsequently whatever fire the Germans had mustered seemed to be flickering. There wasn't much more to be seen from them, although there was the usual flurry of activity in stoppage time. But nothing came from it, and the team which dropped 4 on both Argentina and England were shut out by Spain and sent to the third-place match. Were Germany unprepared for Spain? It would be hard to think so, as the Germans' previous matches were strong showings, and as it's not like they were unaware of what Spain was doing in their own games. Were they just tired and run down? One would think a team fueled with some young newcomers who brought speed and endurance to the side would be set to perform well through the month-long tournament. Is this just another case of "any given day", with a dozen different outcomes possible from a dozen replays? I imagine the Germans aren't eager to analyze their failings just yet, but that's where blog commenters come in, right? Have at it! And now we know who will battle at the final, and we also know that this year we'll see a brand new winner of the World Cup. It's a great story even if you have no specific allegiance or care about either Spain or the Netherlands - if you love this game, you've got to also love seeing its history happen before your eyes. Of course, for those who watched France topple Brazil in 1998 (which I did not, having not yet shrugged off my American indifference to the sport), it'll be a familiar feeling, but I'm sure a welcome one even so.

Not with a whimper, but with one bigass KABOOM. That's how Uruguay went out. After falling behind 3-1 and pulling Diego Forlan with a few minutes to go, everyone on all sides seemed content to accept the outcome. Then Holland fell asleep on defense and Maxi Pereira banged home a goal a minute into extra time. Suddenly, an all-out three-minute assault on the Dutch penalty box was underway. Multiple times the ball fell to the feet of Uruguayan players, but none of them really managed to pull the trigger; in the end, it was a frenzied finish that changed nothing and left the Dutch 3-2 winners. Let's rewind. The first half didn't have much in the way of classic build-up attacking play, but it did feature two wicked long-range strikes. The first, from Holland's van Bronckhorst, came from, what, 35 or 40 yards out? He bombed one in from the left, and it caught the top right post and bounced in. Tennis serves couldn't have gone much faster. Then, the answer came in the form of Diego Forlan, who bent a swirler past van Stekelenburg from about 25 yards. the Dutch keeper probably could've made a better play on the ball, but in his defense, how many times have we seen the Jabulani actually curl like that this tourney? At 1-1, I felt like Uruguay's battle-tested mental fortitude might win out, and both teams traded stretches of possession to open the second half. But everything changed with (what else?) a controversial goal in the 70th. Sneijder popped a low ball that bounced off two Uruguayan defenders before deflecting off van Persie's foot and going in. van P was way offside when the ball was kicked, but no call was forthcoming, and the Dutch had their lead back. Three minutes later, Dirk Kuyt crossed a ball to Arjen Robben. He sent a sharp header into goal and the 3-1 lead that seemed safe had been built. Once again the Dutch win a game without managing to look dominant or even consistently scary. They play coherently for small stretches but also can be put back on their heels easier than most World Cup finalists I can recall. One thing they usually do well is position themselves on the pitch -- Robben and Kuyt are always switching places on the wings, and Sneijder finds space as well as any midfielder in the world. Can spacing and placement combine with occasionally clutch finishing to win you a World Cup? I guess we'll find out this weekend. Goodbye to Uruguay, who provided us with one of the game's great performers in Diego Forlan. Maybe the Suarez handball and subsequent gloating turned off a lot of observers, but I found them a gritty, resilient bunch of gamers. Along with the handball, Suarez gave us that incredible game-winner against South Korea. Forlan provided the finest free kicks in the tourney. Maxi Pereira was a tackle machine, and Fernando Muslera was outstanding in the penalty shootout against Ghana. A European team will now win a non-European World Cup for the first time. Who will battle Holland for the chance?

With the World Cup in full swing, it's easy to forget that, as soon as it's over, we'll be thrust back into the cold, uncaring world of club football. Okay, okay, maybe it's not that bad for most of you, but I'm a Liverpool fan, so, yeah, it's that bad. Probably worse. My favorite soccer site in the world is Oh You Beauty, written by a man who goes by the Brazilian-esque singular name of nate. Normally Liverpool-focused, he also has some of the clearest, most insightful World Cup game recaps on the interwebs, so I highly suggest checking him out now and in the future. As the Cup semi finals loom, and with some exciting(ish) developments in the Liverpool world, I thought now would be a good time to conduct our first-ever Pandagoal interview. Hit the jump to read what nate has to say about the World Cup, England's shortcomings and more in part 1 of our interview. Part 2 runs Thursday, so stay tuned!

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Suarez gets ready for a flying elbow drop to sportsmanship The decision of FIFA to limit Suarez' ban to one match would be perplexing enough, if Suarez wasn't rubbing all our noses in it:

The 'Hand of God' now belongs to me. Mine is the real 'Hand Of God'. "I made the best save of the tournament. Sometimes in training, I play as a goalkeeper so it was worth it. "There was no alternative but for me to do that and when they missed the penalty I thought 'it is a miracle and we are alive in the tournament'.

