For the 'other' 30 national soccer teams, it's all over. It has come down to a match between Don Juan and the Flying Dutchmen! Who will win? Everyone has an idea - today we preview the final match as well as checking out the last of the funny and fascinating World Cup reporting and Tweetage.

Which team has the craziest fans?

World Cup Finals preview: Spain  vs Netherlands

Spain:             1.95 - 2.11

Netherlands:    3.5 - 4.0

What history says:

In their past World Cup matches, Netherlands have a 4:3 edge over Spain, with 1 drawn match. However, Spain are the more prolific goalscorers, with a total of 12 to Netherland's 10. Netherlands are coming off a 24-match unbeaten streak, also.

What the Daily Mirror says:

Of the nine experts (although to be fair, one of those nine is an octopus) gathered by the Daily Mirror in England, eight of them say that Spain is going to win. Xavi, Iniesta and Villa are predicted to be the men of the match and possible goalscorers.

What Paul the Octopus says:

Paul the Octopus, housed in Oberhausen Aquarium in Germany, has picked Spain to win the World Cup. His deductive methods are unknown, but he communicates by eating mussels out of box labelled with the flags of countries about to play. He also predicted around 70% of Germany's results in the 2008 European Championship.

Reporter's Cup

• There will be a solar eclipse at the same time as the World Cup final. Unfortunately it will only be properly seen in French Polynesia and the Cook Islands.
• The reporters who were saying (before the World Cup) that they expected no problems with violent altercations in South Africa are now busy gloating. Thankfully, nobody died, was kidnapped or seriously injured.  
• In the European Championship 2008, the Polish prime minister threatened to murder Howard Webb, the referee for this World Cup finals match fpor awarding a last minute penalty to Austria.

Tweeter's Cup

We've already got plenty of conjecture on who will win. Tpoday we just soak up the virtual, Twittified excitement!

--- ChrisEFrost: RT @TheOfficeSweep: Should be an exciting #worldcup final between #esp and #ned. Its certainly a final of 1sts! http://qck.ly/bo

-- melmelet: RT @HomerJSimpson: The vuvuzela is the world’s most annoying horn and Bart won’t stop playing it! I’ll kill the international spirit of peace! #worldcup

--- Age9126: note to self- take a nap BEFORE #worldcup final tomorrow

--- G7SEV: #WorldCup final tomorrow! Can.... Not.... Wait..... for the non football fans, you wouldn't understand... carry on.

The 2010 World Cup's upcoming matches are looking a lot less messy, now that many of the long-odds teams such as Australia and New Zealand have been cut from the lineup. A few pundits have noted that figuring out who will go through to the Round of 16 in the World Cup is easy ... as long as you have a Masters Degree in Pure Mathematics! So it will be a relief for those of you who like to enjoy sport without actually having to work your math-muscles, that we are now at the stage of World Cup 2010 where if you win a game, you stay in ... if you lose a game you go out. Simple! Today we check out the matchups for the (mostly!) upcoming Round of 16.

World Cup matches 26^th of June

There were no shocks in the first two (already played) matches of the Round of 16 - Uruguay knocked out the Korean Republic 2:1 (who truthfully, did extraordinarily well to get to the Round of 16), and Ghana beat the USA 2:1.

World Cup matches 27^th of June

Today we have Germany playing England ... two strong teams, but in the Round of 16 only one can go through. England has a slight advantage in the stats, but their performances in the Knockout stage left a lot to be desired. Argentina also play Mexico in a game that may well end up drawing, as over 40% of these two teams' games have.

World Cup matches 28^th of June

Today the Netherlands play Slovakia, and while Holland has much shorter odds to win the entire World Cup, they don't have the best record against the Slovakian team. Brazil will also play Chile, and odds and stats say that it will probably be a clean sweep by Brazil.

