Sunday, July 4, 2010

Semifinal Schedule of World Cup Football 2010

FIFA World Cup 2010 has now come to a near end with only 4 matches remaining in the tournament. After the end of the quarter final round, there are only 4 teams left in the competition. There are two matches in the semi final round scheduled to take place on 6 July and 7 July.

Four teams got out of the tournament in the quarter final. The highlights of the quarter final were the eliminations of two hot favorites Brazil and Argentina. While Brazil suffered a shocking 2-1 defeat to Netherlands, Germany installed a 4-0 humiliating defeat on Argentina.

Out of 4 quarter final matches, 3 were decided in 90 minutes. The match which was not decided after full time was the match between Uruguay and Ghana. The score was 1-1 after 120 minutes of play before Uruguay winning the affair 4-2 on penalty shootout.

The highlight of the match was Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez’s controversial save by his hands in what saved his team from elimination. Suarez used his hands to stop a goal-bound ball and received marching order. He could now miss both of Uruguay’s remaining matches in the tournament, if FIFA extends his ban.

Here is the schedule of the semi final round of FIFA World Cup 2010:

Netherlands vs Uruguay – 6 July 2010 – 18:30 GMT - Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town

Germany vs Spain – 7 July 2010 – 18:30 GMT - Moses Mabhida Stadium, Durban

The semi final line up is pretty much surprising as it is missing the teams like Brazil, Argentina, Italy, France, Portugal and England. Uruguay is playing their first semi final since 1970, while Spain is going to appear in a World Cup semi final for the first time in 60 years. Last time they played in the semi final was in 1950 World Cup.

Germany, however, is pretty much regular in the last four. In fact, they clinched the third place in the previous tournament in 2006 and were the runner up in 2002. Their meeting with Spain seems to be the repeat of the final of Euro 2008 where Spain defeated Germany 1-0 to become the European champion. However, Spain could never reach the final of any World Cup tournament.

Netherlands has reached the semi final after 12 years. They clinched the fourth place in 1998 World Cup and have the experience of playing in the final of two World Cup tournaments in 1974 and 1978.

For the drawn matches, extra time, penalty shootout and sudden death would come into effect respectively in the semi final, alike the previous knockout rounds. If any match ends in a draw after 90 minutes, then both teams will play for extra 30 minutes. If the tie still remains, then each side would be allowed to take five penalties from the penalty mark.

If the stalemate is still not broken, then each side would be allowed to take one penalty alternatively, and this process is called ‘Sudden Death’ which would continue until the tie is broken.

1 comment:

  1. The teams have all come a long way for the show down. Many unexpected victories. Many hearts are broken too. May the end comes good for those deserving. It is not an individual play but team work and unity.

    I/we look forward to another exciting and memorable show on the planet.

    Regards,
    Robert

    ReplyDelete