And so the greatest sporting event in the world comes to an end for another four years before we head to Brazil in 2014. Overdue congratulations to Spain and unfortunate commiserations to the Dutch. But what have we got from this tournament? It’s time for the Injury Time World Cup Awards!

Golden... Forlan was impressive in South Africa.

Player of the Tournament

Diego Forlan (Uruguay)

He won the golden ball, and rightly so. The target man finished equal top-scorer and also chipped in with three assists. He was the main man for Uruguay and had his last-minute free kick been a little lower against the Germans, he would have walked away with the Golden Boot too.

Goal of the Tournament

Giovanni Van Bronckhorst (Netherlands)

His rocket strike against Forlan’s Uruguay set the tone for the Dutch’s qualification for the final. Now retired after an illustrious career, whilst he’ll be disappointed, he’ll be thrilled with the final goal of his career.

Find of the Tournament

Stunner... Van Bronckhorst's final career goal was legendary.

Thomas Mueller (Germany)

His name was not known to many worldwide pre-World Cup but now people are sitting up to take notice. He was instrumental in Germany’s campaign and his knack to be in the right place at the right time and finishing ability is amazing under the age of 21.

Coach of the Tournament

Joachim Loew (Germany)

He’s still not assured of his job after the World Cup as amazing as it is. He took a team that not many fancied pre-Cup and turned them into the ‘new Netherlands’ of European football, playing the most expansive game of counter-attacking football.

Best Match of the Tournament

Germany 3 def. Uruguay 2 (3^rd Place Play-Off)

Some say this game isn’t required, but time and time again, it proves to be one of the most free-flowing games of the World Cup. It was no different this time as the two teams played out a highly entertaining game which saw some great football all round and plenty of goals. This fixture averages more than four goals over all the World Cup’s it has featured in.

Surprise Pack of the Tournament

Smelllltzz! Shane scored THAT goal against Italy.

New Zealand

Imagine if someone came to you in May this year and told you that New Zealand would be the only undefeated team in the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Well that’s exactly what happened and not only that, but they finished above previous champions, Italy. Courageous team spirit and tactical awareness perhaps saw them unlucky to not make the round of 16. Oh, and how’s this for a stat; Shane Smeltz of NZ who plays in Australia’s A-League (soon to be playing in China) scored more goals in this World Cup than Wayne Rooney + Fernando Torres and Lionel Messi put together! Ridiculous! Sign him up Madrid!

Better Luck Next Time Award

Wayne Rooney (England) + Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)

Shocker... Rooney had a terrible time of it.

We just couldn’t separate the two. Rooney was arguably worse – never showing up in any of England’s games. I’ve even diverted to starting Defoe/Crouch and Agbonglahor on my PS3. Too add insult, Rooney was later named the ugliest footballer in the world! Ronaldo meanwhile, again went missing on the biggest stage and he’ll probably only have one more chance at best to add the one medal missing from his cabinet.

How Did He Miss That? Award

Yakubu Ayegbeni (Nigeria)

It was beyond unbelievable. In a tense game with South Korea, where a win would send them through, Nigeria trailed the Asians, 2-1. Then, out of nothing  a squared ball found Yakubu free as a bird directly in front of an open goal with keeper beaten. The Everton striker though somehow pushed his shot wide with the goal gaping. And he is paid hundreds of thousands of dollars per week…

On Fire... Oezil and Mueller are running riot for Germany.

Mexico didn’t provide the sternest of tests for a powerful Argentinean side, and in their opponents so far (Nigeria, South Korea, Greece and Mexico) they have faced no real ‘big’ team with all due respect to the aforementioned teams. Germany will undoubtedly provide that though, having put four goals on the one team for the second time against England. But nonetheless, they’ve taken care of these opponents with ease and with Lionel Messi running the show; Maradona might just have to start getting ready for a run across Buenos Aries…

Germany has been remarkable in this tournament. Many were predicting the end for a youthful squad with old stars and mid-range performers, but now they will be eating their words as they have depicted the cream of counter attacking football. Young stars like Oezil and Mueller along with the ever-present Klose, the Germans have a balanced mix of youth and experience that all teams would crave.

But, let’s see what the stats have to say.

Head to Head Clashes: 18

ARG: 8
(goals scored: 25)

GER: 5
(goals scored: 23)

DRAW: 5

AVG. GOALS P/GAME: 2.66

Whilst Argentina have a slightly better win-loss record between the two, it should be noted that at the same time, Germany managed to score almost the same amount of goals as the South Americans.

How’s each countries World Cup form been of late though? Here’s a brief look at how each respective team has fared during this campaign and at their last two World Cup outings as well as their All-Time World Cup Ranking. (*both team’s last World Cup’s were at Germany 2006 and South Korea/Japan 2002)

ARGENTINA

Played: 12
W: 8
D: 3
L: 1
Win: 66%
Avg. Goals Scored P/Game: 1.91
Avg. Goals Conceded P/Game: 0.58
All-Time WC Ranking: 4^th – W53%/L28% -15 Appearances – For/Against: 120/74 = +46

GERMANY

Played: 18
W: 13
D: 2
L: 3
Win: 72%
Avg. Goals Scored P/Game: 2.05
Avg. Goals Conceded P/Game: 0.61
All-Time WC Ranking: 2^nd – W60%/L20% – 17 Appearances – For/Against: 195/115 = +80

Contrasting stats there, each team seeming to have the edge over the other in certain areas. But no doubt that Germany has the stronger record at World Cup’s in general. That will duly be tested when they come up against Argentina.

