World Cup Awards, The Highs and Lows

Best Goalkeeper: Iker Casillas - Was phenomenal in the knock outs, not letting in a goal despite Spain's leaky defence giving opposition players more chances than he would have wanted.

Best Defender: Sergio Ramos - Ramos played his heart out, attacking with vigour whilst remaining robust (for the most part) at the back. Was allowed to roam forward due to the effectiveness of both Busquets and Alonso.

Best Midfielder: Bastien Schweinsteiger  - Was the best midfielder in the competition by a country mile. Can he pass the ball like Xavi or Iniesta? No, but his all round play was breath taking. He never stopped working and was Germany's Engine room throughout the tournament.

Best Striker: Diego Forlan - The talent and potential that got him the move to Manchester United all those years ago has finally been realised at this tournament. He has been one of Europe's best marksman for quite some time now, but this tournament is where he has shown himself to be truly world class. Fantastic performance from a man who has been the focal point of his national team for a long time now, and finally has great players around him.

Best Match: Uruguay 1_(p) - 1 Ghana - This match was played by two of the more exciting teams in the competition and had contraversial decisions as well as a penalty shootout. World Cup drama was at its peak during this match.

Worst Match: England 0 - 0 Algeria - Like I said previously, this is the worst match of football that I have ever seen. Not much more to say about this match, it bores me just thinking about it.

Surprise Player: Thomas Müller - Everyone could see his talent but to finish with the Golden Boot was astonishing for a player who had only played one season of elite level football. He is one to watch for the future, perhaps a more athletic Miroslav Klose.

Best Manager: Bert van Marwijk - Van Marwijk has produced a masterpiece in tactics to get the Dutch, who have some of the most talented attacking players in the world but not a great defence, to another World Cup final. I thought they edged the final but poor finishing and great goalkeeping by Casillas stopped them from reaching the heights that only they would have thought possible before the tournament. They played to their strengths having van Bommel and De Jong breaking up play before passing the ball to the uber-talented Robben, van Persie and Sneijder who duly delivered in offensive passages of play. I think this team will struggle without a good left back and an aging van Bommel.

Team of the Tournament:

---------------------- Casillas -----------------------

Ramos-------Lugano--------- Friedrich ---- Coentrao

Müller--Schweinsteiger-------Xavi------------Iniesta

---------------Forlan----------Villa-------------------

Honourable Mentions - Paston, M. Pereira, Nakazawa, Fucile, Rios, Busquets, Alonso, Özil, Sneijder, Klose, Vittek

Golden Boot: Thomas Müller - Played to an outstanding level this summer and deserves this accolade as much as anyone. I thought that Forlan or Villa would edge him out, but Müller grabbed his opportunities with both hands. What could have been had he not mysteriously missed out on the semi finals.

Player of the Tournament: Diego Forlan - Forlan was phenomenal, he was the creative hub of the team as well as the target man. His long range shooting was a joy to behold as well as his set pieces. He worked hard for Uruguay and helped them to reach the dizzying heights of the semis. Don't be surprised to see him move to one of the big clubs in either Spain or Italy as a short term option.

Surprise Team: Slovakia - No one gave them a chance of qualifying but they came up big against Italy and withstood a lot of pressure towards the end of the game. They also played very well against Holland, this country may be able to qualify for the Euro 2012 and attempt to prove that this was no fluke.

Overperformers: Netherlands - Lacking in a lot of squad depth and also a great defence, they defied the odds and reached the final thanks to great team spirit and immensely talented midfielders (and van Persie).

Underperformers: France - There were three big teams which collapsed during these championships: Italy, England and France. Italy were reigning world champions and came last in a very easy group comprised of Paraguay, New Zealand and Slovakia. England managed to qualify from their group but came second to USA meaning they would have to face an on-fire German team whom they duly lost to. However France were a team that great things were expected of. They have a very talented squad with great depth and the experience having been in the final just four years ago. However they bickered between themselves and generally looked disinterested in qualifying from the tournament. France still have very talented players and I think they will look to bring in a very strong character to lead this team such as Deschamps or Blanc.

Congratulations Spain, you've done it!!

These awards are for players in the Final and the 3/4 Playoff:

Best Goalkeeper: Iker Casillas - Captain Fantastic led from the front (or back in this case), making many outstanding saves. He was Spain's best player on the day and fully deserves to be a World Cup winning captain, coming big when it mattered the most.

