World Cup Update - the carnival is over

The final weekend of the biggest single sport tournament was both hot and cold. The 3rd/4th place game between defeated semi-finalists Germany and Uruguay was one of the best matches of the competition, with flowing attacking football from 2 teams with nothing to lose and playing for pride. The Germans ran out 3-2 winners thanks in part to Golden boot winner Thomas Muller. The Final was meant to be a match of true footballing prowess, but the Spanish and Dutch contrived to serve up a match of "anti-football", as it was hailed by Dutch legend Johann Cruyff, with niggly fouls aplenty, making it tough for the referee to keep control. No goals in regular time lead to a tense extra 30 minutes, including the sending off of Dutch defender Johnny Heitenga, with Spain's "white ghost", Andres Iniesta, putting his name into the history books with a fine strike 5 minutes from time, lifting Spain to their first ever World Cup triumph. In truth, Spain were a lot of people's pick before the tournament, and their stylish play, and consummate defending left no-one doubting they thoroughly deserved their championship. Here's to Brazil in 2014!