Tonight sees an eagerly anticipated rematch of the 2008 European Championships final as Germany and Spain lock horns to decide who meets the Netherlands in the 2010 World Cup Final on Sunday night.
This will be Germany's 11th appearance in the World Cup semi-finals, but seldom have they performed with such flair and panache, completely thumping England and Argentina along the way. Meanwhile, Spain have ground out results, winning their last three games by a single goal margin. For so long considered the great underachievers of world football, Spain appear to have finally discovered an almost Germanic stubborn efficiency during their path to a first ever semi-final appearance in this esteemed competition.
The Spaniards will look to pass their opponents off the park, hogging possession of the ball with the aim of demoralising and eventually exhausting their German opponents. But while Spain ultimately wore down Portugal and Paraguay in their previous games in this way, the Germans will be a far more dangerous proposition with their devastating counter-attacks.
Joachim Loew's youthful side enjoyed less possession than either England or Argentina, but were supremely clinical when they did get the ball. They generated 13 shots on target in those two games, eight of which resulted in goals. Having also thrashed the Australians during their opening game, the Germans are the first nation to score four goals or more in three different World Cup matches since Brazil in 1970.
Spain have recovered from their shock opening game defeat to Switzerland masterminded by the German coach Ottmar Hitzfeld. However, that setback has punctured Spain's aura of invincibility. David Villa has at times been inspired but his strike partner, Liverpool's Fernando Torres has looked very much out of sorts. Spain manager Vicente del Bosque has so far kept faith with the Euro 2008 match-winner but will not be able to afford any passengers this evening.
Germany will have the luxury of a fully-fit squad for this game with only the suspended Thomas Mueller being unavailable for selection. Meanwhile, midfielder Sami Khedira has shaken off a thigh injury, while Arne Friedrich has seen a foot problem clear up. Auxilliary striker Cacau is also available again after missing the last two matches with an abdominal condition.
Spanish boss Vicente del Bosque must be agonising over whether he should persist with the off-colour Fernando Torres, who lasted less than an hour against Paraguay before being withdrawn from the action. His replacement, Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas, is something of a doubt after a training ground injury to his right leg. A scan has revealed there is no actual bone damage but there is also the little matter of a shoulder injury that he is currently nursing.
Centre-back Carles Puyol's issue with blurred vision has been resolved and he has been given the all-clear to play.
This is a very hard match to call but at puntinplay.com we are going to boldly extrapolate recent trends through to their natural conclusion. There is very little to separate the two sides so it will ultimately go to penalties but, in keeping with their recent reinventions, the flair-filled Germans will miss out and it will be the newly "Teutonic" Spaniards who will ruthlessly emerge victorious from the shoot-out to seal their place in a high stakes showdown with the Dutch on Sunday.