Best Defender: Sergio Ramos - Had Dirk Kuyt in his back pocked the whole match. Never looked like being beaten and made a couple of threatening moves down the right. His best game of the tournament.

Best Midfielder: Arjen Robben - I considered three people for this award (Robben, Fabregas and van Bommel) but decided that Robben's dribbling and runs behind the defence were more effective than any of the other players. Van Bommel played magnificently to keep Xavi locked up, whilst Fabregas was a real difference maker coming off the bench. It could have gone to any of the three. The only knock against Robben was that he should have finished better and definitely should have won Netherlands their first World Cup. He was also clearly impeded by Carlos Puyol when he broke free of the Spanish defence.

Best Striker: Diego Forlan - Secured his place as the best player in this tournament with a magnificent display despite being hampered by a thigh strain. Scored a fantastic volley, whilst teeing up several players without them finishing. Almost equalised with another fantastic free kick at the death.

Best Match: Uruguay 2 - 3 Germany - Normally the 3/4 playoff is an awful match with both teams wishing they were allowed to simply go home, but this year we had two teams who really went at each other. A fun game to watch with some players who may never get a bigger stage to display their talents.

Worst Match: Netherlands 0 - 1 Spain - Netherlands ran Spain very close, and whilst lucky to still have eleven men on the pitch at the start, I think they shaded the game and probably deserved to win on the day. Heitinga was unlucky to be sent off but he had played very well up to that point, stifling all Spanish attacks. Had it not been for a magnificent Casillas, Spain would have lost this game.

Surprise Player: Xavi Hernandez - This is a man that I always expect greatness from, but today on the biggest occassion in his life, he failed to deliver leaving Netherlands wondering what could have been. He was stopped by an amazing Mark van Bommel and often looked out of sorts. His passing was still accurate but he was not able to dictate the tempo of the game and look for incisive through balls like he usually does.

Best Manager: Bert van Marwijk - van Marwijk did a phenomenal job in setting his team up just like Jose Mourinho did against Barcelona. He had his two holding midfielders with Wesley Sneijder just infront. I thought his big mistake was playing Dirk Kuyt, who is a good player but I do not think he is as good as Elia on the break. Netherlands played better than I thought they could ever do and almost did the impossible.

Team of the Round:

---------------------- Casillas --------------------

Ramos------Friedrich--------- Pique ------ Fucile

Robben----van Bommel------Fabregas----Iniesta

---------------Forlan---------Müller------------

Spain and Netherlands progress to the Final!!

The semis produced the results we were expecting and the matches that we were expecting but still they were an interesting watch.

Best Goalkeeper: Fernando Muslera - Despite letting in three goals, he played quite well and can feel slightly unfortunate to have conceded so many goals.

Best Defender: Johnny Heitinga - Played a great game and never looked in any trouble. Very composed on the ball, if he performs like this then the Dutch might just have a shot.

Best Midfielder: Xavi Hernandez - This award could have gone to a number of players as there was no stand out midfielder in any of the games. Xavi's passing was a joy to behold and his corner was ultimately what undid Germany.

Best Striker: Robin van Persie - Showed that he really is one of the world's best footballers as even when he doesn't score he is still so effective in the lone striker role. He teed up two teammates for goals against Uruguay but they both missed and was a big reason why the Dutch were able to progress through to the final.

Best Match: Uruguay 2 - 3 Netherlands - This was a match packed full of goals which could have swung either way. Had some wonderful goals and great play, both teams have very similar make ups: talented attacking players with battling defensive midfielders holding the fort behind them.

Worst Match: Germany 0 - 1 Spain - I was disappointed with Germany's lack of composure as they are normally very efficient with the chances they work for themselves. The better team progressed through to the final.

Surprise Player: Diego Godin - Thought he might get found out and whilst he is not the quickest player, he certainly positioned himself well to deal with van Persie on numerous occasions and made sure the Dutch striker did not score.

Best Manager: Vincente del Bosque - His team looked in total control of the ball as Spain always do but the team relied on a set piece to get them through. I don't know what Loew could have done differently but I think this was always the more likely result.

