Gilbert Arenas made his first start of the season last night and led the Washington Wizards to a 109-94 victory over the Toronto Raptors.
Arenas had 20 points, seven rebounds, and six assists replacing point guard John Wall, who was out with a sprained ankle. Arenas scored 10 points in the third quarter in his first start since his suspension from bringing guns into the locker room last season.
The Wizards (3-6) improved to 3-2 at home with 22 points from Andray Blatche while Nick Young added 20 points. The team played solid defense as was up by 20 points for the majority of the 2nd half.
Arenas is slowing starting to return to his old form. Arenas looked sharp last night and he also had 30 points against the Chicago Bulls in the Wizards last game. Wall should return to the starting lineup in the next few games and should provide a good backcourt combo with Arenas starting to heat up.
The Wizards hit the road to play the Boston Celtics tonight before returning to the Verizon Center on Friday where they host the Memphis Grizzles.
Gilbert Arenas · NBA · Stage Front Tickets · Washington Wizards
The San Francisco Giants knocked out Cliff Lee in the 5th inning as they defeated the Texas Rangers 11-7 to win game one of the World Series last night.
The Giants, who were not known for the offense during the regular season exploded last night for 11 runs on 14 hits including six runs in the 5th inning. Freddy Sanchez led the Giants going 4 for 5 driving in three runs including three doubles. Juan Uribe hit a crucial three run homerun in the 5th that put the Giants up 8-2 as they would need all the runs they got early in this wild game.
Tim Lincecum picked up the win, but he was not as sharp as he normally is either. He went 5 2/3 innings giving up four runs on eight hits while striking out three. Both starting pitchers struggled as they had an eight day layoff and will look to bounce back in their next start.
The Rangers scored two more in the 6th to cut the lead to 8-4, but the Giants roared back with three in the 8th to make it 11-4. The lead was cut to 11-7 in the ninth off a two RBI double from Nelson Cruz, but Giants closer Brian Wilson came in and got Ian Kinsler to fly out to end the game.
Game one was suppose to be a pitchers duel, but turned into a slugfest. 18 runs were scored on 25 hits as no one was expecting a game like this. This is not the marquee match-up that everyone was looking for, but this should be an exciting series between two franchises looking to win their first World Series. Game two will be played tonight is San Francisco with C.J. Wilson going to the mound for the Rangers and Matt Cain pitching for the Giants.
MLB · San Francisco Giants · Stage Front Tickets · Texas Rangers · World Series
The Washington Redskins came up a little short as the fell to the Indianapolis Colts last night 27-24 before a sold out crowd at FedEx Field.
The Redskins played really sloppy at times, but caused three turnovers to stay in the game and had a chance to win in the final minutes. The defense gave up 469 total yards and looked awful at times, but they made some key plays to keep them in the game and give the offense a chance to win at the end.
Pierre Garcon started the scoring on 57 yard touchdown pass from Peyton Manning, who killed the Redskins throwing for 307 yards including two touchdowns. Ryan Torain responded for the Redskins with a 9 yard touchdown run that capped a 10 play 89 yards drive. Torain had his best game on the season carrying the ball 20 times for 100 yards and two touchdowns.
The Colts led 17-7 at the half after a 5 yard touchdown pass from Manning to Austin Collie and a 43 yard field goal from Adam Vinatieri. The Redskins had numerous opportunities in the first half to make interceptions and completely changed the game, but the defense could not catch the ball and the game changed drastically after the missed chances.
The Redskins fought back in the second half to cut the lead to 17-14 after Torain second touchdown, but gave the 10 point lead right back after Joseph Addai scored on a 13 yard run. Graham Gano connected on a 39 yard field goal to cut the lead to 24-17 after three. After another Vinatieri field goal, the Redskins cut the lead to three on an 8 yard touchdown pass from Donovan McNabb to Keiland Williams with 2:46 left in the game.