Suarez admits that his only alternative was to engage in what the Laws of the Game calls "unacceptable and unfair intervention", claims that it was God's will that he do such a thing, sets a dangerous precedent (I can't have been the only one who thought to myself, "why didn't the Paraguay defender jump and grab the ball?" today) brags about it and gets the minimum ban? Ridiculous.

Yeah, so...there were these penalty kicks... So. This game. I wasn't going to have much to say about it, really. The first half was a scoreless...well, I won't go so far as to call it a bore, but it was far from exciting. Paraguay's defense was pretty strong, and they were managing to have three or more players surround every Spanish player at all times, it seemed. Spain was having trouble with their passing, their communication, their set-ups...basically just having trouble. There were few shots to each side, and even the Paraguay goal called back for offside wasn't another jump-out-of-your-chair bad call moment. The replay showed maybe it was a wrong call, but it was close and wasn't even argued much. (The offside call seemed to be against Nelson Valdez, who looked onside, but further commentary says it was against Oscar Cardozo, who was offside.) When the second half began, it was more of the same for about the first 14 minutes. THEN SOME PENALTY KICK STUFF HAPPENED. Keep in mind, this all occurred within the space of about three minutes, and if you'll pardon my French and a Gwen Stefani reference, this shit was bananas. Gerard Pique got a yellow card for fouling Cardozo in the area, and Paraguay gets a penalty kick in the 59th minute. Torment for Spain. Cardozo takes the shot himself and it's saved by Iker Casillas. Torment for Paraguay. Then less than a minute later down at the other end of the pitch, David Villa is fouled by Antonin Alcaraz in the area, Alcaraz gets a yellow and Spain gets a penalty kick. More torment for Paraguay. Xabi Alonso steps up to take it and buries it...and the ref calls for a retake due to encroachment. More torment for Spain. Alonso takes it again and this time keeper Justo Villar saves it. Even more torment. In the process of knocking it away, he grabs at Cesc Fabregas' ankles and I concur with announcer John Harkes' assessment that it maybe should have been another penalty call. THEN Paulo Da Silva had to make a save on the line after Sergio Ramos takes a shot from the side. TORMENT EVERYWHERE ALL AROUND. Finally regular play resumed and it seemed to settle a bit, and I found myself hoping for a goal - for either side - simply to keep the match from going into extra time. David Villa, perhaps sensing my prayers, finally said "Okay FINE GUYS I'll take care of things again", and after Pedro's shot hit off the post, Villa collected the rebound and banked it off both posts as he put Spain in the lead with less than ten minutes to go. Casillas made a couple additional strong saves in the final moments and Spain are now off to the semifinals to meet Germany, where they will need a lot more than mediocre midfield work, wacky penalty kick sequences, and a single late goal to make it to the final. They've got four days to come up with something better.

Happy German Fan is happy...and a little scary. Part of me finds Germany's 4-0 crushing of Argentina rather unsurprising. The European side turning in another strong performance, knocking in multiple goals and keeping a tight defense is no big shock to the system. But it's not as though Argentina has been twiddling their thumbs all tournament, and their lackluster performance was decidedly unforeseen. The tone was set early - earliest thus far in the tournament, in fact - when Thomas Müller headed Bastian Schweinsteiger's free kick into the net in just the 3rd minute of play. Argentina actually responded decently - their defense still looked leaky but their midfield play was calm rather than flustered as it could well have been. The reaction seemed to be to try to slow things down, although Germany didn't want to play along. They were given a lot of room and a number of chances, and pushed hard through the first half. Carlos Tevez and Lionel Messi were pushing back just as hard, and though each side took a few more shots, the score remained 1-0 at the half. The second half is where things eventually got lopsided. Argentina came out brightly, but once Miroslav Klose tapped the ball in to put Germany up 2-0 in the 68th, it was largely one-way traffic. The Germans' pace and skill continued to rule the pitch, and a goal from Arne Friedrich in the 74th and a second from Klose near the end drove the nails in further for Maradona's men. And that's where my surprise is focused - that Argentina would exit the Cup in such a humbled and largely quiet manner, after winning all four of their previous matches while never having trailed and allowing only a single goal in the process. The fact is, a lot of results from this game would not have surprised me. If you told me it ended 0-0 and went to a shootout, or 1-0 to either side, or 3-2, etc etc, no raised eyebrows here. But both of these teams are strong and favored, so my prediction was for a battle, hard won by whichever side was the eventual victor. I'm not sure what you could point to as a reason, other than a shoulder-shrugging "That's soccer for you" kind of thing. Argentina's wins came against teams that are certainly inferior to Germany, but was it really just weak opposition that gave the South Americans those Ws? Is it the specific German style of play that troubled Argentina? Did Maradona just not nom on enough rosary beads? They'll have plenty of time to ponder these questions on the plane home, while Germany will wait to see which side they'll meet next Wednesday.

