And so the German's fine, fine run of form comes to an end. It was inevitable really. Like the team they'll face in the third place match on Saturday, the Germans over performed. They confounded the critics. Exceeded expectations. Came so close. But in this game they seemed to have been stunted by the superior Spanish. They seemed more cautious than they had against England and Argentina.
They certainly missed Mueller, one of the players of the tournament who was suspended for this one. But Spain were the better side, they took the game to their opponents, and Puyol's bullet header was unstoppable. And so they will face my Dutch tips on Sunday. I'd really love the Dutch to win for fiscal reasons, but you've got to fancy the Spaniards...