HHG: World Cup Final 2010

As a Dutchman born in the late 20th century you grow up with the tragic notion that you're never going to win the big one. I guess going to two World Cup finals and losing both by relatively close margins does that to you. Alright... so Holland does have a European Championship title under its belt, but heck even Greece and Denmark can win those...

Now Holland has reached its third Finals against Spain. It's obvious I'm Hoping that this time it does come around their way.

I'm rationalizing though that Spain will actually win the whole thing. Objectively speaking this team has already been to a high pressure situation like this: Spain is the reigning European Champion. They've got important players all over the place, from David Villa, Andres Iniesta, Xavi, Xavi Alonso to Carles Puyol, Iker Casillas and Sergio Ramos. And several big names haven't even hit their stride (Fabregas, Torres). Even though Holland have got several seminal players to match (Robben, Van Persie, Sneijder), they are nowhere near as deep as the Spaniards. And the Iberians have defeated more high profile teams on the road to the final than Oranje (Portugal, Argentina, Germany versus Holland's Brazil).

Still, my gut feeling says the World Cup goes to the Netherlands for the first time. Giovanni van Bronckhorst's final international game (or even final professional game outright, which is it anyway?) would end up with him lifting the World Cup trophy. That's a great story. Arjen Robben's emotional fight back from injury to become one of the stars in the tournament. US sports press calling Holland their dark horse to win the title pre-tournament.

And most telling, Holland have had so many breaks this tournament, if they were to lose, they would have many times over in the past four weeks. Denmark's Poulsen's header bouncing the wrong way into his own net. The misjudged shot against Japan. Sneijder's cross brushing over Felipe Melo's head past the Brazilian's own keeper. The deflection against Uruguay. All these events show that there's simply someone out there who doesn't want Holland to lose this year.

This leads me to my last thought. People always imagine what they would do if something truly remarkable and unbelievable would happen to them. Winning a multi million dollar lottery for example. You think you know the stuff you're gonna buy, the trips you're gonna make, the job you're gonna quit... and when it actually does happen to you, it's completely different and nothing what you expected. You will not react the way you thought you would.

If Holland wins Sunday, I believe it will be much the same.