Team of the Round:

-------------------- Muslera --------------------------

Ramos----Heitinga--------- Godin ---- van Bronckhorst

Iniesta-------Xavi-----------Alonso-------van der Vaart

-------------Forlan----------van Persie----------------

Predictions

Golden Boot: David Villa (Unchanged) - I think David Villa has a great chance to grab the golden boot, as he will be cutting in from the left and should be able to breeze past a flat-footed Khalid Boulahrouz, though his finishing looked slightly less incisive than usual against Germany. Forlan, Mueller, Klose and Suarez all have a chance of finishing above Villa. If there is a tie at the top, the winner goes to the player with the most assists.

Player of the Tournament: Diego Forlan (Previously Schweinsteiger) - I think Schweinsteiger was the best German player in the Semi Finals and probably for the whole tournament but Forlan has been the attacking catalyst for Uruguay in these championships and has been fantastic. I personally would like to see the Golden Ball handed to Schweinsteiger or Özil but I think it will be given to Forlan.

Winners: Spain (Unchanged) - They haven't lit up the World Cup like many pundits were predicting but it is easy to see why they are worthy champions. They keep the ball better than any national team I have ever seen and they remain patient, almost like the believe they will score during every match. I do not give Netherlands much of a chance but they do have a hardy midfield with the likes of van Bommel and De Jong.

Surprise Team: None (Previously Netherlands) - There were no real surprises in the semis as I think most people expected Holland and Spain to progress to the final.

Overperformers: Uruguay (Previously Paraguay) - Whilst they were an outside tip to be successful in this tournament, few expected Uruguay to be as exciting or effective as they were. They have a great balance to their team and they are perhaps one truly gifted central midfielder away from being one of the best teams on the planet.

Underperformers: None (previously Argentina) - There are no underperformers when you reach the semi finals of the World Cup. Germany were perhaps the most disappointing team but I think that is because they achieved so much beforehand and are most probably the only team in the world who are capable of beating Spain. They will only get better as time goes on and they are able to gel; if anyone is able to knock Spain off their throne in future years it will be this new-look German team.

Brazil are out!! The World Cup is starting to heat up

The Quarter-Finals have been full of surprises, eliminating the idea that the South Americans were having a better World Cup than the Europeans.

Best Goalkeeper: Iker Casillas - He did everything asked of him including saving a penalty. When he made his only mistake of the game by mishandling Barrios' shot but he saved the rebound by Santa Cruz.

Best Defender: Joan Capdevilia - He was perfect from a defensive stand point and attacked fantastically. He used possession wisely and ran off the ball enthusiastically.

Best Midfielder: Bastien Schweinsteiger - This was a phenomenal performance, with his defensive abilities on show for everyone. On top of this he picked up a couple of assists and always looked assured on the ball.

Best Striker: Miroslav Klose - The World Cup veteren was at his best, with Inzaghi-esque movement and finishing to work two tap-ins. He knows where the best attacking positions are and took full advantage of his experience.

Best Match: Uruguay 1_(p) - 1 Ghana - This was a fun game with fantastic goals and contraversy galore. Uruguay felt they should have had a penalty in extra time courtesy of Pantsil but then in the last minute of extra time Ghana had a shot saved on the line by Suarez who was duly sent off. The ensuing penalty was missed by Gyan and Uruguay won the following shootout to go through to the Semi-Finals.

Worst Match: Paraguay 0 - 1 Spain - It is tactically interesting to watch opponents try to counter Spain's possession and talent but it was still the worst game to watch out of the four available.

Surprise Player: Arne Friedrich - Played much better than I thought he could and even capped his performance off with a goal. Played a big part in keeping Argentina to a clean sheet.

Best Manager: Jogi Löw - Showed why international football teams should choose a proper manager rather than a football legend. El Diego was clearly out of his depth and whilst the players seemed to want to play for him, the team was very unbalanced.

Team of the Round:

---------------------------- Casillas ---------------------------------

Veron----------Friedrich------------ J. Boateng ---------- Capdevilia

Müller---------Khedira-----------Schweinsteiger-------K.P. Boateng

------------------Forlan-----------------Klose-----------------------

Predictions

Golden Boot: David Villa (Unchanged) - David Villa's Golden Boot challenge is starting to wane as Spain just aren't scoring anywhere near enough goals. Torres has been awful and defenders are starting to concentrate more on Villa despite the fact that he is playing down the left meaning that he cannot get as open as usual. Forlan, Klose and Müller could quite feasibly overtake Villa to take the crown.

