Holland of Hope And Glory

Three words: Yippee-ki-yay, Wesley Sneijder. After all the hype and dominance, Brazil are leaving the World Cup as suddenly and painfully as ol' Maggie left Downing Street: and with just as many tears and tantrums, might I add.

Of course, I am relatively pleased with the result: in the sense that, if Holland get two more wins, I'll somehow have found myself with nigh-on fifty quid. But sweepstakes aside, it is a shame that Brazil have gone: and gone so shockingly. One disastrous own goal (with cries of dodgy keeper all around), one badly defended corner, and one disgusting tackle combined to leave them with too much to do. They went out at the Quarter-Final stage last time too. It's just as well they're hosting it next time round, isn't it?

And then there were seven: Holland, Uruguay and Ghana (who play tonight), Spain and Paraguay, and Argentina and Germany.

Any preferences on who you want to win out of that lot? I'd like to see a Holland vs Spain final myself. That way, even if Holland do lose, it'll mean Spain finally win the World Cup. Then we can go back to a life without football.

For about four weeks.

Hmm...

The Evening Stanners

PS Felipe Melo had quite the game, didn't he? Sets up one, accidentally scores one, then gets sent off. Classic.