Noone remembers who was third and fourth in the World Cup so let me tell you, Germany came third and Uruguay fourth. What do you mean that’s not in depth enough! Well to be fair it was a cracking game and deserves plenty of credit.

Uruguay 2, Germany 3

Maybe Mueller was the difference between Germany winning or losing to Spain, he was back for this game and showed what a force he is. Muslera in the South Americans goal had a mare of a night starting with the germany opener after 19 minutes. Schweinsteiger unleashed a shot from over 35 yards and the keeper spilled it leaving the alert Mueller to race in and net the rebound. Germany should have punished Uruguay and given the dodgy keeper more to worry about but they sat back and paid the price. Perez did well to rob the ball off Schweinsteiger in midfield and set off Forlan, his ball to Cavani was perfect and popped into the net to level the scores.  Suarez was back for Uruguay and causing lots of damage and even the heavy rain couldn’t dampen the Uruguayan spirit. Forlan had a great chance on the stroke of half time when a corner came flying in with his name on it but he shot over the bar.

The striker made up for his miss in the second half when he struck a great volley after good work from Arevalo. Germany were struggling to get back into the game but got a gift when Boateng put a tempting cross in and Jansen rose above the static defence to head a goal as the keeper flapped. That put new life into Germany as they pushed for the winner. Kiessling came on as sub and had a couple of decent chances but Khedira won the match with another header after Ozil had turned on the style. Even then Uruguay could have taken it to extra time with Forlan hitting the crossbar with the last action of injury time.

In 1974 I was so enthralled by  Holland’s  football I painted my Subbuteo team in their colours, but despite their sublime skills then and in 1978 they never became World Champions, Maybe now things may change. Most of San Telmo in Los Cristianos, Tenerife  was invaded by the colourful Dutch army again tonight and they will be back for more.

Uruguay 2, Holland 3

You expect some class in the World Cup semis and it shone through in this game with two well matched sides having to work hard to beat well drilled defences. Sneijder was first to catch the eye, breaking down the right and drilling in a firm cross, Uruguay keeper Muslera punched at it and knocked the ball onto Kuyt who put it over the bar. Kuyt set up Robben a few minutes later but he was blocked out at the post. Uruguay were missing the suspended Suarez but had other threats, Cavani did well on the left flank but his pass found Forlan offside. The Dutch turned back the clock to the shoot on sight sides of 1974 and 1978 as captain Van Bronkhorst hit a stonking long range goal after 17 minutes that brushed the goalies fingers.

It got a bit lively on the half hour when Uruguays Caceres made an ambitious scissor kick that caught De Zeeuw in the face. Sneijder ran over to discuss the error of his ways with him as he pushed him over and picked up a booking along with the instigator. Caceres didn’t let it ruffle him, making a strong and timely tackle on Robben in his penalty area. Cavani was coming more into the game for the South Americans but their main man levelled with a brilliant goal. Forlan picked up a long clearance 35 yards away from the blues goal and unleahed a howling curling shot that made a fool of Stekelenburg whose hand wasn’t enough to stop the goal.

Holland looked nervous at the start of the second half, Van Bronkhorst cleared off his goal line and they seemed vulnerable. Forlan was always a menace, his free kick had the keeper frantically beating the shot away. there was a touch of controversy about the Dutch goal that broke the deadlock, Sneijder curled his shot in as Van Persie stepped over the ball while trying to get back from a marginally offside position, a slight deflection from Pereira fooled the keeper and gave Holland the lead. There was no doubt about the third goal, Kuyt on the left put in a perfect cross to the head of Robben who nodded it into the net. Holland relaxed a little now but Uruguay made them sweat in injury time when Pereira cut in and stroked his shot around Kuyt and past the badly sighted Stekelenburg, but it was not enough to save the gallant Uruguay. Now where’s that little paintbrush and the tin of orange Humbrol.

The odds are tumbling, the reputations are crumbling and this World Cup continues to be the most unpredictable for years.

Holland 2, Brazil 1

This game was so set up for Brazil to triumph but nothing should be taken for granted and stupid basic errors proved to be their undoing. Even in the warm up the odds seemed stacked against Holland, centre back Mathijsen was injured and Ooijer was drafted in, the new recruit and partner Heitinga had a torrid start. Robinho has clawed back some of his tarnished reputation so far and he continued, exploiting the wide open Dutch defence, latching onto a long pass from Melo to score after 10 minutes. Kuyt tested Cesar in the Brazil goal but he coped well with that low shot and a Sneijder free kick.

Brazil looked tight in defence and started the second half in a comfortable position, but then they hit the self destruct button. Sneijder whipped in a cross from the right that hung in the air, Cesar and Melo couldn’t decide whose ball it was and as they collided the ball flew into the net off Melo’s head. Kaka could have put Brazil back in front after a poor clearance but he put the ball wide. Time for another defensive lapse, Robben flicked on a corner and the Brazil defence was all over the place  leaving Sneijder to head it into the net. Things got worse when Melo completed a bad day at the office by stamping on a grounded Robben, a clear sending off. The Dutch couldn’t believe his stupidity and tucked in to play out the remains of the game for a famous victory.

Uruguay 1,  Ghana 1 (Uruguay win 4-2 on pens)

What a cracker of a game. Uruguay looked the only side in it for the first 30 minutes and then a corner for Ghana and a Vorsa header just over the bar lit the fuse for the Africans and they were fizzing. Forland was everywhere early on, first setting up  Fernandez and then forcing a corner with a raid down the left and sending the ball into Cavani whose shot was scrambled clear. Once Ghana had started they were impressive, Gyan led the line superbly and Muntari scored a belter. back to goal he turned into space and unleashed a curling shot that was unstoppable.

It was that other great forward Forlan who levelled the scores 10 minutes into the second half, his long range free kick deviated in the air before settling in the Ghana net. Suarez had his moments including a point blank save by Kingson when one on one. Both teams looked a little tired as the game went into extra time but then they dug deep and came again. Gyan wasted the best chance in the first extra 15 minutes and headed over again just inside the second phase. Forlan tried to do too much on his own when Suarez was free and at the other end Prince was deied by a two fisted save. Both sides battled and were a credit to the game but as the minutes ticked away there was late drama. The ball pinged around in the Uruguay gola area and Suarez used his hands to clear a goal bound shot, he got a red card and Ghana a gilt edged chance. Gyan stepped up and blasted the ball but it bounced off the bar and out.

It was all so cruel but thats football and Ghana two poorly taken penalties from Mensa and Adiah were easily saved handing the semi final place to Uruguay.