No Xavi or Puyol for Spain as they visit the U.S. next weekend

Another day closer to U.S. vs. Spain which is a week from Saturday at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. The teams are also holding open practices the night before.

Spain announced its roster for that friendly along with a match against Venezuela three days later.

The biggest names left off are Carlos Puyol and Xavi Hernandez, who are both dealing with injuries plus their club team (Barcelona) is playing on Saturday in the Champions League final vs. Manchester United (more on that in the days to come).

Spain coach Vicente del Bosque preferred to rest the Barcelona pair as Puyol has played little in 2011 due to a knee injury.

"He's suffering quite a lot from his problem,'' Del Bosque said regarding the tendinitis in Puyol's right knee that has limited him to three appearances since Jan. 22.

Xavi was being rested after a taxing season which culminates in Saturday's Champions League final against Manchester United.

"I personally spoke with Xavi and we thought it was better not to bring him after such a long season,'' Del Bosque added.

The matches will be the first test of whether relations within the world champion squad have been strained by the recent run of ill-tempered matches between Real Madrid and Barcelona, with a combined 11 players from the two teams included.

Tensions between teammates were raised as the bitter Spanish rivals played four times in 18 days.

"We retain our confidence in the World Cup group of players,'' Del Bosque said. "The most important thing is we're bringing the players we need to.''

Injured Arsenal playmaker Cesc Fabregas is missing, but Fernando Torres kept his place despite his poor form since moving from Liverpool to Chelsea.

"He's a stable player inside this group - we didn't want to open up any debate,'' Del Bosque said from the Spanish federation headquarters.

Del Bosque recalled Sevilla striker Alvaro Negredo after a 20-goal season, while Villarreal midfield duo Borja Valero and Bruno Soriano were also included. Striker Manu del Moral earned his first call-up, getting the nod over Valencia pair Roberto Soldado or Aritz Aduritz.
---
Spain:
Goalkeepers: Iker Casillas (Real Madrid), Pepe Reina (Liverpool), Victor Valdes (Barcelona).
Defenders: Alvaro Arbeloa (Real Madrid), Raul Albiol (Real Madrid), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Gerard Pique (Barcelona), Carlos Marchena (Villarreal), Joan Capdevila (Villarreal), Andoni Iraola (Athletic Bilbao).
Midfielders: Xabi Alonso (Real Madrid), Sergio Busquets (Barcelona), Santi Cazorla (Villarreal), Andres Iniesta (Barcelona), Bruno Soriano (Villarreal), Borja Valero (Villarreal).
Forwards: David Villa (Barcelona), David Silva (Manchester City), Fernando Llorente (Athletic Bilbao), Fernando Torres (Chelsea), Pedro Rodriguez (Barcelona), Manu Del Moral (Sevilla), Alvaro Negredo (Sevilla)

If you're a U.S. fan, you still have to be excited since Spain is clearly bringing almost all of their big names and taking these games seriously. It's only fitting since Bob Bradley has loaded his team too which should make for a great atmosphere at Gillette! Hope we luck out and get some summer-type weather.

Spain is going to their first World Cup final

Just like in the 2008 Euro final, Spain held on for a 1-0 win over Germany in the 2010 World Cup semifinals. It wasn't pretty except for Puyol's game-winner but that was by design as Spain choked the life out of Germany.

Puyol's goal was enough and Spain possessed way too much of the ball for the Germans to recover. Without Muller, Germany seemed listless, they never put too much pressure on Casillas consistently and the Spanish deserve this result.

After looking so impressive, most of Germany's younger players didn't have their best performances today while Spain's most reliable players: Puyol, Villa, Alonso, Casillas all got it done and showed how valuable age and experience can be at this stage.

Germany plays Uruguay in the third-place match on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. and there will be a brand new champion on Sunday with Netherlands taking on Spain at 2:30 p.m.

Final stats:

Germany Spain
6(2) Shots (on Goal) 16(5)
9 Fouls 7
6 Corner Kicks 7
2 Offsides 1
43% Time of Possession 57%
0 Yellow Cards 0
0 Red Cards 0
4 Saves 2

Puyol's thunderous header puts Spain up 1-0

He should have scored in the first half but that doesn't matter now since Puyol scored in the 73rd minute with a powerful header off a corner kick by Xavi.