World Cup matches 29^th of June

If Japan manages to stand up against Paraguay, there'll be a lot of happy punters ... though it isn’t likely! In the main game of the day, Spain has twice as many goals and three times as many match wins as Portugal in their World Cup head-to-head record ... but there have been 12 draws.

Who'll win the 2010 World Cup?

Well, we haven't quite got the Delorien repaired yet to go grab that books of sports results from the future! Neither is Wikipedia obliging publishing such information, though you can find out just about anything else on there. Here are the current bookies odds (and also our best guesses!) on who'll win the 2010 World Cup.

Argentina        5.0 - 6.0

Brazil               4.0 - 4.33

Chile                41.0 - 51.0

England           10.0 - 12.0

Germany         11.0 - 15.0

Ghana              23.0 - 26.0

Holland           7.5 - 8.0

Japan               81.0 - 101.0

Mexico            61.0 - 81.0

Paraguay         34.0 - 46.0

Portugal           21.0 - 23.0

Slovakia          151.0 - 251.0

Spain               5.0 - 5.5

Uruguay          11.0 - 13.0

Tweeter's Cup

A few good ones that we couldn't resist including:

--- sreevass #worldcup has created a record high tweet rate of 3283 tweets/second #omgfacts @omgfacts

--- jelanigreenidge RT @davidlerner75 I think I just heard a vuvuzela being blown in B-natural. Tune that thing! #worldcup Dude that's hilarious.

--- CaptDankMorgan #worldcup .... #usa lost & i hope you're finally happy #fifa officials

The vuvuzelas will be buzzing their last in the Group stage of the 2010 World Cup very shortly. Unfortunately, they'll probably just go on to buzz throughout the Round of 16, starting in 3 days time! At least that means there are far fewer matches to catch up with, and we have more opportunity to get emotionally involved with the upcoming matches, and far more sleep. Here are the expectations from 3 of the fascinating or home-grown matches in the last 3 days of the World Cup soccer Group Stage.   

Match of the Day June 23^rd : Australia vs Serbia

The Aussies haven't before met the Serbians in a World Cup match, and given that some betting agencies are putting the Aussies odds of winning at better than the Serbs, there'll be some hope here.  

Top match comment:

"Serbia has an awesome defence and nicely proportioned attacking force. Australia is a tough opponent, though their team is very old and not competent to make the same miracle as 4 years ago."

Betting odds(to win the Cup):

Australia: 3.3 - 4.6

Serbia: 1.8 - 2.0

Draw: 3.2 - 3.8

Match of the Day June 24^th : Denmark vs Japan

Another fascinating match coming up today ... Denmark and Japan are pretty much even in the bookies' opinions, they don't have a World Cup record to taint our opinions, and both have lost at least two out of their last 3 matches. Neither side might be going through - but this will still be fascinating to watch!

Top match comment:

"1-0 for Japan on this one. It may be a little harder than the Cameroon match but I'm sure the Samurai Blue's got this one"

Betting odds:

Denmark: 2 - 2.28

Japan: 3 - 3.75

Draw: 3.05 - 3.45

Match of the Day June 25^th : Portugal vs Brazil

Both Portugal and Brazil are coming off the backs of quite a few wins into this, one of the last matches of the Group Stage. It's likely that whichever way this match goes, both teams will advance ... so you'll always be rooting for a winner. Chgeck the odds if you're looking to be a winner though!

Top match comment:

"It was a bad idea to pair up these two teams. One mother, the other their child. Nevertheless, both will play so damn well!"

Betting odds:

Portugal: 3.5 - 4

Brazil: 1.8 - 2.38

Draw: 2.75 - 3.3

We have settled into the swing of the World Cup now ... re-learned how to program the DVD recorder so that we don't have to get up at 4am, and learned to mute the insane buzzing noise of the vuvuzela and re-familiarised ourselves with the competition format and progression rules. We've had a few surprises, upsets and controversial results in the second week of the World Cup's group stage - here's an overview of what's happened, and what is to come.

