At times, it felt like Germany was playing Barcelona and not Spain

Updated on: 08 July,2010 07:42 AM IST |
Carlos Monteiro |

It felt like Barcelona versus Germany at Moses Mabhida Stadium last night.

It felt like Barcelona versus Germany at Moses Mabhida Stadium last night.

Spain's starting XI in the semi-final boasted as many as seven Barcelona players ufffd a rare honour for a single club at any World Cup ufffd and the way they moved the ball around, you could easily mistake them for the Catalan icons.

Vicente del Bosque's men took one giant step towards making history as they nullified the challenge of a plucky German side, whose campaign ended sadly in the same arena where it started so spectacularly with a 4-0 thrashing of Australia.

Cries of 'Viva la Espana' rent the air as the elegant European champions ensured they would take their shot at World Cup glory and cast off that perennial tag of underachievers forever.

The big question before the game was: would Spain be able to handle the pressure of their first World Cup semifinal in decades?

They did that admirably. There were phases in this game when the Spaniards took the breath away with delightful sets of passes, spilling away into little triangles, while the Germans just watched and waited for the ball to come their way. Joachim Loew's 'lucky' sweater failed to do the trick this time. The German coach took his place in the dugout in his trademark V-neck blue sweater under a smart suit.

Apparently, the German contingent refused to allow him to launder the 'lucky' garment which he was wearing on the bench when Germany thumped England and Argentina.

There was to be no fairytale this time, but Loew will leave South Africa 2010 with memories of a mesmerising young side that could still fulfil its potential one day.