After the Redskins held the Colts to a quick three and out, the Redskins got the ball back, but were unable to move the ball at all. The Colts tried to run the clock out but were unable to do so as the Redskins got the ball back with 30 seconds remaining. One last chance for the Redskins quickly died when McNabb through a hail mary that was intercepted, but was inches away from being a game winning touchdown.
The Redskins did not play that well on either side of the ball, but hung in there and had a chance to win the game at the end of the game. The Redskins will be on the road the next two weeks as the visit the Chicago Bears and the Detroit Lions before returning home to play the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday night football.
Indianapolis Colts · NFL · Stage Front Tickets · Washington Redskins
The Washington Wizards look to rebound from a 26-56 record from last year with a lot of new faces and attitudes in trying to built a team for the future. Washington Capitals owner Ted Leonsis is now the new owner of the Wizards and is looking to build a team that will be a contender for a long time.
The team has made a lot of changes from last season and started to rebuild during last year’s draft. The Wizards won the NBA lottery and selected John Wall with the number one overall pick. The team also made several trades to acquire veteran guys and draft picks to build through the draft. The Wizards acquired guard Kirk Hinrich from the Chicago Bulls and draft picks. Wall was the main attraction from the draft, but the team had three other selections where they took forward Trevor Booker, forward Kevin Seraphin, and center Hamady Ndiayne.
The Wizards also built through free agency signing forward Yi Jianlian and forward Hilton Armstrong, who should be consistent players off the bench. The team will have seven new faces on the roster this season, but should be exciting to watch. A group of core players are returning from last season including Gilbert Arenas, Andray Blatche, Josh Howard, and Javale McGee.
This season should be interesting to watch with all the young talent that will grow on the court. Wall and Arenas will team up in the backcourt and should be interesting to see how they gel together. With the addition of Hinrich, the team will be forced to play three guards at times and will need a breakout year from Blatche, who had a strong second half of the season last year as he continues to become a go to guy.
This year could be a huge turn around or the first step into a rebuilding process. Hopefully the Wizards will get back to their winning ways and make the playoffs as they continue to get stronger every season.
Gilbert Arenas · John Wall · NBA · Stage Front Tickets · Washington Wizards
Donovan McNabb led the Washington Redskins to a 17-12 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles yesterday in his first game back to Philly since being traded over the summer.
McNabb threw for 125 yards including one touchdown and one interception to lead the Redskins to first place in the NFC East and are now 2-0 against division opponents. McNabb was overshadowed by the Redskins running game, which has its best game of the season rushing for 169 yards on 35 carries.
The McNabb-Michael Vick show down was turned into the McNabb-Kevin Kolb match-up after Vick was knocked out in the first quarter with a rib and chest injury. The injury to Vick changed the Redskins defensive game plan from a cornerback spying to the regular 3-4 defense they play.
The Redskins got off to an early start in the first quarter with two touchdowns in the opening 15 minutes. Ryan Torain got the scoring started with a 12 yard touchdown run. The Skins followed that up with a 31 yard touchdown pass from McNabb to Chris Cooley on an important third down to open up a good lead. The Redskins added another field goal as well as two field goals by the Eagles for a 17-6 halftime lead.
The Eagles cut the lead to 17-12 early in the fourth quarter after a Brent Celek 5 yard touchdown pass from Kolb, but the Eagles failed on the two point conversion. The game stalled from there with both offenses unable to move the ball, until the Eagles had a chance to win the game on the last play when a hail mary pass deflected off Jason Avant hands and was intercepted by DeAngelo Hall to seal the victory.
The Redskins came out of the gates firing and looking their best all season. They struggled in the second half, but still found a way to win the game and are winning the division after the fourth week. The running game was moving the ball well and looked impressive at times. The Skins have a tough schedule over the next few weeks as they welcome the Green Bay Packers and Indianapolis Colts. This should show if the Redskins can make a push into the postseason by winning one of those games.