 Punters' Cup

There have been a couple of subtle changes in World Cup betting odds based on the outcomes of the Group Stage matches so far ... subtle, but telling! Here's how the only numbers that matter are currently looking:

• Spain are no longer clear favourites - they are currently placed pretty evenly along with Argentina and Brazil at around 5.50 - 6.0
• North Korea is now the only team with odds above 1501.0 ... some places are offering 2001.0 to 1
• Australia's odds have lengthened to around 750 at most betting centres, although some sports books are still offering 101.0
• Two of the biggest teams that are actually seen to be living up to expectations are Argentina and Holland ... hint, hint!

 Reporter's Cup

Wooo ... people are getting angry at some of the controversial and disappointing occurrences in the World Cup! Here's what they're reporting:

• Many Tweeters are reporting the vuvuzela has been banned. Not yet ... they are just trying to get you to click their links. Don't fall for it!
• The referee in the recent US-Slovenia match that failed to award a goal to the US where many feel it was due is likely to be dropped by FIFA for the remainder of the tournament ... although there is no recourse for the US.
• Patrice Evra,  the captain of the French team, described their 2-0 loss to Mexico as a 'punch that we never saw coming'. Nicolas Anelka has been discharged from the French team after making, and then refusing to apologise for, a massive verbal rant at the Mexican captain.
• The final round of World Cup group stage matches is considered at highest risk of match fixing, and will be scrutinised by FIFA.

Tweeter's Cup

Since I don't speak Spanish, Italian, French or Japanese, I can't guarantee that these are the funniest, most relevant and thought-provoking World Cup tweets available. But they would have to come close...

~~~ patsch06 RT @Rove1974: Why can't we just win? Now I have to use maths to work out if we can make it or not. Maths! This is sport for crying out loud! #worldcup

~~~  _ abeer61aj RT @theunlikelyfan: I am the guy at the barbecue/party forcing you to talk about the #WorldCup. Three more weeks is all I ask. Shhhhhh. Just give me this.

~~~ ScoreHints #WorldCup #Sweden Only want to watch the delayed telecast if your team wins? WWW.SCOREHINTS.COM

~~~ serenosaur Will probably miss #worldcup tomorrow due to #warriordash! I can't wait to get my viking hat! >:D

Given the record in the conference finals, it looks as if tonight's game will be the last one of the NBA Playoffs ... and it also looks very much like Boston will probably create a repeat version of the conference finals history. However, the Lakers have the home court advantage for this match, and that's made a difference in the past ... it'll be a nail biter, and today we check in to see which way it might go!

Will this face start to become a familiar sight?

NBA Finals Games So Far

There was a lot of nastiness in the reporting over the conference semifinals - it seems that a bit of bad luck in basketball can break whole careers. Then we saw what desperation to avoid that situation could do for a team in the conference finals. Will that spill over into the Lakers' performance tonight? Hmmm...

Current standings:

NAB Finals

Boston Celtics: 3

LA Lakers: 2

Odds On, Odds Off…

There's certainly a range of opinions expressed in payout terms over what tonight's outcome will be.

Boston Celtics vs LA Lakers

Lakers: 1.87 - 2.16

Celtics: 1.74 - 1.97

Cheers and Jeers

• Okay ... perhaps we can concede to the wisdom of the Associated Press, who last time we met were predicting a Lakers-Celtics final. Perhaps they should just let the journalists decide who's going to win the NBA Finals, and skip the games altogether?  
• If you haven't yet seen it, check out the video of Paul Pierce accidentally punching the referee in the face during game 4, instead of punching the air in celebration. As Mastercard would say ... Priceless!
• It seems that massive advertising airplay time during the NBA Finals does not always a box office hit maketh ... Grown Ups with Adam Sandler and Co has been drilled during the Finals ads, but Brandfreak reminds us what was in the same position last year - it was Year One.  What? Exactly.

