Marsh: Netherlands, Germany to reach final

Obviously, three of the four teams that have reached these semifinals were predictable. Uruguay is the lone surprise, but there often is at least one team that beats the odds to reach this stage of the World Cup.

I did, however, expect Brazil to be here. Their absence is a big disappointment, but you would have to say they just didn't deserve it, wouldn't you?

The Netherlands was the better team against Brazil in the quarterfinals, and the Dutch earned the right to play Uruguay in today's semifinals. Dutch players like Wesley Sneijder, Arjen Robben and Dirk Kuyt are game changers, and they're showing great form as a team. The Dutch are unbeaten in their last 24 games and have won all nine games they've played this year. Even when they went down a goal to Brazil, they showed incredible composure to come back to win.

Uruguay is a tough team to break down defensively, and forward Diego Forlan has been outstanding. But with forward Luis Suarez watching from the bench (because of his red card against Ghana), I don't see Uruguay beating the Netherlands.

Now on to the most alluring semifinal: Germany vs. Spain. It's another one those games that easily could have been a final, and a tremendous one at that. To me, Germany looks like the favorite, but when you have world-class players on both sides, it could easily come down a great free kick, a set play or, as we have seen several times in South Africa, a referee's decision.

The impressive thing about Germany is that it has scored four goals in three different matches. That's incredibly hard to do at this level. It's clear the Germans' offense is in top gear. And the way they steamrolled over Argentina was astounding. It could've been worse than 4-0. They do look unstoppable.

But soccer is a technical game, and Spain has repeatedly shown to be a master of that aspect. It has totally controlled possession in every game. Consider this remarkable statistic: Spain has averaged nearly 60 percent of the possession in its five matches. By any standard, that's incredible. Even in the 1-0 loss to Switzerland, the Spanish controlled the possession 63-37.

I think a big part of that are midfielders Andres Iniesta and Xavi. I think they keep possession better than any players in the World Cup. You watch how the United States gave up possession far too easily and then you watch Spain and those two guys. They just don't give the ball away unless you take their legs out from under them. As my dad used to tell me when I was a kid: "You cannot play without the ball, buddy."

Germany has outstanding players, too, like defender Arne Friedrich, and, of course, forwards Lukas Podolski and Miroslav Klose. Midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger has had a great World Cup, too. But I think the absence of midfielder Thomas Mueller will be a factor because with four goals and three assists, he's one of their most important player in the attack.

I don't believe Germany-Spain will be a wide-open game. In fact, I think it will be just the opposite - an incredibly tight match, one that could easily go into extra time and be decided on penalty kicks. But I will say that apart from missing the penalty kick against Serbia, Germany has done everything right in this World Cup. The Germans have played almost perfectly, and they have a tremendous amount of momentum behind them after the win over the Argentines. To me, it's looking like an all-Europe final between the Germans and Dutch.

Rodney Marsh, 65, is a former England international who played for several English clubs and went on to captain the Tampa Bay Rowdies during their heyday in the North American Soccer League. He has worked as a commentator for British television and radio and is providing The Tampa Tribune an exclusive column in the United States. Read more on Marsh at his official web site, www.rodneymarsh.net.