21.31

Time to wrap proceedings up I think. As i’ve mentioned the final of the biggest sporting tournament in the known universe is on Sunday. Of course all this is merely a side show compared to Saturday’s third place playoff, as Germany or Uruguay fight for the coveted bronze medal.

If your a betting person I fancy the Dutch myself,  so be sure to put your money on Spain.

Anyway its been a real pleasure….Cheerio!

21.25

re 1927: on another note the damned ‘phsycic’ octopus has cost me my food money for the week. :(

21.25

re 1927: on another note the damned ‘phsycic’ octopus has cost me my food money for the week by virtue of being 100% correct again. :(

21.24

German players are distraught, as well they might be, but a semi-final spot was more than many would have given them at the start of the tournament.

21.22

Not the best of matches, not a classic by any means. Vicente Del Bosque won’t care though,his men will be in Soccer City this Sunday to face the Dutch. Have fun predicting that one!

21.19

Thats it! Party time for Madrid as the Spanish are in the world cup final!

21.18

just 1 minute left of stoppage time. Xabi Alonso off. Marchena on, who has never lost an international for Spain.

21.16

There may be another goal but if there is its going to be a Spanish one. There trying to walk it in. Must be able to smell the final as its mere seconds away.

21.12

No sign of a German goal, about 5 mins left I reckon.

21.12

Still no cards, which is nice to see. Ref seems to have lost his whistle which may be a contributing factor. Germans furious as Schweiny has a stonewall free kick appeal on the edge of the box turned down with barely a look.

21.10

Man City’s newboy David Silva is primed and ready to come on. Not sure who for though.

21.09

Had to be 2! Pedro and Torres broke free and all Pedro had to do was square to the Liverpool striker and the final berth would have been theirs. Even I could have done that!

21.08

Excuse my exuberance. Torres is on for Villa. Gomez, worst striker at euro 2008 by a country mile, is on for Germany.

21.07

Torres is here!!!

21.05

Villa one-on-one with Friedrich. Defender does consumately well though. No way through for the Barca frontman.

21.03

As it stands we would definitely have a first timer winning the world cup. Neither Spain nor Holland have achieved that feat before. Am I writing off the Germans already? Hell no!

21.02

Quarter of an hour for Germany to save themselves or they’re going out at the semi final stage for the second time in a row.

21.00

Spain 1 Germany 0: Absolutely no chance for Neuer. Puyol plants a bullet header into the net. Not a very Spanish goal but they all count.

20.59

goooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaalllllllllllll Spain!!!!

20.59

20.56

I have it on good authority that ‘the force is with Germany’. We can expect lightsabres then

20.55

just as i was typing that, Kross send a thumping volley at Casillas. Its end to end again. I give up with predicting things. Clearly i’m no phsycic octopus.

20.54

Have to say that Spain look the better side. Can’t find that killer ball though.

20.53

re 1927 i’m still no closer to knowing whether I get to eat this week or not. The suspense is killing me.

20.50

Spider sense is tingling. Something’s gonna happen soon, trust me.

20.49

Ramos again involved. Nearly latching onto the end of an Alonso cross. Nothing doing, inches away mind.

20.48

Pedro looks better than Messi and Ronaldo combined. Where has this one been hiding?

20.47

Klose comes…erm….well…..close i guess. Bit acrobatic from the big man. Not troubling Casillas.

20.45

Many many shots. Neuer is a man under attack. Pedro strikes directly at the German keeper. Villa then slides a ball across the box which is agonisingly out of reach for everyone. Bit reminiscent of Gazza at Euro ’96.

20.44

Sooooo close to a spain goal!

20.41

Villa follows the trend of shooting wide. Scoring does not appear to be high on anyone’s list of priorities.

20.39

2038: Jansen is on for Boateng for Germany who looks shellshocked. Actually he looks about right for a man who’s having his semi-final curtailed.

20.36

Xabi Alonso’s shoots but that’s nowhere near the net. Doesn’t stop the gentleman in front of me from jumping up in anticipation.Love to see what he does if they actually score.

20.36

Alonso’s getting closer. Still not hitting target though. Certain fans are a little more reserved this time.

20.31

Apologies for my momentary absence. I had to get crisps, due to a lack of good old nourishing goals. 