It could be the last games of the conference finals coming up very soon … yikes! There's one thing to be thankful for, though, and that is the fact that the conference finals weren't as much a clean sweep as the semi-finals were for most teams. Heads rolled after those performances - and I for one felt terrible that a couple of piece of bad luck out of quite good playoff performances could have such harsh repercussions for so many!

Conference Finals Games So Far

Thank Dog the conference finals have turned out to be more interesting than the pundits expected! Jameer Nelson scored 24 of Orlando's 113 points in the last Eastern conference game, and Dwight Howard got 32 for the Magic in the previous matchup. Westside, Amar'e Stoudamire took the Suns to their first wins of the Conference finals, but in the last matchup Kobe Bryant's points and assists proved too much for the Suns.

Current standings:

Eastern Conference

Boston Celtics: 3

Orlando Magic: 2

Western Conference

LA Lakers: 3

Phoenix Suns: 2

Odds On, Odds Off…

Nobody wants to call the Lakers and Suns game! There's a bit more of variance in odds for the Magic/Celtics game … does your gut feeling match up with the bookies'?

Orlando Magic v Boston Celtics

Magic: 1.90 - 1.97

Celtics: 1.87 - 1.92

Los Angeles Lakers v Phoenix Suns

Lakers: 1.91 - 1.91

Suns: 1.91 - 1.91

Cheers and Jeers

• So, despite the fact that even the Associated Press were anticipating a Lakers-Celtics final last time we posted, there have been some interesting developments. Told you it wouldn't be that straightforward!
• Apparently Tom Thibodeau's future rests on a game six win for the Celtics. Gosh, basketball writers can be drama queens!
• People may not like the Cavaliers, but they love Lebron James… Bleacher Report published 10 reasons that Lebron James should becomes a New Orleans Hornet (rather than heading to New York or Chicago), including 'Most loyal and jubilant fans in sports', 'Chilling with Dwayne Carter', and because the next playoffs would then echo this years Saints win at the Superbowl :-)

The Tweet-offs

The Phoenix Suns have a lotta love in the Twittersphere … 'Suns lost' even made it into the Trending Topics list for today. Here's what the rabble thought…

--- OT3PLUT RT @flymrwhite: The Suns played hard but the #LAKERS won...Period. Get Over It and stop hatin. You look dumb if your makin excuses

--- jacemck @RealGranthill33 LA's gotta be terrified of a game 7 after that one. Go Suns

--- lanova33 Gonna get a 60 minute full body massage RIGHT NOW!! Need it after that Suns game...\

--- hydro88wr The score for the lakers-suns game is tickin me off

Hopefully you've all called in sick to work … cancelled your dinner plans … and arranged at least a couple of mates to stay up until 4am, watching the UEFA Champpions League finals cup! For the Inter Milan fans, it's going to be a big one - they'll need everybody they can get cheering them on (LIVE!) as they head to the possibility of their first UEFA Champions League cup in around 45 years. And I suppose Bayern might like to feel some friendly vibes too! You'll also want to see where your punting dollar is going … so here's where you can watch the UEFA Champions League Cup live, as well as the official lineup for the match.

Where to watch

On television

If you’re in Australia, the most comfortable place to watch (and also the cheapest), will be live on SBS, the official channel of the world game here. In fact, no matter where you are in the world, there's bound to be at least a little bit of live coverage of the finals. At 4am on the morning of Sunday the 23^rd, the finals match will be broadcast. The only dilemma then is how to avoid falling asleep on the comfy couch!

On the official UEFA site

This is pay-per-view, but if you won't have access to a television or they aren't broadcasting locally on television, it's also a good option. At least you get the whole match, the official commentary, and guaranteed live action.

http://www.livesoccertv.com

The servers are a bit slow, but the site's pretty good!