Donovan McNabb · NFL · Stage Front Tickets · Washington Redskins
The Washington Capitals look to rebound from a disappointing first round exit in the playoffs last season. After winning the Presidents Trophy for the best regular season record in the Eastern Conference, the team will once again contend for the Stanley Cup.
The team will be led by superstar Captain Alexander Ovechkin, who will be looking for his fourth straight 50 plus goals and 100 plus points season. The Caps made some big off-season moves by signing DJ King, a left wing enforcer, who has played with the St. Louis Blues the past four seasons. The team also let some players go to free agency including Jose Theodore, Brendan Morrison, and Shaone Morrison.
Youth will be served this year with the defense and the goaltending. John Carlson and Karl Alzner will be regulars on the blue line this season and should provide some spark to a defense who struggled at times last season. With Theodore’s departure, Semyon Varlamov will become the starting goalie with Michael Neuvirth seeing a lot of time as the backup.
The Caps will open up the season next Thursday October 8th at Atlanta and will host the New Jersey Devils on the 9th in their home opener. The Caps will also be featured in this season’s Winter Classic against the Pittsburgh Penguins on New Years Day at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh.
This season will be interesting to see if the Caps can take the next step forward in becoming a championship team. With all the young guys ready to step up to the NHL level, this season could show if the Caps can become a power house for years to come.
2010-2011 NHL season · NHL · Stage Front Tickets · Washington Capitals
The St. Louis Rams dominated the second half in rout to defeating the Washington Redskins 30-16 yesterday afternoon to end a 14-game home losing streak.
The Redskins fell behind 14-0 early after a Steven Jackson 42 yd run and a Santana Moss fumble set up a short score for Daniel Fells. The Redskins battled back to cut the lead to 14-13 before halftime on two Graham Gano field goals and a 21 yd touchdown pass from Donovan McNabb to Moss.
After the break the Rams dominated the play by controlling the ball for over 20 minutes in the second half. Jackson pulled his groin in the first half, but backup Kenneth Darby led the way after the Redskins took a quick 16-14 lead early in the third quarter. The Rams scored 16 unanswered points to end the game and end their home losing streak.
Clinton Portis ran well in the first half, but didn’t see much action in the 2nd half. It will be interesting to see why he played so little in the second half after having a productive first half.
The Redskins defense struggled all day long to stop the run and rookie quarterback Sam Bradford. The defense gave up 365 total yards to the Rams, who struggle to score points weekly. The Redskins got a real dose of reality of Sunday on how bad they really are and the little improvement they have made from last season.
NFL · St. Louis Rams · Stage Front Tickets · Washington Redskins
The Washington Redskins survived a last second touchdown as they defeated the Dallas Cowboys 13-7 on Sunday night to open up the season.
On the last play of the game Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo found receiver Roy Williams in the end zone, which appeared to win the game for the Cowboys, but a holding call on Alex Barron disallowed the score and allowed the Redskins to win the season opener.
In a game in which both offenses struggled, the Redskins led 10-0 at halftime after DeAngelo Hall recovered a fumble and returned it 32 yards for the score to end the first half. The Cowboys were trying for a quick score before the half and it ended up back firing after the fumble.
The Cowboys got on the board at the end of the third quarter when Romo found Miles Austin for a 4 yd score to cut the led to 10-7. The Redskins answered with another field goal from Graham Gano, who hit three field goals on the day from 29, 32, and 49 yards.
The Redskins offense did not play good, but they found a way to win and the Mike Shanahan era started on the right foot. After going 0-6 against the division last year, it was nice to open up with a win and it was especially nice that it came against the Cowboys. The Redskins will need to play a lot better next week as the welcome in the Houston Texans, who knocked off the Indianapolis Colts 34-24.
Dallas Cowboys · NFL · Stage Front Tickets · Washington Redskins
Nyjer Morgan charged the mound and started a bench clearing brawl after a pitched sailed behind him as the Washington Nationals fell to the Florida Marlins 16-10 last night.
