Posted by Stephen Kuzner

By Stephen Kuzner - WFD Fan Correspondent

With Spain's win over Germany we have our second finalist for the World Cup. Here are 10 things Spain, starting with Carles Puyol's gorgeous noggin.

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Like the Biblical narrative of Samson, Carles Puyol's power comes from his hair. This could not be more apparent than on his header sending Barcelona, I mean Spain in the World Cup final. Nothing in the world of soccer compares to Puyol banging his head late-eighties heavy metal-style into the ball while soaring through the air. You have to feel bad for the ball and the keeper. No one would stand a chance. It's pretty amazing how much force Puyol gets behind his head-thrust. The one earlier in the first half that was off target foreshadowed his smash in the 73rd minute. Puyol deserves his time in the spotlight since he often is overlooked when the best center-backs in the World are discussed. As long as his curly head-banging locks are flowing on Sunday, Spain's chances are good.

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Like an idiot during the Germany vs. Spain match I thought something seemed familiar. I wrote it off in my mind as a passing thought of how a Germany vs. Netherlands final would be a great repeat of World Cup history from the 1970's. What didn't come to fruition in my mind's eye until after the game was that Spain vs. Germany was a repeat of the Euro's 2 years ago. How come more wasn't made of this before the game? History repeats itself. It just did. I almost missed it.

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Did anyone find it a bit remiss for ESPN to cut-to jubilant scenes of celebration in Madrid after the match when you consider that La Furia Roja started 7 players from FC Barcelona? Granted that Iker Casillas, Xabi Alonso, and Sergio Ramos are madridistas, ESPN may have wanted to show scenes from a few cities in Spain since Spain in a way is a country of countries and many languages. This was probably lost on a lot of Americans that just follow the MLS or Premier League. Either way, seeing madridistas celebrating a header by FC Barcelona's captain confirms soccer's brilliant ambivalent culture and nature.

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Alexi Lalas, soccer broadcasting's equivalent of Bill Walton, correctly predicted that the Netherlands and Spain would meet in the World Cup final. While watching the ESPN preview, I remember thinking to myself "What is Lalas thinking, the Netherlands? They always self-destruct and choke. There's no need to be that contrarian." Well, he was right and I don't remember seeing that final in many people's picks. Kudos to Alexi!

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Spain is not FC Barcelona, but it's really hard not to see it and identify with that way. They started 7 Barcelona players and although they haven't been playing a 4-3-3, the offensive possession style and quick ball-recover defensive pressure Spain is using has Barcelona written all over it. If you replaced Xabi Alonso with Lionel Messi, Sergio Ramos with Dani Alves, Joan Capdevila with Maxwell, and Iker Casillas with Víctor Valdés you'd have a little better team. Keep pinching yourself, they'll still look like and play like Barcelona.

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Speaking of Barcelona, Spain winning the World Cup can save the Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year awards for Lionel Messi. A win for the Netherlands coupled with Intermilan's UEFA Champion's League win would push Wesley Sneijder over the top. Messi's Barcelona buddies can do him quite a favor with a win.

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If the Netherlands are going to beat Spain, they can't throw everyone behind the ball in their half and expect to be able to counter-attack in the open space. Spain's slow-build possession game functions more like a long-term military siege where you surround and starve-off your enemy. Connecting 20, 30, 40 passes in a row and then winning the ball right back doesn't just tire you physically through the chasing, but also mentally and emotionally. The Netherlands can't let Spain slowly build from the back. Those early passes on the backline either squarely or shortly-direct gradually build-up the momentum and confidence to connect the surgeon's-touch short incisions close to and in the penalty box. People may call this the beautiful game because of the number of passes connected, but make no mistake, it's really a long-term siege prior to storming the games. All this being said, the Netherlands will still have to get the ball off them at some point.

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The Netherlands won't stay in their half and be happy to defend. They'll initiate with Spain a little further up the pitch and be happy to foul a lot more often than Germany did. Mark van Bommel and Nigel de Jong will push the limit with the official with how much they can get away with. They'll either maintain this steely balance or be frustrated by Spain's possession and get booked more than once. This balance on the pitch, strategic fouling, and eventual counter-attacking by the Netherlands will be where the game is won or lost. Wesley Sneijder and Intermilan beat Barcelona (Spain as well for all intents and purposes) with this proper balance. Spain will execute their game-plan. The question is whether the Netherlands will too. If they do, we'll have quite a chess-match to watch.

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Xavi's passes are about as reliable as the force of gravity. When he has an errant pass I get scared that things are going to start floating around or something. Heck, if he is off by an inch on a pass it feels like a "great disturbance in the force" as Obi Wan Kenobi put it. Xavi had an errant pass around the 39th minute against Germany. Don't count on one against the Netherlands.

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We are at the end. The Netherland vs. Spain. The group of seven World Cup winning nations will become eight on Sunday. Going back to number dos, history can't and won't repeat itself with the winner on the Sunday's final, but if Germany wins 3rd place on Saturday, something again will seem awfully familiar?

Please send any feedback to skuzner@gmail.com.