The lineups

Lineups are one of the most tightly guarded secrets in soccer, it seems … I think I'd have an easier time trying to find out the 11 secret herbs and spices in KFC chicken! It is only 11 hours until the game, and the official lineups are yet to be published. So, here are some of the players we are fairly certain will be playing tonight:

For Bayern

• Mark van Bommel
• Bastian Schweinsteiger
• Arjen Robben

For Inter Milan

• Javier Zanetti
• Estaban Cambiasso
• Wesley Sneijder

These are the players that have been speaking about their upcoming match, anyway. Guess we'll get a couple of surprises in a row!

We'll be back in a couple of days with a wrap up of the final match, shirts over our faces either way!

We could be as far as halfway into the best-of-7 matches of the Conference Finals … possibly only a couple of games away from finding out which teams have made it all the way! There have been a few clean sweeps and concurrent upsets in this year's NBA Playoffs, and it's entirely possible that there'll be just as much (entertaining!) vitriole once the Conference Finals are over. Today we check out what might just happen next week!

Conference Finals Games So Far

In the Conference semifinals we saw every single one of the matchups finishing at 4 games for the winning team … and all but one of the four matchups were clean sweeps! Perhaps the 'luck' of those games is weighing on the minds of the Orlando Magic and the Phoenix Suns, both of whom are currently sitting at nil to 2.

Current standings:

Eastern Conference

Boston Celtics: 2

Orlando Magic: 0

Western Conference

LA Lakers: 2

Phoenix Suns: 0

Odds On, Odds Off…

Despite being two games into the Conference Finals round, the numbers haven’t changed much form the start! The bookie's estimation of the Lakers and Suns has switched, but they won’t be budged from their Boston/Orlando opinion.  Here's how rich you'll be when your hunch pays off…

Orlando Magic v Boston Celtics

Magic: 1.91 - 1.97

Celtics: 1.87 - 1.95

Los Angeles Lakers v Phoenix Suns

Lakers: 1.85 - 1.92

Suns: 1.91 - 2.02

Cheers and Jeers

• Referee Joe de Rosa lost his entire game's pay for throwing the ball to a fan during the last Celtics/Magic match. He must not have known …
• Much ado is being made of Paul Pierce's performances against the Magic … talk is that the low scoring totals by Pierce against Cleveland meant that Orlando seriously underestimated Pierce.
• There isn't much confidence in either a Suns or Magic comeback in the press generally … even the Associated Press are reporting that the wait is on for a Lakers-Celtics final. Where's your imagination?!

The Tweet-offs

You get the most honest opinions in 140 characters … here's this week's!

--- germangirlatl3 Na Na Na Na...Hey Hey Hey...goodbye #Cavs. Great job during the season guys but the playoffs? Not so much. The NBA, where buh-bye happens.

--- kato3000 Q:Who do you think is gonna go all the way in the nba playoffs?... A:the celtics http://formspring.me/kato3000/q/575792136

--- NBAMVP RT @Taal73: I think the NBA playoffs shouldnt be so spaced out!

--- BigDipAFB #TRUESTORY I'M MORE HYPE ABOUT THE NBA OFF SEASON THEN THE REST OF THE PLAYOFFS (Note: Spoilsport!!)

Numbers can be pretty interesting … even if you aren't a mathematician! Hear me out, I know I sound like I'm talking crazy talk :-). When you check out the numbers (the team statistics) for the UEFA Champions' League final match in a few days, you'll notice an interesting discrepancy between the bookies' opinion, and UEFA's official 'percentage chance to win' stats. So we decided to have a look at the other numbers that went into UEFA's calculation … in the interests of truth in punting!

Overall chance to win:

Bayern's official percentage from UEFA is 58%, while Inter Milan's is 45%. Perhaps they take the fact that Inter hasn't won a Champions League cup in around 45 years into that reckoning… Interestingly, they've left the percentages up from the rest of the season, and some of the teams that were considered to have a better shot of winning than Inter Milan include Olympiacos, Porto, Sevilla and APOEL. Hmm!