Morgan has been involved in several controversial plays within the last week and last night was the final straw. Last week Morgan was suspended seven games by Major League Baseball for throwing a ball at a fans head in Philadelphia. Morgan, who is appealing the suspension, ran into St. Louis catcher Bryan Anderson last Saturday when there wasn’t even a throw home and was benched by manger Jim Riggleman for his unprofessional actions.
Tuesday night in the top of 10th inning at a close play at the plate, Morgan ran into Marlins catcher Brett Hayes and separated his shoulder. This play was not as dirty, but he would have been safe if he would have slid and since his action within the last week has been crazy, the Marlins took offense. Everybody knew that Morgan would be hit with a pitch last night, but it didn’t come until the forth inning. The whole controversy would have been over, but Morgan stole two bases that frustrated the Marlins, who threw behind him in the sixth inning. After the pitch from Chris Volstad sailed behind him, Morgan charged the mound and the benches cleared as well. Morgan got one good punch on Volstad, but was than tackled by first baseman Gaby Sanchez, who was later hit by a pitch by Doug Slaten.
Four pitchers and both managers were ejected from the game and suspensions are sure to come from the outcome.
Lost in all the controversy was the slugfest of the game. The Nationals were losing 14-3 after three innings and battled back to make the game close only to fall in the end. Ian Desmond led the team going 3 for 4 with two RBI and two runs scored. Scott Olsen did not make it out of the second inning going 1 2/3 inning allowing nine runs on eight hits.
The Nationals now head to Pittsburgh for a weekend series before returning home to face the New York Mets and the Marlins. Next weekend series with the Marlins should be interesting to see if anything else spills over from last night.
Florida Marlins · MLB · Nyjer Morgan · Stage Front Tickets · Washington Nationals
30
Orioles Complete First Ever Season Sweep of the Angels
No comments · Posted by Jesse Ogle in News
Jeremy Guthrie out dueled Jared Weaver as the Baltimore Orioles defeated the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 1-0 yesterday afternoon to complete a season sweep.
The Orioles completed the weekend sweep by dominating the Angels on the mound. Brad Bergesen, Kevin Millwood, Guthrie, and the bullpen allowed one run all weekend.
Guthrie pitched 8 1/3 innings allowing no runs on four hits while striking out five. The Angels had runners on the corners in the ninth, but Mike Gonzalez and Koji Uehara came in and finished off the game.
The Orioles lone run came in the seventh inning when Matt Wieters hit a sacrifice fly to drive in Luke Scott. This was the first time that the Orioles have had a season sweep (6-0) over the Angels. It was also the team’s first road sweep since 2009 when they sweep the Philadelphia Phillies. In addition it was the team’s first back-to-back shutouts since July 2007.
They have dominated the Angels this season and hope to continue the stellar pitching as the Boston Red Sox and the Tampa Bay Rays come to Baltimore this week. The Orioles can play spoiler this week in such a tight American League East and the wild card standing. Hopefully the O’s will continue their hot ways and shake up the standing this week.
Ian Desmond hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the 13th inning to give the Washington Nationals an 11-10 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals last night in a thrilling game.
The Cardinals scored four runs in the top of the ninth to take a 10-8 lead, but Roger Bernadina hit a two run homerun in the bottom of the ninth to send the game into extra innings.
In a rollercoaster game that took 4:35 minutes to play, both teams were scoring runs back and forth. Finally the Nationals ended it in the 13th after using all of their available players. Nyjer Morgan was hit by a pitch while trying to bunt to start the inning. He was than advanced to third after a single by Alberto Gonzalez with one out. Desmond finished the game with a RBI single up the middle past the drawn in infield to end the marathon.
Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujos achieved a personal milestone by belting his 400th homerun in the forth inning to cut the Nationals lead to 3-2. Pujos nailed a 0-1 fastball over the right center field wall of Jordan Zimmerman, who was making his first start since coming back from Tommy John surgery over a year ago.