Player of the Tournament: Schweinsteiger (Previously Özil) - Schweinsteiger put in the performance of the tournament against Argentina overshadowing players such as Podolski, Özil and even Klose. If Forlan put's in a good performance against Holland, I think he will win the Golden Ball as he has led Uruguay on an unlikely charge towards the Semi Finals.

Winners: Spain (Unchanged) - This year's World Cup will be decided in the Semi Final between Spain and Germany. I think Spain will win but I would prefer Germany to win it.

Surprise Team: Netherlands (Previously Ghana) - I thought that Brazil were quite poor but the Netherlands have given themselves a fantastic opportunity to get to the final here as they are a more talented team than the Uruguayans and should have enough to see themselves through.

Overperformers: Paraguay (Previously Slovakia) - I think that many people had tipped Uruguay to go far in this tournament but no one thought that Paraguay would be here in the Quarter Finals and be so close to knocking Spain out of the competition. They missed a penalty and an easy chance at the death but gave a good account of themselves and should be proud.

Underperformers: Argentina (previously England) - Argentina were abysmal against Germany and never looked like they had a chance. At least England mounted a comeback of sorts and were foiled by the linesman but Argentina just looked out of their depth. They made an average German backline look very, very good. 

Linesmans Affecting the Knockouts!!

The first round of the knockouts was a fairly depressing round simply because England were so very poor and the disallowed Lampard goal just compounded the misery upon the England fans.

Best Goalkeeper: Eduardo - Made quite a few great saves from Spanish striker David Villa and generally looked like a safe pair of hands. Definitely did not deserve to let in a goal today but eventually Spain will garner enough opportunities that one will go in. If Kawashima looked more confident when the ball was in the air he would probably have received this award.

Best Defender: Gabriel Heinze - Performed like he did when he had just joined Manchester United. Was stunning when going forward and made every tackle when he needed to. He maybe even outshone Carlos Tevez who scored 2 goals.

Best Midfielder: Mesut Özil - His dribbling was a joy to behold, tearing England apart at every chance. Set up Thomas Müller at the end of the match to cap off a magnificent performance. He will definitely be the most wanted player in the world after this tournament.

Best Striker: Luiz Suarez - This boy is the real deal. His goalscoring record is often called into to question as he has scored his goals in the Eredivise, but his dribbling is a joy to behold. He has ability that cannot be taught and he would be a fantastic addition to any team in the world.

Best Match: Germany 4 - 1 England - Despite the fact that we went out, I really feel like this was a great game to watch for the neutrals. It had the huge turning point of the disallowed goal and then some amazing football from Germany.

Worst Match: Spain 1 - 0 Portugal - I find that Spain make a match too one sided to be entertaining. It was very tedious to watch the ball passed around the middle of the pitch with little to no penetration but it is very effective as a style of play as it stops the opposition from playing and eventually mentally fatigues them.

Surprise Player: Thomas Müller - He is a fantastic propsect as he as shown all season at Bayern Munich but his performance against England was astonishing. Two goals and an assist capped off a marvalous performance where he outshone the likes of Lukas Podolski and Miroslav Klose.

Best Manager: Milovan Rajevac - He set Ghana up with five at the back and played on the counter. As USA did not play to their best, Ghana were also allowed to play quite a lot of free-flowing, attacking football whilst maintaining a great deal of security at the back with three central defenders, resulting in them not conceding a goal in open play.

Team of the Round:

---------------------- Eduardo --------------------

M. Pereira----Tankaka--------- Juan --------- Heinze

Müller-----Ramires-------Schweinsteiger---------Özil

---------------Villa---------------Suarez----------------

Predictions

Golden Boot: David Villa (Unchanged) - Villa still looks like the strongest striker but the Germans seem to be scoring more goals than Spain right now so Klose could still score more.

Player of the Tournament: Özil (Unchanged) - Özil has been phenomenal so far in the tournament, there are very few players that can even challenge him for this title so far. In my opinion only Iniesta, Schweinsteiger and Forlan can even consider themselves to be playing anywhere near as well as Özil.

Winners: Spain (Unchanged) - I still think that the winners will be either Spain, Germany or Brazil and I still think that Spain have the most talented footballers in their starting XI as well as on their bench.

