The matches of the ongoing World Cup are leaving everyone breathless here.

Without question as we arrive at the semi-finals of the championship no one can wager where the priciest trophy in sport will be heading next Sunday! The 2010 World Cup will surely qualify as one of the most unpredictable ever what with several of the . To start with several of the result of matches do not reflect the performances of the teams. Brazil were surely underserved losers against Holland. They were hardly threatened throughout most of the match, conceded two cheap goals, and played one man short for most of the second half of that encounter. Although Brazil lost, in my estimation, they were the better team on the night.

The Ghana/Uruguay match was even worse in terms of not reflecting the performance of both teams on the night. Everything considered, except the element of luck, Ghana should have being the team to play in the semi-finals not Uruguay. No one can explain what happened in the last minute of extra-time. Ghana had matched and, perhaps, slightly surpassed Uruguay in every facet of the game through 120 minutes of the end-to-end football displayed by both sides. Ghana’s almost certain goal-ward bound header was stopped with the hand by a Uruguayan defender who was sent off and a penalty kick awarded in favour of Ghana. At that point the match was already sealed and delivered to Ghana. There was nothing more to stop Ghana since time was up. The kick was to be the last action. the celebrations had started all over the world as Ghana’s most prolific goalscorer stepped up to take the kick. He took it, and time stopped as the packed stadium watched the ball rise and rise and hit the cross bar only for it to rebound harmlessly back onto the field!

It was such a devastating miss that rising above the psychological trauma of that experience and going through a penalty shootout became as difficult as climbing Mount Everest! Ghana were deservedly within touching distance of history before they were robbed by the hand of the devil!

There are other matches that defied logic. The total dismemberment of Argentina by Germany was an unbelievable sight.  The entire world was so stunned by how Argentina were reduced to training material by a German team that lost to Serbia and struggled to defeat Ghana by one goal in the first round, that I have heard little or no discussion here about that match. It was such a comprehensive beating that there is nothing to say! The Germans have raised their game to the highest level since the first round.

The first and second round matches can be described as the ascension of South American football. Of the 8 teams that arrived at the quarter-finals stage 4 were from South America and they looked impeccable and untouchable. With the first One round of matches later they were down to only one that managed to survive only through the uncanny twist and manipulation of fate. Even the sole survivor, Uruguay, remained only by the skin of the teeth. With 3 of the last 4 teams coming from Europe it is looking increasingly likely that the first African World Cup trophy will go north to Europe.

The semi-final matches hold intriguing prospects. I have a sneaky feeling that the winner of the Germany versus Spain match may cart away the World Cup and that it is likely to be Germany. They appear very much the most compact team in the championship with the immensely important psychological advantage of having won the World Cup three times in the past. They are likely to sweep past Spain that have looked equally good this time but not quite as disciplined as Germany and definitely without the experience of the Germans at this level. It takes a certain nerve to succeed at this level and the Spanish have never had it.

The second semi-final match is no less fascinating. Although Ghana may have exposed some weaknesses in the Uruguayan team, that they could get to the finals without really earning it (it was more a gift of fate than merited achievement) may provide them with the spiritual inclination that they were destined to win it and join the club of a few countries that have won the World Cup three times in their history! Holland have been one of the greatest teams in the world never to have won the World Cup. Once again as has happened several times in the past, they come to the semi-finals of the World Cup with great credentials in world football. They are likely to be in the finals to make the 2010 World Cup final an all-European affair.

This past week has just confirmed football as the beautiful, fascinating and unpredictable spectacle that it is! South Africa has been its best advertisement!