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.