Felipe Melo: Looking happy for possibly the last time in his life. Having picked the Netherlands to win this game in our predictions thread, it'd be nice to be able to gloat on this one. But those of us who picked the Dutch were lucky, not right; Brazil lost this game thanks to a mental meltdown no one could've predicted. Brazil dominated the first half. Robinho's opening goal was simplistic excellence -- he split the central defenders, took a pass right on his feet and stroked it home. Holland was on its heels the rest of the first 45, unable to build any attack or keep hold of the ball. Brazil could've easily had a 2 or 3 goal lead by halftime, particularly if Kaka's impression of the Luis Suarez winner for Uruguay last round hadn't been tipped away by the sparkling van Stekelenburg in net. Then the gods took a dump in the brigadeiros. Most days, Felipe Melo doesn't knock in an own-goal past the helpless Julio Cesar. In fact, Brazil had never given up an own-goal in the entire history of the World Cup. So that was unusual. Most days, Wesley Sneijder doesn't head in a corner for a goal. In fact, after the game, the diminutive Sneijder said it was the first time in his life he'd scored a header, that "it just went off his bald head" and in. So that was unusual. Most days, Felipe Melo doesn't stomp the leg of one of the game's great dramatic actors, Arjen Robben. I can't say Melo never gets hit with red, but had he not been saddled with the guilt of an own-goal, this wouldn't have occurred, either. That, friends, is a one-in-one-thousand recipe for an upset. There are other ways the Dutch could've come out ahead, but this particular brew was especially rare. Brazilian coach Dunga has been a target of scorn since being handed the reins, and now that one of his choices, Felipe Melo, was the goat of the entire tournament thus far, expect him to be handed his walking papers. Brazil's next coach will probably be someone with a cartoonish love of the attacking game to wash the defensive mentality from the mouths of the squad. I still think they had the right idea with this team, tightening up the back and letting explosive players like Robinho and Kaka loose on the break. But I suppose when your team gives up one mistake goal and then suddenly can't find anyone but Dutch players with their passes, starts fouling obviously and petulantly, and ultimately winds up at 10 men with over 20 minutes left in the game, the coach bears plenty of responsibility for that collapse. How could Brazil lose themselves so completely? And poor Felipe Melo. Will he ever be able to set foot in Brazil again? If anyone's grateful that Dunga will be the fall guy, maybe it's Melo; how else could he escape the full wrath of a Brazil fan base that still obsesses over a loss from 60 years ago? We haven't talked much about the Netherlands, but that reflects the nature of this game -- the first half was all about Brazil dictating terms, the second was all about them falling to pieces. Around them, the Dutch played up and down. They were lost, then buoyed by the fluke, then playing up a storm on all the obnoxious fouls by Brazil. Sneijder and Kuyt were good, Robben failed to impress, and van Stekelenburg kept his team in the game early on. But when Brazil had its head on straight, they were dominant, and I think they win this game 7 of 10 times or more. But not this game, not this day. And now the Netherlands finds themselves favorites to advance to the finals.

Yay, me! All me! I win! The knockout round ended today with the Iberian derby, as Spain pushed past Portugal with a 1-0 victory. Super happy David Villa's 63rd minute strike may have been the only goal, but it was a far more entertaining game than the scoreline would have you believe. (Okay, maybe not you, dear soccer fans...but certainly more entertaining than the whiny soccer haters would think.) The first half was fast and lively right away, with Fernando Torres taking a nice shot within about the first minute of play, followed soon after by an attempt from Villa. Portugal's keeper Eduardo was busy but did very well against the Spanish attack, and his own side put up some great efforts of their own. Tiago and Hugo Alemida both provided tests for Spanish keeper Iker Casillas, as well as a long-range free kick from Cristiano Ronaldo. Spain's passing and midfield work was very strong, but was running up against a solid Portugal defense. As halftime approached, Portugal seemed to be taking an edge, but soon after the second half kicked off Spain took the reins again. Substitute Fernando Llorente had a sharp header hit right at Eduardo, quickly followed up by a shot from Villa that just went wide. But moments later Villa took a pass from Xavi and struck it at Eduardo, then pounced on his own rebound and knocked it off the underside of the crossbar and into the net. It led to a gleeful celebration by Villa, who was soon clobbered by a standing pile of Spaniards. The rest of the match saw Spain with much of the possession as well as a few more chances, but the 1-0 scoreline remained and Spain are now set to meet Paraguay in the quarterfinals. Weeks ago I had chosen Spain to take the Cup this year, and I'd started to doubt myself after their opening 1-0 loss to Switzerland. Their other group matches showed an improved side, and today's game was much more like the Spain I expected to see...and the one they expected to be, I'd reckon, although I'm sure they would have preferred another goal or two. If they move on to the semifinals and meet either Argentina or Germany, a single goal will likely not be sufficient for victory.