World Cup Buzz, Day 27 - Will it be an all-European final, or can South America salvage some pride through an unlikely hero?

Following the final round of Group Stage matches, it very much appeared as though the 2010 FIFA World Cup belonged to South America. With six sides from said continent still in the tournament, as opposed to two from Asia, Ghana as the sole African representative, and just six from Europe, traditional dominators of previous World Cups, some pundits were talking up the possibility of an all-South American final. Admittedly the two most likely sides to be involved in such a final were Brazil and Argentina, but having lost Italy and France in the Group Stages, and given how poorly England and Spain had been performing. Now though the situation is rather different. Three out of the four sides involved in this week's Semi-Final matches are from Europe, suggesting perhaps that towards the latter stages of any World Cup, the greater experience of the European players, and perhaps higher standard of coaches comes into play. I may be doing a disservice to the other sides in the World Cup, but certainly Argentina's failure to reach the last four cannot be blamed on any shortage of talent in their squad, whilst Ghana's defeat demonstrated a lack of experience in highly pressurised situations. Furthermore had Brazil been able to maintain their discipline and adapt themselves tactically and mentally to cope with the greater threat posed by Holland after half-time, the tournament would be guaranteed a non-European finalist. As it is Uruguay, the final South American side standing, face an uphill battle to reach the final for the first time since 1950, when they upset perennial champions Brazil to claim the Jules Rimet trophy.

Perhaps not everybody's favourite team right now, Uruguay's route to the Semi-Final stage had been relatively simple until last week's exhilirating match against Ghana, which ended with a penalty shoot-out, after a few minutes of high-drama at the end of the extra time period. Following an outrageous and unmistakable handball by star striker Luis Suarez, who was rightly sent-off and will miss today's game, Ghana's top scorer Asamoah Gyan smashed his shot against the bar, leading to a heart-breaking penalty shoot-out loss for the demoralised and devastated Ghanaians. The fact that Suarez was seen to have been heading down the tunnel in tears following his blatant act of cheating, only to break out in celebration as Gyan failed to convert from the spot has angered many, whilst in the unjust nature of Ghana's defeat has left their many supporters, both native and adopted, feeling extremely hard done by. Personally I am hoping for today's game to restore a sense of justice a decency to the competition, and I feel that Holland as a side that represent more than most the values of attractive, technically-sound, passing football, are best placed to do just that. On a purely footballing level meanwhile, I can't imagine there would be many able or willing to predict anything other than a Dutch victory. In Robin van Persie, Wesley Sneijder and Arjen Robben they have the players, but as they showed against Brazil, Holland also have the mental strength and self-belief to claw back victory from the jaws of defeat. Bert van Marwijk has done an exceptional job in forging a committed but most importantly unified Dutch squad, which has so far avoided petty-squabbles and infighting, and focused entirely on the job at hand.

Uruguay for their part have done very well to get this far, although it is fair to say that having been on the 'easier' side of the draw, games against South Korea and subsequently Ghana haven't been quite as difficult as the test Oscar Tabarez' side face today. It would also be reasonable to suggest that after friday's game Uruguay may well have tired themselves out to such an extent that they cannot maintain the level of performance they will be required to for at least 90 minutes in order to progress. The loss of Luis Suarez is a huge blow, but Uruguay can still rely on the prolific Diego Forlan and strike partner Edinson Cavani up front. However I still believe van Marwijk's to be superior to the Uruguayans in every way, and having come into this game off the back of a superb victory against five-time champions Brazil, one has to say they have the momentum to boot. My score prediction would be 2-1, for I believe Uruguay to be capable, almost certainly through Forlan, or breaking through the by no means watertight Dutch defence. If Uruguay can utilise the long-ball tactic, as Brazil did to great effect for Robinho's opener, they may well be able to expose the weaknesses of Heitinga and Mathijsen. However as they have proven throughout this tournament, Holland are capable of scoring crucial goals as an when required, and Arjen Robben could well prove to be the difference today.