Germany vs. Uruguay Preview

The youthful Germans will look to rebound vs. a fully loaded Uruguay.

by Henry Whitfield

The final two matches are finally upon us and I for one can’t be happier, a final matchup between old-world rivals Spain and Netherlands sets up a fantastic stage for the beautiful game to display its talent.

Just as interesting is the third place match between a young, surprising German team and an equally surprising Uruguay side that has seen it rise once again to the top tier of international football, led by the talismanic Diego Forlan and controversial Luis Suarez.

To get here we saw Spain dispatch Germany in a closely fought game that finished one-nil and saw Spain dominate an inexperienced Germany side with their passing and patience.

On the other side of the draw, the Netherlands first beat arch-rivals Brazil and then took their time beating Uruguay 3-2 in one of the most exciting matches of the tournament thus far.

Just as amazingly as Uruguay being in the final four, was the fact I got a pick right and went 50% in the final four for my predictions, which as always you can find right here.

So with those two matches out of the way and just two World Cup matches remaining, it’s time for my last two predictions of the tournament before some match pre-views and then two surprise posts that are being worked on for all the readers out there.

Third place match – Uruguay 2 – 4 Germany

So now that you’ve got the prediction, here’s some more in-depth information on why I think that I may actually be right this time:

I’m almost, but only almost, looking forward to this match more than the finals for a number of exciting reasons.

First being that we might finally see the Uruguayans playing an attacking, open game now that the pressure is off and combine that with the style that Germany played prior to their semi-final loss and well, you’ve got yourself and stupidly exciting third place match.

Luis Suarez is back from his one-game suspension after his dubious handball against Ghana, whilst Diego Forlan is rumoured to be playing for a new contract and maybe a transfer to a bigger club.

On the other side of the pitch we have a young German side who were taught a tough lesson by an experienced Spanish side and will be looking to redeem themselves, although, they will be extremely happy to of already made it this far in the tournament.

While the Germans have played a fast-paced, free-flowing style for much of this tournament, their hopes of another World Cup win came crashing down when the Spanish Armada came to town and showed their experience and class, thoroughly outplaying a tired looking Germany.

I think that the German’s have nothing left to prove and now a weight is off their shoulders, the young team will play with confidence and in a relaxed manner.

A scary thought for a Uruguay fan, but I don’t think they have the talent to compete with German, but the match will be an exciting shoot-out with a lot of exciting action.

Key Germany Player – Thomas Muller

Key Uruguay Player – Luis Suarez

Henry Whitfield lives in Halifax and writes about all sports local and abroad. Follow Henry on twitter @henrywhitfield.