Doug Slaten (4-1) picked up the win pitching a scoreless inning. The bullpen pitched strong in the extra innings after Drew Storen blew his first save in the ninth. Finally the Nationals bust out of their team slump and explode for 11 runs and 16 hits. In other Nationals news, Bryce Harper, the number one overall pick was introduced before the game and took batting practice on the field before the game.
The Baltimore Orioles hit four homeruns last night to defeat the Cleveland Indians 14-8 to continue their winning ways since new manger Buck Showalter took over.
The team is now 7-1 under Showalter, who took over the team last Tuesday and has sparked this team to recent success.
The Orioles exploded for four in the fourth, three in the fifth, and sixth in the eighth to open up the game. Felix Pie, Corey Patterson, Matt Wieters, and Luke Scott all homered to help extend the lead.
Jake Arrieta (4-3) pitched six innings allowing five runs on six hits while striking out three. Arrieta struggled at times but battled his way through six and gave the team a chance to win.
Pitching has been the key to the recent success, but the hitting was on display last night. The Orioles have come alive since the manager change and maybe this should have been done a long time ago. Guys are hustling and seem to be enjoying the game during this winning streak. Hopefully this will continue and help the team climb out of the basement and finish the season on a good mark.
Alex Rodriguez belted a first inning homerun over the center field fence for his 600th career homerun as the New York Yankees defeated the Toronto Blue Jays 5-1 yesterday afternoon.
A-Rod became the seventh member to join the 600 homerun club that includes Barry Bonds (762), Hank Aaron (755), Babe Ruth (714), Willie Mays (660), Ken Griffey Jr. (630), and Sammy Sosa (609). A-Rod became the youngest person at 35 years and 8 days to accomplish this feat. The next youngest was Ruth at 36 years and 196 days.
This is a great accomplishment for Rodriguez, but some of it will be speculated after his steroid scandal last year. Some will challenge to see if he belongs in the hall of fame, but if they but Bonds in than they should put him in.
A-Rod will now chase Bonds record, which may be hard to catch unless he keeps hitting over 30 homeruns a year. At the current pace he is going, he will struggle to get there, but you never know and he may be able to break the record. This is a great accomplishment for Rodriguez and will be interesting to see if he catches Bonds in the next few years.
Miguel Batista was called into an emergency start after Stephen Strasburg was scratched as the Washington Nationals defeated the Atlanta Braves 3-0 last night in front of a sold out crowd at Nationals Park.
Strasburg was scratched minutes before the game was supposed to start because he was feeling tight when warming up. After going through his normal warm-up routine and throwing a few pitches in the bullpen, Nationals Pitching Coach Steve McCatty called general manager Mike Rizzo and the two agreed to play it safe and sit down the young starter.
Batista (1-2) pitched five scoreless innings allowing three hits while striking out six batters to pick up the win. It was Batista first win as a starter since 2008 when he was a member of the Seattle Mariners. Batista pitched amazing and was mowing down everyone throughout the Braves lineup.
The Nationals got on the board early in the first inning when Nyjer Morgan hit a single before stealing second. Morgan than stole third and scored on the play when Braves catcher Brian McCann threw the ball into left field. The Nationals scored two more in the second inning after an error by Chipper Jones left runners on second and third when Ian Desmond hit a single to center to drive in both runs.
It was nice to see the Nationals win, but the bigger story was Strasburg. X-rays and an MRI showed no structural damage after the game and he is listed as day-to-day. It is unclear whether he will make his next start on Sunday and we should know more information in the next few days. This team needs him to come back strong or else they could be in a world of trouble for the remainder of the season.
MLB · Stage Front Tickets · Stephen Strasburg · Washington Nationals
Matt Garza threw the first no-hitter in Tampa Bay Rays history as they defeated the Detroit Tigers 5-0 last night to finally be on the right side of a no-hitter.
