First, I want Netherlands to win, but I suspect it's going to be Spain.

Next, I was seriously bummed to see Uruguay lose. Ever since their second game they'd been the team I was rooting for. Forlan is nothing short of amazing on the pitch. Even with David Villa scoring everything for Spain it would be difficult for me to believe that there is another play as important to his team as Forlan is to Uruguay.

Also, in light of that very late second goal Uruguay put in, it is even more disappointing that the offsides was not called on the Netherlands on their goal. Sure, they weren't far offsides, and it was an extremely close call, but from everything I've seen, they were definitely offsides. Extra time in that game would have been wonderful. It was a great match, and it would be hard to complain about getting to see more of that kind of game.

What makes me think Spain will win? Well to be honest, it would have to be their approach to the midfield. The Netherlands and Germany both have a tendency to back off their opponents in the midfield and play, while Spain is aggressive on the ball for the entire length of the field. It takes more energy out of the players to play that way, but it also creates more opportunities for a mistake in the midfield that leads to a solid scoring chance. In a game where the two teams are so closely matched, I think that may be the thing that turns the tide for Spain. It nearly worked for Uruguay, and they were woefully undermanned in their game, and when comparing talent across the board, they are much less talented than Spain is.

Outside of some dreadful refereeing this world cup has been fantastic. The referees are a part of the sport and to be expected, but I really hope that FIFA works hard to make things better in the future. Such a great series of games should not be undermined and brought into question by some terrible referees.

And finally.....Carlos Bocanegra. I will loathe him for a very long time for the way he pulled up and gave up on the winning goal for Ghana. Totally unacceptable and pathetic. That goal is squarely on his shoulders, even if I blame Bradley for the U.S.'s failure to advance further.

Why Bradley insisted on starting Findley over Hercules Gomez, or several other good...I will never understand. When he was on the field he messed up the spacing, the rhythm, and just about everything about the offense. They would play away from their offensive strengths (which were the speed and elusiveness of Altidore, the ball handling of Donovan, and the tenacity of Dempsey), and instead rely on a pathetic game of boot the ball down the pitch and hope that Findley didn't screw it up, which he invariably did. Bradley seemed to think that because Findley had a similar skill set to a player like Renaldo, that he could get similar results by simply plugging him into that sort of a system, while ignoring the other things that make Renaldo a great player. Coaching and system help a player, they don't necessarily make the player, and Bradley should have known that by now.

Ok...I think I'm done.