FIFA World Cup | News page 2 | Aussie Punter

After Holland beat Uruguay to make it through to Sunday's World Cup final all eyes were on Durban as Germany and Spain clashed for the right to make it through to the competition's showpiece. Both teams made one change to their line-ups, as Spain dropped striker Fernando Torres and replaced him with Barcelona forward Pedro, while Germany brought in Piotr Trochowski on their right for the suspended Thomas Mueller. The first half was played like a game of one-sided chess with Spain in total control...

Attention turned back to South Africa today, as the first semi-final took place between Uruguay and Holland from Cape Town. Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez made four changes to his team with Jorge Fucile and Luis Suarez suspended and Diego Lugano and Alvaro Fernandez injured. Diego Godin, Walter Gargano, Martin Caceres and Egidio Arevalo came in. Frontman Diego Forlan took over the captain's armband in Lugano's absence. Joris Mathijsen returned for the Holland after missing the quarter-final through...

Paul the octopus has made his prediction for Germany's semifinal match against Spain, and it's not good for the Germans. The octopus has been accurate this World Cup. Paul predicted that Germany would defeat Ghana, Australia, England, and Argentina, which they did. Paul also predicted that Germany would lose to Serbia, which they also did. Now Paul predicts that Spain will defeat Germany. The celeb octopus picks from a group of mussels in his tanks. Some contain German flags, some contain flags...

32 teams entered the FIFA World Cup with the dream of making it to the last-four, one win away from the final, but only four teams made that dream a reality. Uruguay, the Netherlands, Spain and Germany remain standing at the World Cup finals in South Africa, but only two will earn the right to play for the World Cup title. The semi-finals begin Tuesday in Cape Town with the Dutch taking on Uruguay. Two-time winners Uruguay will look to make it to their third final, while the Netherlands would...

The last time Germany and Spain met in a high level football match was at the 2008 UEFA European Football Championships, commonly referred to as Euro 2008, in which Spain defeated Germany 1–0 in the final. Spain went undefeated throughout the tournament, a feat that only two other teams have ever accomplished before (France and Germany). Watch the Euro 2008 Final highlights in the below video: There's no doubt that Germany and Spain are the two best teams in Europe, and you can put Holland...

Germany were sensational in a 4-0 drubbing as they brutally exposed the lack of midfield and defensive ability in the South American side. When you add this performance to their 4-1 win over England they look outstanding value at $2.70 to win in normal time. However, Thomas Muller will be missing through suspension and this occasion may get to the likes of Mesut Ozil. There is little doubt that they will still attack and entertain and Spain's defence is far from watertight, yet there is no reason...

The tournament is almost at an end and now there are but four contenders, all of whom have a reasonable chance of glory though Uruguay are the outsiders. They owe a debt of gratitude to the 'hand of god' of Luis Suarez whose outrageous handball means he is suspended for this match but without it, Uruguay would already be back home. Uruguay looked tired against Ghana and are only in the semi final thanks to Asamoah Gyan inexplicably hitting the woodwork with his penalty kick in the last seconds of...

The World Cup semi-finals are now complete after the second day of quarter-final match-ups took place in South Africa today. The day began with many expected to be the tie of the round as Argentina and Germany met in Cape Town, in a repeat of the finals from 1986 and 1990. What wasn't expected was the comprehensive manor that Germany would depose of their opponents by running out 4-0 winners. They opened the scoreing as early as the third minute when Bastian Schweinsteiger swung in a free-kick...

20-year-old Tomas Muller plays for Bayern Munich with teammates Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben. Tomas helped Bayern win the domestic double and played an integral part in their path to the Champions League Final. Tomas Muller is a household name in Germany but not to Maradano (till now). Back in March Tomas made his international debut in a friendly match against Argentina and at the press conference Maradona failed to recognize Mueller, and thought he was a ball-boy and not worthy to sit at the...

An octopus in a German aquarium has turned into something of a celebrity by predicting World Cup match winners. The octopus has a faultless record at the World Cup so far by choosing food from two different plastic containers. After mulling over the decision for about three-quarters of an hour, it goes for one of the containers which are marked with flags. The octopus predicted the correct results of all of Germany's World Cup games (including the loss to Serbia) and picks a winner in the below...