The Rays have been on the opposite side of the diamond twice this season as two perfect games have been thrown against them since July of last season.
Garza faced the minimum of 27 batters as he mowed down everyone in the Tigers lineup striking out six batters an only allowing a second inning walk to Brennan Boesch.
The Rays only managed three hits on Monday night and their first one didn’t come until the 6th inning when Matt Joyce hit a gram slam to give them the lead off one swing. Carl Crawford added a solo homerun in the 8th inning to add one more run on one swing.
The year of the pitcher continues as this is the first time since 1991 that there have been at least five no-hitters in one season. It’s also the first time in 37 years that there has been two no-hitters in the same ballpark in the same season as Edwin Jackson did so a few weeks ago.
This year has been crazy with all the no-hitters and perfect games and it is great for the game to see some great pitching. It shows that the MLB is not all about steroids and homeruns and games can be fun to watch when the pitchers are dominating. It’s nice to see some great pitching and defense every once in a while and hopefully it will continue throughout the season.
Matt Garza · MLB · No-hitter · Stage Front Tickets · Tampa Bay Rays
The Washington Nationals jumped out to a big lead during the middle of the game, but had to hang on for an 8-5 victory over the Cincinnati Reds last night in front of a sold out crowd.
Everybody was there to see rookie sensation Stephen Strasburg (5-2) who pitched 5 2/3 innings allowing three runs on seven hits while striking out seven batters. Strasburg, who turned 22 on Tuesday pitched well early on before running out of gas in the 6th inning. Facing his toughest test of the season against the league best hitting team, he held his own and pitched another solid performance.
The offense finally came alive scoring eight runs on nine hits including two homeruns. Cristian Guzman led the offense going 2 for 5 including a two run homerun in the 5th inning to give the Nationals a 3-1 lead. Willie Harris hit a pitch hit homerun in the top of the ninth to give the team a three run lead and they needed all the runs they could get because of a shaky bullpen performance.
The bullpen had a hard time throwing strikes last night walking four batters in 3 1/3 innings. Drew Storen, Sean Burnett, Tyler Clippard, and Matt Capps allowed two runs on three hits, but the walks killed them as they let the Reds back in the game after a comfortable lead.
Finally the bats came alive and hopefully they will continue as the road trip moves on. Strasburg pitched another solid performance, but his pitch count limited his night. The sell out crowd was the Reds first of the season and everyone wanted to see Strasburg including Pete Rose.
MLB · Stage Front Tickets · Stephen Strasburg · Washington Nationals
20
Nationals End Scoreless Drought but Drop Third Straight
No comments · Posted by Jesse Ogle in News
The Washington Nationals ended their scoreless streak, but fell 7-2 to the Cincinnati Reds last night to drop their third straight game.
Nyjer Morgan drove in a run in the 3rd inning to stop the Nationals scoreless streak at 23 innings. Cristian Guzman went 1 for 4 with a RBI single to drive in the other run, but the Nationals have been struggling from the plate recently. They team only had four hits off Johnny Cueto, who won his 9th game on the season.
J.D. Martin (1-5) pitched 5 1/3 innings for the Nationals allowing six runs on six hits while striking out two. Martin had a wild second inning including three walks that led to four runs in the inning.
The Nationals have been struggling both pitching and hitting and show no signs of turning it around. Everybody is in slumps at the plate and the pitchers are having problems throwing strikes. The team will need to turn it around quickly before they fall further into last place in the National League East.
The Nationals have three more games against the Reds before heading to Milwaukee for a three game series. The team returns to Nationals Park on July 27th when the team has a six game home stand against Atlanta and Philadelphia.
14
McCann Leads NL All-Stars to First Win since 1996
No comments · Posted by Jesse Ogle in News
Atlanta Braves catcher Brian McCann hit a three-run double in the 7th inning to lead the National League to a 3-1 victory over the American League last night to win their first mid-summer classic since 1996.