Puyol had a running start and Neuer didn't have a chance to stop the header from about near the penalty spot.

Spain has won its last 41 matches where they've scored a goal. Conversely, the time is now for Germany, they've gotta throw everybody forward to get a tying strike.

1-0 Spain in the 76th minute.

Spain vs. Germany live blog

Here we are, Germany vs. Spain to determine who will play Netherlands in the 2010 World Cup final on Sunday and who will meet Uruguay on Saturday in the third-place match.

Starting 11s:

Germany Lineup
G
1Manuel Neuer
CD-L
3Arne Friedrich
CD-R
17Per Mertesacker
LB
20Jerome Boateng
RB
16Philipp Lahm
LM
7Bastian Schweinsteiger
RM
6Sami Khedira
F
11Miroslav Klose
RCF
8Mesut Özil
AM-L
10Lukas Podolski
AM-R
15Piotr Trochowski

Spain Lineup
G
1Iker Casillas
CD-L
5Carles Puyol
CD-R
3Gerard Piqué
LB
11Joan Capdevila
RB
15Sergio Ramos
CM
16Sergio Busquets
LM
14Xabi Alonso
RM
8Xavi
F
18Pedro
LF
7David Villa
RF
6Andrés Iniesta

It's 0-0 in the 17th minute but Spain has had nearly 70% of the possession so far. The Spanish have also had two great chances: David Villa's shot was saved by Manuel Neuer in the sixth minute and Carlos Puyol's header went over in the 14th minute.

The Germans showed their first flourish with two crosses across the Spain box that Iker Casillas had to punch out of danger.

Puyol is free next week

After obstructing a Barcelona forward, Carlos Puyol was booked.

The needless foul was made worse since he already had a yellow card in a previous Champions League game. Puyol is already out for the second leg next week.

The Peter Crouch All-Stars

A couple days ago when Shimer came up with the concept of the All-Ugly team, I thought it was great idea. Probably one of the best we've had in the few short months that we've been online.

Naturally, while he had his first few choices in mind, I thought of the inaugural members of my squad which I've dubbed the Peter Crouch All-Stars. So without further ado here they are with club team and national team in parantheses.



Carlos Puyol (Barcelona, Spain)-Puyol isn't that ugly but his epic hair reminds me of the late wrestler Kerry Von Erich. You just don't find hair like that anymore which is why Spain and Barcelona fans are so lucky.




Dirk Kuyt (Liverpool, Holland): Have you ever wondered what would happen if Larry Bird and Dirk Nowitzki had a love child, in Amsterdam? The spawn of that unlikely combination has to be Kuyt, who is one awkward looking guy.











Marouane Fellaini (Everton, Belgium): With clown-like hair, it's hard sometimes for your game to speak louder than your outrageous style (just ask Carlos Valderrama). Or maybe the whole point is just to look at the hair and not the fact that they're average players? Anyway, current Everton midfielder Marouane Fellaini has taken up Valderrama's cause.

Wayne Rooney (Manchester United, England): While he's arguably the best player in the world at the moment, or at least in the top 3, every time I look at Rooney I think he looks like a Gremlin. In his younger days, he loved getting in scraps at nightclubs but getting older has seemed to calm Rooney down for the time being.






Jose Bosingwa (Chelsea, Portugal): As a man with Portuguese heritage, I know how hard it is to avoid having a unibrow but you gotta do what you gotta do to get the ladies. Apparently, nobody bothered to tell this to Chelsea midfielder Jose Bosingwa who looks like that she-male from Dodgeball The Movie. I guess he was playing soccer too much to ever look in a mirror. Gross.







Peter Crouch (Tottenham, England): The inspiration for my team and its emotional leader, Crouch is proof that you can be the ugliest dude in the world but you can still get an absolute smokeshow of a girlfriend (Abbey Clancy). It probably helps that he makes boatloads of money for playing soccer, although his skills consist mostly of standing near the goal and waiting to head it (usually over or wide of the net). I will give Crouch credit though, he does a mean robot (as you can see in the YouTube above).