This one has goals written all over it, but considering the way such games have gone this World Cup (aka Brazil v Portugal), we’ll go for a surprisingly-low, 1-0 victory to the Germans. Let’s hope that Paul the octopus agrees with us too!!

I’m Back… Robben fired Oranje to victory.

Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s men were less convincing than the Samba boys from Brazil, but with the return of an energetic Arjen Robben, they looked much better than in the group stages. The win continues their unbeaten run stretching remarkably back to 2008 when they were defeated by Australia at home.

Meanwhile in Johannesburg, Juan, Luis Fabiano and Robinho were on hand to score an impressive win over Chile. The victory was ever more notable as Chile had endured a decent group stage. The smaller of the South American sides came out firing though and dominated early. But once Brazil stemmed the tide, it was one-way traffic from there on.

So now we have two sides that are in great form that will set up a great clash on July 3^rd at Port Elizabeth.

But what do the stats say about these two teams?

If they’re any guideline, it’ll be a very close game as most are predicting. As can be seen below, the two have played nine games, Brazil edging it with three victories compared with Netherlands two, with four draws. The South Americans have also scored one more goal than the Dutch.

Head to Head Clashes: 9

BRA: 3
(goals scored: 14)

NET: 2
(goals scored: 13)

DRAW: 4

AVG. GOALS P/GAME: 3

The Netherlands are on a great run, and Brazil always turns up for these latter stages of the Cup so let’s look at each team’s record over this and the last two World Cups as well as their All-Time World Cup Ranking. (*Note that Brazil’s last two Cup appearances were at Germany/South Korea and Japan, whilst Netherlands’ were Germany/France.)

BRAZIL

Played: 16
W: 14
D: 1
L: 1
Win: 88%
Avg. Goals Scored P/Game: 2.25
Avg. Goals Conceded P/Game: 0.50
All-Time WC Ranking: 1^st – W69%/L15% – 19 Appearances – For/Against: 206/87 = +119

NETHERLANDS

Played: 15
W: 9
D: 4
L: 2
Win: 60%
Avg. Goals Scored P/Game: 1.53
Avg. Goals Conceded P/Game: 0.66
All-Time WC Ranking: 8^th – W48%/L26% – 9 Appearances – For/Against: 64/37 = +27

So as can be seen, Brazil hold a slight advantage in World Cup records over the last two World Cups, and it’s fair to say that after disappointing endings for both teams in 2006, both will want to claim a semi-final berth. It’s always nice to have a nice World Cup record (as Brazil do) but we all know that when it comes to the knockout stages a lot of these stats mean nothing.

As far as predictions go, we’re going for a tight 3-1 Brazilian win after extra time. Don’t be surprised to see this one go to penalties either.

Now that we have eight teams remaining as we head into the quarter-finals stage of the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa, we’re asking who you think will ultimately lift up the prize. With no massive shocks (in terms of results) during the round of 16, we have some tantalizing clashes coming up.

Will Brazil take their tally to 6 and add another continent to their impressive resume? Will Uruguay surprise everyone with a famous championship? Can Spain deliver on all their potential? You tell us as we look out for the people’s favourite for the World Cup.

As much as I would like to sit here and say that the decision in the first half cost us the game, we never really deserved it. Poor in the group stages and only good for about 15 minutes of the Round of 16 clash, Germany were far superior.

However, it could, and should, have been 2-2 at least as the teams went in for the break. But somehow, unbelievably, all three referees missed what was a clear Frank Lampard goal.

The card-happy referees have had a terrible time of it this World Cup and in my opinion, have wrecked games. This blight will only dampen their resumes.

Now, the entire up roar has begun about video technology and what not and surely it will go on for some time.

Although, whilst I feel sunk at what could have been, I am not in favour of having video technology and all this tennis like ‘challenge’ system.

This is mainly because it would ruin the ‘flow of the game’ as most have said. Not only this, but with line-ball situations that are debatable and very close, we might face massive delays as the referees and subsequent video referees try to come up with the right decision.

I would much rather prefer goal line referees. FIFA trialled them in the Europa leagues and there were problems, some of these referees missing the exact things they were put there for.

However, at least such clear cut decisions like the Lampard example wouldn’t go unnoticed and especially in such big competitions.

Talk has materialized over having a ‘goal-line sensor’ that would apparently alert the referee if the ball had crossed the line.

Seems like a bit of a joke to me really, why go through all the trouble of kitting out hundreds to thousands of goalposts with this sensor when FIFA can easily employ two more referees per game?

The decision seems simple to me.

Undoubtedly though is the question; is it worth the trouble? Well trialling it in domestic competitions is the obvious answer and it looks like a suitable option.

FIFA might think about employing the two-referee system over a few domestic leagues around the world and review the results at season’s end, rather than judging the method after one running in a European competition.

Get feedback from everyone, the players, the managers, the fans, about what they thought of the added referee’s and most importantly, if they actually made the game better. After all, if these extra referees only further complicate decision making in the game, there is no point.

Oh, and please get rid of those damn Jabulani’s FIFA!