Jan van Riebeeck, founding father of Cape Town, first left his tulip-laden homeland for this port paradise 358 years ago. On Tuesday, the Dutch coloniser’s successors reclaimed this town as their own, beating Uruguay 3-2 in the semifinal to enter the World Cup Final for the third time.

Total Football is now passé. Bert van Marjwik’s Holland is all about total entertainment.

What if Paris Hilton comes to the New Delhi Commonwealth Games and gets caught smoking marijuana? Needles to say a lengthy court case would ensue.
However, thanks to special World Cup fast track courts in South Africa, which has a judicial system as lethargic as the courts in India, the case got dealt with even before the smoke had settled.

A senior play gets injured and the replacement fills in admirably. What happens when the senior player returns? If it’s the Australian cricket team, no matter how great the performance the senior player will automatically win back his spot.

Sport and superstition go hand in hand. One look at the Wimbledon reels of yesteryear, and a bearded Bjorn Borg, will prove that. The Swedish ace never sported a clean look come the second Sunday at the All-England Club.

Over 350 years after ships of the Dutch East India Company first dropped anchor at the Cape of Good Hope, Holland will look to sail into the Fifa World Cup final when they lock horns with two-time champions Uruguay at Cape Town on Tuesday.

A player who can’t even get a start with his club, is now on the brink of becoming the most prolific scorer in the history of the World Cup.

Different day, similar story. David Villa again struck the winner as Spain eked out their second successive 1-0 triumph in the knockout stage.

It wasn’t supposed to end like this. Here was team, handpicked by former World Cup winning captain Dunga, with a sole purpose — add a sixth World Cup crown to the trophy cabinet. The manager opted for a pragmatic approach, shedding the team’s all-out attacking ways. And, what was the end result?

On paper it’s the most lop-sided of all the quarterfinals, though of course, the World Cup isn’t won on paper; it’s won on the field. European champions Spain will start favourites when they line up against Paraguay at Ellis Park here on Saturday, and will look to enter their first World Cup semifinal in 60 years.