20.20

Incidentally if your worried about vuvuzela withdrawal symptoms post world cup you’ll be pleased to hear you can now have that annoying blare direct on your PC. Keep in mind that if you do happen to enjoy this sort of thing you may want to seek some sort of proffesional medical help. http://www.vuvuzela-time.co.uk.

20.19

Just as it was hotting up ref blows for the break. Not much doing here, second half has to get better. Surely?

20.17

Halftime – Germany 0 Spain 0

20.16

Ozel burst through Spanish defence and goes tumbling. Tad lightly but there was contact from Ramos, no penalty forthcoming however. End to end stuff.

20.14

Pedro dances, ducks and weaves into the area. Will he shoot? Will he pass? Neither. Wins a corner though, which is duly overhit

20.12

Iniesta wins a free kick from Boateg but the Spanish try to be clever and end up wasting it. Bit infuriating if you ask me.

20.10

They may be in the semis but Spain look a shadow of their 2008 European Chamionship winning team. They have had 60% of the ball, they’re not doing a whole lot with it though.

20.07

Shock horror as courtyard TV flickers momentarily! Thankfully normal coverage resumes. It better continue to do so or I will be miffed. Miffed I tell you!

20.05

Germans still look lively. Bit wasteful with possession though which causes coach Joachim Luuurrvve (not correct spelling) to ‘jump around’ on the touchline.

20.03

Admission time- Despite claiming to be a football anorak I have never heard of Piotr Trochowski. Plays for Hamburg apparently.

20.01

Better from the boys in white. Trochowski’s shot from distance was testing for Casillas but Spain’s man between the sticks got down to palm it away.

19.59

Germans have a bit of possession with Schweinsteiger and Ozel but it comes to nothing. Schweiny hasn’t had too much of the ball yet. Bad for him, good for me. You try speed typing his name.

19.57

Having said Ramos is a defender he then makes what can only be described as a forward’s tackle on Boateng. Should have a yellow.

19.55

Not that it matters but Courtyard is not quite as raucous as it was yesterday. There were sizeable contingents of both Dutch and Uruguayans. None of that today though :(

19.54

German counter attacking machine not quite clicking as of yet. Ozel, Podolski, Klose and co. look a little despondent.

19.53

If you really squinted you could make Spain look like Alcuin, but no-one wants to see that.

19.50

If you squint Germany look like England. Its fun to dream.

19.49

Right on cue Sergio Ramos lets off a shot. He’s a defender. Guess where the shot ended up.

19.48

Right, it was about this time yesterday that Gio Van Bronkhorst scored that wonder goal. One of those now wouldn’t go amiss lads, if your offering.

19.45

Clearly someone has replaced Iker Casillas, the international class wonder keeper, with a dodgy replica. Anyway the artist formerly known as Casillas flaps at a corner and looks a little anxious. Calm down dear, its only a game.

19.43

Man alive that was close! Puyol manages to get all of his silly floppy locks onto the ball but the header goes over. Spanish goal may not be too far away though.

19.41

Re: 19:32 – I was wrong about the vuvuzelas! PLEASE SOMEONE MAKE THEM STOP

19.40

In case you needed reminding the winner of this match faces the Dutch. The loser gets the booby prize of a third place playoff with Uruguay. The Uruguayans will be boosted by the return of their star goalkeeper, Luis Suarez.

19.36

First chance of the match! Neuer saves well from Villa. Nervy stuff from the Germans.

19.35

Bit of a cagey start. Spanish in possession mostly. Pedro looks a bit alright…..at football that is.

19.34

There’s some people on the pitch. The match is definitely not over though. The commentary team are not impressed.

19.32

Is it me or have the vuvuzelas got quieter as the tournament’s progressed?

19.30

Anthems all done and dusted. Here we go!

19.30

Here’s one for you stat fans. If David Villa scores today he will equal Raul’s record of 44 goals for Spain. Torres only has 24, which is rubbish

19.29

Interesetingly Fernando Torres has been left out in favour of Barcelona’s Pedro. Hmmmmm.

19.27

Right it’s done. My food money for the week has been bet on a Germany victory. I’m remaining completely impartial though…..

19.23

Hello ladies and gentlemen and welcome to the show. If yesterday was anything to go by we’re in for a cracker. Feel sorry for Uruguay? After thay handball I should think not.

19.20

First we had the group stage, and the French decided it wasn’t for them….

Then we had the second round and some fleeting dreams were crushed…..

Then we had the quarters and things got interesting……..

But all that was nothing compared to the excitement of a World Cup Semi!