I actually bet that Spain won and won some cash that will fund my upcoming gaming spree.

Was a superb match today.
That Pedro from Spain could had make one or two goals, if he were playing for real...
I doubt it, Spain outdrived Germany today... if they will play at today's rhythm, of course Spain will win.
How much you won today? Just curious.

In my opinion the main issue for Holland will be the defense. Spain won't hold back (it's about time btw). Also, they better play collectively.

Yep, the first match that Spain played greatly, was today.

I'm hoping for crazy luck again >_> There were a lot of worried faces among Dutch experts during the discussion of yesterday's match :p
How are the opinions on the Dutch team, actually? I'm not really into soccer that much, so I'm not that capable of judging quality of play.

I'm not that sure Spain will win.
They seem to have only 1 player who's really capable of scoring.
They're best weapon however is the way and speed with which they play the ball around.
As far as I have seen them, this was the first match in which they started to play at their level.
That Pedro guys fucked up yesterday.
If he was a team player he would have passed the ball instead of wasting a good chance.
For the first time in a long time we really have a tight team, no big egos spoiling things.
Our coach stays calm and down to earth and is only busy with the next match and not with other things. He also has no big ego.
We have a lot of players who can play at several positions.
Defense is an issue with our team, but they and our goal keeper are really growing in the tournament. Also our defense is underestimated.
We have 1 problem Spain also has, 1 of the stars just doesn't seem to be able to make the match. With Spain it's Torres, with us it's Van Persie.
Main problem with Spain is they don't score as easily as The Netherlands.
Also our team has proven to be able to deal with sad backs like the goal from Brazil and the 2 from Uruguay.
I think if you look at all the pros and cons the Dutch have a slight advantage, but not so big it will influence the match.
They team that's best capable of playing their own game will win.

Remember, it's Spains first world cup final ... ever. That's a lot of pressure to put on any team. Still, I don't see Netherlands winning the match in midfield when you have guys like Xavi and Iniesta out there on their top form. Defensively they'll match Spain, offensively not so much.
Oh and on the topic of winning cash; if Spain wins the tournament, I win a betting competition netting me over $750. I will then have gotten the winner, runner-up, and most likely bronze winner (Germany) right. As well as England not advancing past the first knockout stage. :D So I've got 750 reasons to root for Spain...

Spain is the current European champion, so they already played under such pressure.
Most of the Dutch never played such a final, with exception of the few who played in the Champions League final.
Dutch midfield you have Nigel de Jong and Mark van Bommel. The 1st isn't a match for the Spanish, but Mark van Bommel surely is.
Base players and most players on the bench of both teams play with the best clubs in Europe. They are used to playing under pressure and having to perform.
I think it's the other way around with defense and offense.
The Dutch offense is better than the Spanish and they all know how to score whereas Spain is way to dependent on Villa.
Spanish defense is tough, hard and good.
In numbers:
Spain made 6 goals, got 2 made against them. 5 out of 6 Spanish goals were made by Villa.
The Netherlands made 12 goals and had 5 against. Although Sneijder made 5 goals, we don't depend on him to score. Robben made 2 goals, Kuyt 1, Van Persie 1, Huntelaar 1 and Van Bronckhorst 1. The 12th goal was made by a Danish player in his own goal.
Like I said a few replies up, the team who gets to play their own style will win.
On a side note, the Dutch haven't lost a match in both the qualifying round and this tournament. Only Brazil managed to do that once so far.
As it's The Netherlands - Spain and not the other way around, hopefully we can play in orange. In all our history we only lost 1 match playing in orange. it's our national color.

All hail Cthpaulhu

They aren't even close to the offensive clout of Xavi + Iniesta, and possibly Fabregas if he gets to play. De Jong is strictly a defensive bricklayer sort of midfielder, and van Bommel tries to be the creative one but will in this match find himself facing the likes of Xabi Alonso and Busquets when trying to go forward ... I just don't see it happening in midfield for the netherlands. The attack with Van Persie and Huntelaar in particular is strong, but so is Spain with Villa, Pedro, and Torres.
The only thing I see in the dutch favor are the likes of Robben and Snejder. They can be devastating with their pace and finishing since the spanish sidebacks like going forward, especially Ramos. Add that Casillas hasn't looked terribly convincing so far, and can probably praise himself lucky that the spanish defense has taken off most of the pressure. If Netherlands can use their wings to create finishing opportunites for the likes of Huntelaar and Van Persie, I believe they can win the match. If spain manages to close them out on the wing, I don't see Netherlands outplaying Spain in the central areas. The high spanish possession % will see to that. Germany didn't have a chance at outplaying Spain last night, but almost succeeded with rapid counterattacks and wing play. That is the only recipe worth considering if you want to beat Spain. The thing is that we haven't really seen that kind of play from Netherlands in this tournament. They were great at Euro 2008, until they met a team who was even better at it (Russia), but in this tournament Netherlands have looked a lot more defensive. Secure, but is it enough to beat a Spain who are able to pull off 65%+ possession against Germany?
Oh, and Spain won all their matches in qualifying too, as well as all matches in this tournament excluding the opener vs. Switzerland. That isn't much of a difference.

Not fussed who wins now, will just enjoy the football.
Hopefully Klose and Villa will score a couple of goals in each of their matches, to boost the profits from all the bets I put on before the tournament.
Wish I'd put some bets on from what Paul the octopus had been predicting though, who knew octopuses knew so much about football?

Rumors (from a radio station) : there will be 5 referees for Brazil 2014. So, just like Europa league.

I had a pet Octopus back in 1992. He didn't give me any soccer tips.

That Octopus is just getting freaky now. He did predict the loss to Serbia as well. I'm wondering if there's any tinkering going on, like taking pictures of him apparently eating from both baskets, then just releasing the one that fits the match results. Do the pictures always come out before the match?

Fuck it, now I want a pet octopus.