The future isn't Orange

5 of us predicted Spain to win. There cannot have been any neutrals by half-time not wanting Spain to win. Had I wanted to watch the Karate Kid (parts I, II & III), I could have watched Channel 5.

Spain's victory means that Stephen has timed his run perfectly - overtaking Tim to the title - congratulations.

Here are the final scores:

Champion: Stephen 237
Runner-up: Tim 228
3rd: David 227
4th: Jake 212
5th: Andy 203
6th: Steve 192
7th: Stu 186
8th: Andy P: 177
9th: Phil 172
10th: Gregor 152
11th: Ruaridh 140

Netherlands v Spain

So, after 62 games of footie, there are just 2 left.

David has proved to be master predictor - going for an unfancied Holland against a highly fancied Spain. Congratulations to him for that- just a shame that he hadn't done enough in group games to put him in a winning position....

Jake, Stu, Andy, David & Stephen all went for Spain to win - so still have 10 more possible points to claim. No-one has either Germany opr Uruguay to finish 3rd - so no more points can be awarded there.

Ultimately, if Spain win - Stephen will overtake Tim in the final game, and David will finish 1pt shy of 2nd place with 227pts. So, Tim will be cheering on the Dutch, while the rest of us hope Spain to prevail.

Wooden spoon to Ruaridh.

1. Tim 228
2. Stephen 227
3. David 217
4. Jake 202
5. Andy 193
6. Steve 192
7. Andy P 177
8. Stu 176
9. Phil 172
10. Gregor 158
11. Ruaridh 140

Last 4

Not many points in the last round of matches for anyone. The biggest result (in terms of standings) was Netherlands beating Brazil - touted as potential champions by Tim & Steve. Then Argentina getting thrashed by Germany (who saw that coming?) who were picked by Phil & Andy P.

Scores are as follows:

1. Tim 220

2. Stephen 219

3. David 201

4. Jake 194

5. Andy 185

6. Steve 184

7. Andy P 177

8. Stu 176

9. Phil 172

10. Gregor 158

11. Ruaridh 140

If Spain win the world cup, Stephen will win. If they don't Tim will win. David cannot now finish higher than 3rd. Ruaridh & Phil cannot score any more points - so a McIntyre 9, 10, 11 is guaranteed.....

Final 8 teams - points standings

Here are the scores with only 8 teams left in the world cup.

1. Tim 213

2. Stephen 212

3= David & Jake 187

5. Andy 178

6. Steve 177

7. Stu 176

8. Phil 172

9. Andy P 170

10. Gregor 151

11. Ruaridh 140

In terms of points over the next few matches - there will be very little change.

Points of interest (my quick maths calculations mean that only Tim or Stephen can have outright victory. David requires Netherlands to beat Brazil, get to final, where they beat Spain and need Brazil to win 3rd place playoff in order to finish on equal points with Tim - a bit of a long shot.

Smart money has to be on a Brazil v either Spain or Argentina final - with Brazil champions given they'll have had the easier draw. That's the kiss of death then. Watch out for Ghana v Paraguay final.

England's worst player?

There are so many to choose from. Rooney? Lampard? Upson? But for me John Terry shines brightest. Since he bagged Wayne Bridge's misses, he hasn't been very good on the field, and I thought his overall performance this world cup has been spectacularly awful.

Theo Walcott and Rio Ferdinand must be chuffed to bits not to be there. Where was the passion? Skill? Hunger? Pathetic. We were soundly beaten by a very average Germany - had we been playing Argentina, it could have been a score (on one side only) of recent tennis match proportions. Now there's a team that can play - rather than us hoofing it around the park. The world cup certainly won't miss England - and if we are honest, the 2nd round was beyond what our performances merited.

The sad thing is I'm not even upset. That's how overpaid, moronic footballers in the Premier league have left me feeling.

An uneventful day score-wise. The most noteworthy fact is that Ruaridh's world cup is almost as dead as England's. Winners?! What pills was he on?! I'm glad I was the only one who didn't have them in my final 4....

David will be feeling fairly stupid not to have had Germany in his last 8.

Tim 195

Stephen 194

David & Jake 169

Andy 160

Steve 159

Stu 158

Phil 154

Andy P 152

Ruaridh 134

Gregor 133

Ghana & Uruguay's time

Hands up who had Ghana in their final 8? Ah. No-one. OK. Hands up who had Uruguay in their final 8? David McLaren step proudly forward.

It's not as if we could claim we were hard done by with the losers - only Gregor & Ruaridh had USA, while the mighty South Korea were chosen by.....er no-one.

So, all in all, it's a massive 6pts for David on the field - which means he's now 6pts ahead of me :-(

Scores:

Tim 183

Stephen 182

David 163

Jake 157

Andy 148

Steve 147

Stu 146

Phil 142

Andy P 140

Ruaridh 128

Gregor 127

Ruaridh now has only 3 of his teams eft in the competition - and given that they are England, Brazil and Argentina, it is now totally and utterly impossible for him to come anywhere near winning. I haven't done the maths for everyone else - but if I were a betting man, I'd be a happy camper if I were Irish and my name rhymed with Jim.

End of Group standings - 2 horse race?

Tim 183

Stephen 182

David & Jake 157

Andy 148

Steve 147

Stu 146

Phil 142

Andy P 140

Ruaridh 128

Gregor 127