The pitchers have dominated all year and last night was no different as many guys came in and mowed down the opposition. A combined 4 runs on 13 hits in the entire game was the lowest run total since 1997 when the American League started the 13 game winning streak.
The American League got on the board first in the 5th inning after Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Hong-Chih Kuo put them in good position after throwing a routine groundball over San Diego first baseman Andrian Gonzalez to put men on second and third. New York Yankee second baseman Robinson Cano hit a sacrifice fly to drive in Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Evan Longoria to give the American League a 1-0 lead.
They held the lead until the 7th inning when AL Manger Joe Girardi made some questionable moves. He bought in his own man Phil Hughes, who gave us two hits than he bought in Chicago White Sox reliever Matt Thornton, who loaded the bases before McCann send one to the wall to clear the bases and broke the losing streak for the NL.
Washington Nationals closer Matt Capps struck out Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz to end the 6th inning and received the win. Hughes took the loss and Dodgers closer Jonathan Broxton recorded the save after help from Texas Rangers center fielder Marlon Byrd. With Ortiz on first with one out, John Buck hit a blooper to right and Byrd made a great throw to get the slow Ortiz at second to kill the rally.
It was an interesting game and nice to see the NL break out of their slump. McCann was named MVP for his clutch hit. The NL champion will now have home field advantage in the World Series and the AL champion can blame Girardi for his poor managing to let the game slip out of his hands.
Andres Iniesta scored in the 116th minute to lead Spain to a 1-0 win over the Netherlands last night to claim their first ever World Cup.
After a game with many different opportunities from both sides to crack the score, Iniesta scored right before the overtime was over to end the drama. Both teams had breakaways and failed to convert after big saves by the opposing goalies.
The game was a physical one including 14 yellow cards and one red card, which is a new World Cup record for cards in a final. The previous record was six set in 1986 by Argentina and Germany.
Spain won its last four games by a score of 1-0 and had a tough road to win the cup. They only scored 8 goals in the entire tournament, which is a new record for fewest by a champion.
Spain’s goalie Iker Casillas was named top goalkeeper for the tournament and proved he is one of the best in the world. Uruguay’s Diego Forlan received the Golden Ball, which is awarded the World Cup best player. Germany forward Thomas Mueller won the Golden Boot given to the player who scored the most goals.
This World Cup was a very interesting one filled with great games and many bad calls by referees. The final featured two of the best teams in the world and many games were filled with exciting ending. There was controversy with many different refs making some bad calls that cost teams goals. Instant replay was a huge talk as a goal was not allowed in the Germany-England game and most likely will be installed before the next World Cup. The month long tournament was exciting and ended with Spain proving to be the best team in the World.
Netherlands · Soccer · Spain · Stage Front Tickets · World Cup
Carles Puyol scored in the 73 minute to lead Spain to a 1-0 victory over Germany and send the country to their first ever World Cup Final.
Spain pressured Germany for the majority of the game and had the better scoring chances. Puyol finally broke the scoreless draw with a header off a corner kick that sent their nation into the final.
Spain advances to play the Netherlands on Sunday afternoon, which will be an amazing game and feature two of the top five teams in the world. The Netherlands made it to their third World Cup Final after defeating Uruguay 3-2 on Tuesday. Sunday will feature two countries who have never won a World Cup, so the luck will change for one country.
This marks the second time that Germany has lost to Spain in a big game. In the 2008 European Championship Final, Spain defeated Germany 1-0 on a Puyol goal in the second half. It is ironic that the same thing happened yesterday in the second half that send Germany out of another major tournament.
Germany had a great run in the World Cup knocking off many different great teams including England and Argentina. They just ran out of gas and were unable to make it to the final.
Sunday’s game will featured many top players in the world and will be a very exciting one to watch. Most people are unaware of the Netherlands, but they will give Spain a tough game and it should be an interesting final.
