<strong><em><span style="color: #ff0000;">Tradition maintained </span></em></strong>The third place match is often dismissed as an unnecessary clash. But in recent times these games have been much more exciting than the final itself - usually, with a lot of goals. Just Fontaine put a memorable performance as France beat West Germany in 1958. The 1990 final was awful, but the 3rd place match involved second half drama between Italy & England. There were no goals in 1994 final but Sweden beat Bulgaria 4-1 in the 3rd place match. <p style="padding-left: 150px;"><a href="http://view.picapp.com/pictures.photo/entertainment/uruguay-germany/image/9324503?term=khedira+goal" target="_blank"><img class="alignnone" src="http://view.picapp.com/pictures.photo/image/9324503/uruguay-germany/uruguay-germany.jpg?size=380&imageId=9324503" border="0" alt="July 10, 2010 - Port Elizabeth, South Africa - epa02244241 Germany's Sami Khedira (L) heads in a goal during the FIFA World Cup 2010 3rd place match between Uruguay and Germany at the Nelson Mandela Bay stadium in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, 10 July 2010." width="380" height="328" /></a><em> Khedira makes it 3-2 for Germany</em> </p> Yesterday’s match was one of the (if not the best) match of 2010 world cup. The match was end-to-end with both teams playing freely. Uruguay dominated most of the possession & were guilty of missing a few good chances. Germany took their chances & clinched the match. <strong><em><span style="color: #ff0000;">Hero of the Day</span></em></strong> <strong>Diego Forlan:</strong> Uruguay have presented world football many heroes in the past, from Ghiggia to Francescoli, Forlan has cemented his place in the same league. He performed heroically throughout the tournament & didn’t’ disappoint yesterday. Despite not being fully fit, he contributed to most of the attacks. He topped off his performance with a well taken goal. He has scored five goals in the world cup. The highest so far, along with Sneijder, Muller & Villa. Jorge Fucile deserves special mention for his solid performance in the Uruguay defence. <p style="padding-left: 150px;"><a href="http://view.picapp.com/pictures.photo/entertainment/football-uruguay-germany/image/9325630?term=forlan+goal" target="_blank"><img class="alignnone" src="http://view3.picapp.com/pictures.photo/image/9325630/football-uruguay-germany/football-uruguay-germany.jpg?size=380&imageId=9325630" border="0" alt="July 10, 2010 - South Africa - Football - Uruguay v Germany FIFA World Cup Third/Fourth Place Play-Off - South Africa 2010 - Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth, South Africa - 10/7/10..Uruguay's Diego Forlan celebrates scoring the second goal." width="380" height="283" /></a><em> Was he the best player in South Africa 2010 ?</em></p> <em><strong><span style="color: #ff0000;">Dud of the day </span></strong></em><strong>Fernando Muslera,</strong> the Lazio shot-stopper, has been overall impressive in this world cup. He carried his club form to South Africa & backed up the solid Uruguay defence. But yesterday was just not his day. The young custodian failed to judge the flight of a Schwinsteiger shot which led to Muller’s goal. He was unsure of what he was doing for Germany’s second goal. He cant be blamed for Germany’s 3rd however. His defence didn’t back him up. <p style="padding-left: 150px;"><a href="http://view.picapp.com/pictures.photo/entertainment/sports-news-july-2010/image/9298671?term=muslera" target="_blank"><img class="alignnone" src="http://view3.picapp.com/pictures.photo/image/9298671/sports-news-july-2010/sports-news-july-2010.jpg?size=380&imageId=9298671" border="0" alt="July 06, 2010 - 06140807 date 06 07 2010 Copyright imago Gribaudi ImagePhoto Fernando Muslera Uruguay disappointed PUBLICATIONxNOTxINxITA men Football World Cup Semi-finals Cape Town Cape Town international match National team Action shot Vdig 2010 horizontal premiumd." width="380" height="253" /></a><em> Muslera looked like a lost puppy at times </em></p> <em><strong><span style="color: #ff0000;">Goal of the Day </span></strong></em><strong>Edinson Cavani,</strong> the Palermo hit-man, finally put his name on the score-sheet with a delightful finish. The beauty of the goal was in the move which set it up. Perez dispossessed Schwinsteiger in the midfield & found Suarez. With Cavani racing towards the left & Forlan to the right, he had plenty of choices. He chose Cavani & flicked a delightful ball, taking out two German defenders. Cavani repaid the faith shown by his partner with a neat finish. <p style="padding-left: 150px;"><a href="http://view.picapp.com/pictures.photo/entertainment/south-africa-port/image/9324225?term=cavani+goal" target="_blank"><img class="alignnone" src="http://view1.picapp.com/pictures.photo/image/9324225/south-africa-port/south-africa-port.jpg?size=380&imageId=9324225" border="0" alt="PORT ELIZABETH, July 11, 2010 Edison Cavani of Uruguay celebrates his goal during the 2010 World Cup third-place playoff soccer match against Germany in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, on July 10, 2010." width="380" height="429" /></a><em> Cavani celebrates his first world cup goal</em></p> <strong><em><span style="color: #ff0000;">Hard Tackle of the day </span></em></strong>After a typically smooth German setup, Cacau was through on goal. But before he pulled the trigger, <strong>Jorge Fucile</strong> flew in with a neat last minute challenge to deny a goal. Fucile was immense throughout the game & this tackle was the high point of his performance. <p style="padding-left: 150px;"><a href="http://view.picapp.com/pictures.photo/entertainment/south-africa-port/image/9324239?term=fucile" target="_blank"><img class="alignnone" src="http://view3.picapp.com/pictures.photo/image/9324239/south-africa-port/south-africa-port.jpg?size=380&imageId=9324239" border="0" alt="PORT ELIZABETH, July 11, 2010 Jorge Fucile of Uruguay vies with Cacau (R) of Germany during the 2010 World Cup third-place playoff soccer match in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, on July 10, 2010." width="380" height="304" /></a><em> Cacau's futile attempt disposed by Fucile</em></p> <strong><em><span style="color: #ff0000;">Pondering what might have been </span></em></strong>Uruguay dominated the match yesterday. It makes you wonder what would have happened if they had the full team in the semi-final. Such was their predicament that they had to play Martin Caceres, a centre-back or right-back as a left back. Forlan was playing with an injury & they still managed a 3-2 scoreline. With Lugano & Suarez they might have reached their first world cup final in 60 years. <p style="padding-left: 150px;">______________________________________________</p>