And in the end… there will be a new champion

posted in: Stuff

Amazed, as most of you, that Spain and Netherlands made it through to the final. At the beginning of the World Cup no one could have predicted this final, most would have said they were good teams, with possibilities, but Germany, Argentina, Brasil, France, Portugal and even Italy looked like better options to most.

I thought Spain would get a nasty defeat from the Germans, I wanted to see this final between two nations that have never won the cup, but really thought it wouldn’t happen. Germany seemed simply formidable and yet, it fell by the closest of margins and by a defense player’s goal (Puyol).

I have some very dear friends in Spain and they are wild with excitement. Most in Spain can’t believe it either, after many cups being big contenders and not living up to expectations.

How is this related to marketing or the web? I could think of too many reasons why watching the World Cup has been interesting from a marketing perspective, even of the effects the internet has had on how people live it (nothing that new as we’ve seen this in other tournaments), but really, I just wanted to put this out. A great final, Spain vs. Netherlands, up for grabs a new champion will rise.

My pick: Spain. After all, they’ve defeated Portugal and Germany, two of the biggest teams this tournament and Germany defeated Argentina. Netherlands are great, but have conceded 5 goals where Spain has only conceded 2 (even though 1 was a defeat). Will the Dutch be able to get through a tough Spanish defense and midfield? Will the Spanish be able to score the winning goal? In any case, excellent final to a tournament that started quite slow.