Surprise Team: Ghana (previously Japan) - I gave their manager the award for best manager of the round but I do think that they will get knocked out by Uruguay. Uruguay are a better team and have more players capable of producing magic. Even though the whole of Africa will be behind them, I would be surprised if they were able to get past Uruguay.

Overperformers: Slovakia (Unchanged) - Slovakia stopped the Dutch from playing to their full potential and even managed to grab a goal. I'm glad they weren't embarrassed by the Dutch and they have massively overachieved in this tournament.

Underperformers: England (previously France) - England were awful but they were so unfortunate to have a fantastic equaliser wiped off the board because of poor officiating. 

Final Thoughts - There were some very poor decisions made in this round costing England and Mexico greatly. I hope video evidence is brought in because these players may never have another chance of playing in the World Cup.

Group Stage is Over

All group stage games have been completed and there have been a few surprises (Italy going out and how poor England have been). Without further to do, let's get on with the awards!!

Best Goalkeeper: Raïs M'Bolhi - Did very well to keep USA to one goal though this could quite easily have gone to Mark Paston (New Zealand).

Best Defender: Arthur Boka - Great going forward for Ivory Coast as well as solid at the back. Worked very hard down the left. I know he was only playing North Korea but you have to give him credit for a fantastic performance.

Best Midfielder: Keisuke Honda - He gave a fantastic performance drawing 7 fouls during the game and capping the performance off with the all important first goal of the game.

Best Striker: Róbert Vittek - Scored 2 goals against Italy in a fine display for the Slovak. More performances like this could ensure a move to a good club as it seems his career at Lille is over.

Best Match: Slovakia 3 - 2 Italy - This was a game full of goals which was difficult to call. Both teams could have won it though I wouldn't have said either team played particularly well. I was very tempted to pick the Japan Denmark game but decided that this was a more open game where as Japan dominated their game.

Worst Match: Slovenia 0 - 1 England - This wasn't unbearable to watch but there wasn't an obvious game to choose. This round of games was perhaps the best to watch so far in the tournament.

Surprise Player: Róbert Vittek - He made Georgio Chillieni look like a very average defender at times and tore apart an Italy defence which was made up of some very experienced players. I had never seen Vittek play before this tournament and I have to say that he looks like a good goal poacher.

Best Manager: Takeshi Okada - The Japanese manager set out his team perfectly. Rommedahl, who had been one of the players of the tournaments before this match, was met perfectly by multiple defenders and aggression. This was one of the performances of the tournament so far, perhaps only overshadowed by Germany against Australia in their opening match.

Team of the 'Round':

------------------- M'Bolhi --------------------

Lahm----Pique----------- Nakazawa ---- Boka

Iniesta---Inler-------------Matsui---------Özil

-------------------Honda-------------------------

--------------------Vittek----------------------

Predictions

Golden Boot: David Villa (Unchanged) - Villa has been on fire this tournament and has been racking up the goals. I can't see anyone catching him up at this stage but one hat-trick can change the race for the most goals at any point.

Player of the Tournament: Özil (previously Maicon) - Özil and Schweinsteiger have been the two most consistent players but Özil has more flair and creativity than Schweinsteiger meaning that he would be a more preferable choice as Player of the Tournament.

Winners: Spain (previously Brazil) - I think it is between Spain and Germany to win the tournament. Spain have the best players of any national team that I have ever seen but Germany seem to have a fantastic team spirit and great balance to their team.

Surprise Team: Japan (previously Mexico) - Japan produced a display of the highest quality and if they can do that against Paraguay there should be no reason why they shouldn't easily dispose of Paraguay. However if they don't perform like they did against Cameroon, it could be a difficult day for them. Other dark horses include Ghana and Uruguay.

Overperformers: Slovakia (Previously Denmark) - I was surprised that Denmark were knocked out but I was even more surprised by Slovakia qualifying ahead of Italy. They are clearly the weakest team left in the competition but performed well against Italy and hopefully they shouldn't embarrass themselves against Netherlands.

Underperformers: France (previously Cameroon) - I thought that there would be a chance that they would pull themselves together and qualify but coming last in their qualifying group is just embarrassing. To lose to South Africa is unacceptable and the managers and players alike should be ashamed of their performances at this tournament.