Goals scored for and against

Bayern are equal first for goals scored this season, and have an average of 1.75 per game. Inter Milan has scored only 15 to Bayern's 21, but has a pretty close average of 1.25 per game to Bayern's 1.75.  Interestingly, Bayern has also had far more goals scored against them than Inter - 13 to 9.

Attempts on target versus attempts wide

Bayern's 79 attempts on target reflect their higher percentage over Inter, who've had 60 shots on target. The attempts wide figures are surprisingly similar; however Inter Milan have played fewer games so it would seem that with equal shots, Inter are actually playing more aggressively.

Red and yellow cards

These two teams have been about as 'naughty' as each other - Bayern have received 3 red cards for the season, Inter have received 2. In the yellow card countup, though, Inter comes out on top. They've received 31, versus Bayern's squeaky clean 21. Real Madrid actually received the most yellow cards for the least games played … 22 overall.

Ball possession %

It seems that UEFA's official percentage chance of winning is taken straight from their ball possession time stats! Bayern has 66% here, Inter has 45%.

The end result? It seems that UEFA does have a pretty good basis for backing Bayern over Inter. What they can't take into account though is that hunger to win, and the spirited playing that got Inter through in their match against Barcelona. They beat the odds then … so why not on Saturday!

There's less than a week before the final match of the UEFA Champions League, and the funny thing is, that there are so many other soccer commitments happening, so many other leagues, matches and player swaps to think about, that there really is little discussion about it! I don't know about you, but I'm pumped … Inter Milan did the impossible and beat Barcelona, and I'd love to see them continue that streak for a title I think they deserve. But what does everybody else think about the upcoming UEFA Champions League finals match … ?

The Odds

Well, as always, the bookies' opinion is nearest and dearest to us, and so comes first! The odds of either team winning haven’t changed since we did our last preview post, early last week:

Bayern Munich: 2.38 - 2.40
Inter Milan - 1.57 - 1.57

The Tough Talk

Louis van Gaal is big-noting Bayern's win in the German League, ahead of next Saturday's final with Inter Milan. Bayern won 4-0 against Werder Bremen.  Jose Mourinho might well say, though, "Who's Werder Bremen?". Personally, I think that a quiet victory is not only more classy, but more likely…

Sandro Mazzola was an Inter Milan player from the 60s, and says that he sees many similarities between his side (which enjoyed a long run on top of their game), and the current Inter Milan team. "I think Mourinho is very similar to Herrera in many ways," Sandro Mazzola said. "First, because he immediately brought the ball back into training  … Another parallel is their (jose Mourinho's and Herrera, the coach from Inter Milan's 60s team) relationship with the players and they are also similar in their dealings with the press", said Mazzolo.

The Gossip

Just the quick versions…

• Thiago Motta has been confirmed as suspended for two matches after being sent off in the Barcelona match, meaning that he'll miss the final next Saturday.
• Ivan Cordoba is also in doubt, due to a niggling thigh injury.
• Esteban Canbiasso says that the final is important to Inter, but they can't let those 40 years of history weigh on their performance. Hopefully not!

The League of Tweeters

As is the case across most of the sports reporting world, there is more talk about the 2011 UEFA season than the upcoming final!! Here's what the League of Tweeters thought:

--- ZaphodCamden Been looking at procedures for a quadruple-elimination tournament - complicated but fun. Perhaps the UEFA Champions League should use it :)

--- trill3k RT @sidlowe: Atleti come out to get uefa cup to sound of we are the champions... But calderon not full  (Somebody stole our pun from the Queen song!)

-- NatalieLSmith Arsenal Ladies was great, but next wk going to UEFA Women's Champions League Final! Hoping to get some interviews for the Masters Project

--- kacebonk Angan angan parcendol RT @astikaputri: Next Season : UEFA Champions League Winner ;)