This video was just too good to not post. (H/T to Jason Davis at MFUSA and @markwhyy)

Spain celebrates their first World Cup trophy. (Getty Images)

It was fun while it lasted huh folks?

The 2010 FIFA World Cup is in the books. Spain is our champion and the Dutch will be complaining about this one for decades to come.

SO what do we do now? No more daily(ish) soccer to tune into in the mornings or mid-afternoon. No more reports from Soccer City from all the ESPN folks. No more stories of South Africa’s past, present and future. Its all over for now.

I can’t say this was the absolute best World Cup in recent memory, for me at least. I’ve only really been able to remember as far back as 1994′s Cup here in America as I was way too little for the 1900 Cup in Italy. But for now this one may stick with me longer than the others. First of all I was able to see nearly every game which was definitely a first for me.

Having a blog during the World Cup made it fun too but as you noticed I didn’t spend all my time this past month discussing the World Cup just for hits and new viewers. I mainly wanted to be a fan and enjoy it more. I think in a small way I did just that. I talked when I wanted to and I shut up when I didn’t feel like speaking.

So what will I take away from this past month? First of all I do believe soccer is at an all-time high here in America. It could have been higher had the US gone further for sure as we all know what a big opportunity missed that was for the country. Still I do believe its high for now. Major League Soccer may benefit from it in small ways but people generally care about the sport like they never did before. Now some may still say its like “watching paint dry” or something like that but deep down they still watched this time around.

Second of all, South Africa did put on a hell of a show. Sure the ball was tricky, the weather was chilly and the altitude stunk for some but it was fun to watch. We knew there would be surprised (Uruguay), some shockers (France and Italy perhaps), and we kind of knew what to expect out of the US and Group C.

At the end of it all we have a new champion in Spain. A country that had never seen their name on the trophy which I think is cool to see again. Sure seeing Brazil, Italy or Germany win it once again is nice and all but having a new member to that club is pretty special to see too. Even if it wasn’t pretty.

We have four years to wait for the next big event and this time around it will be on our side of the globe (prime-time games! Woohoo!). I may throw out my World Cup Best XI and I may not. We’ll see if time allows for that. But until then let’s hear what your favorite moments were from this tournament.

The final is set, Holland and Spain will decide who is the new World Cup champion. (Getty Images)

Sure not having our beloved Americans still in the World Cup hurts but I’m over it. I went from rooting for the US to rooting for teams like Holland and Uruguay. The style of play is a lot different from the US but it was something to get behind. Plus their games seemed to be more entertaining than most in this World Cup.

Yesterday we saw the final become complete with Spain downing Germany 1-0 after a hard-fought battle in Durban. The game wasn’t that great in some respects as Germany sat back and took all that Spain could give them while Spain failed to finish in front of the net yet again.

Now its Spain and Holland. Two counties that have yet to see their name on the World Cup trophy. Two countries that have longed for this chance at greatness.

Honestly I couldn’t be happier with this final.

Sure not having a Brazil or Italy or Germany or Argentina is tough to see but we should be happy to have a new champion for once. Its not often that it happens this way either.

So what do I expect on Sunday? A damn good game for the most part. No doubt the all-European final will be intense, probably as intense as the 2006 final with Italy and France. I have a feeling the Dutch will come out early and try to take it to the Spanish defense while Spain will still get plenty of possession like they always do.

Neither team has been at their absolute best in this tournament but each have found ways to win. The old styles have been thrown out and we’re seeing team football get them this far.

I’m pulling for the Dutch in this one but should Spain win I wouldn’t be too upset. A lot of firsts will happen either way and we should be happy with that.

Hard to argue that this wasn't a goal. (Getty Images)

In a way I see this as just a gesture from FIFA boss Sepp Blatter to make folks happier but in the other way I have a feeling nothing will actually come of it. Either way you spin it Blatter said today he would be open to considering replays for calls on the field.

Blatter has stated that FIFA will “re-open the file on goal-line technology” during meetings next month to determine whether FIFA will implement the use of instant replay in the future.

Once England was the victim of a non-goal/non-call against Germany where the ball clearly crossed the goal-line but all the refs on the field failed to see what millions around the world saw, we knew something would at least be discussed a bit more here. The technology is already in place for some goal-line sensors which would have clearly helped this situation out for England.

Mexico was also a victim of some unlucky calls against Argentina. Carlos Tevez was clearly offside but his first goal was still allowed.

More than likely we won’t see any sort of system to help offside calls here as that sort of replay system would drastically slow the pace of the game down for calls like this. But goal-line technology would instantly help some situations out. No one can really know how much different the England-Germany game would have been at 2-2 instead of how it was at 2-1 when the Frank Lampard shot crossed the goal-line. Germany winning 4-1 definitely silenced more folks in England about the Lampard goal that wasn’t than they would have had the score ended 2-1.

FIFA and Blatter have told England and Mexico sorry for the mistakes but that kind of message won’t be good enough for either today.

I’m all for some goal-line technology here and have been supporting that issue for a while now. Maybe its time we see some sort of system like in hockey where a forth or even fifth official just examines the goal-line situations and turns on a bright red light when the ball crosses the line. Cheesy in some manners but effective.

If you come here regularly then you know my feelings towards US Men’s National team head coach Bob Bradley. You know that I’ve been a big supporter of his since his days of having an interim tag on his nameplate with this team.

Now that the US is out of the World Cup the usual questions of his future are being asked. Typically a World Cup cycle is all a coach gets, rarely do we see a coach get a couple cycles with a team.

In a way I’d love to see Bradley continue on with this group because there is something special there. During his four years in charge the team enjoyed what is arguably the most succcesful four-year period in the team’s history. The team won the 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup, finished second at the 2009 Confederations Cup, won the CONCACAF World Cup qualifying group and finished first in its World Cup group for the first time since 1930.

The track record is there for Bradley and in a way that should be enough if he were to want to stay on board.

But for some that won’t be enough. There have been plenty of anti-Bradley folks out there due to his questionable roster decisions, his tactics and just anything else he does with the team. You could argue his lineup choices for the Ghana game put the team in a early hole with Ricardo Clark in the lineup instead of a Maurice Edu or Jose Torres. Bradley easily admitted to his mistake of Clark early in the match when he subbed him out. Then there was giving the start to Robbie Findley up top instead of Edson Buddle or Herculez Gomez.

So what becomes of Bradley? In a way I hope he is the one to make this decision. He’s earned that much at least I would hope but more than likely that won’t be the case. The USSF and Sunil Gulati are likely ready to move on and get a high-profile guy in on the job (hello Jurgen Klinsmann?). I’ve always said that if Bradley goes it will be a foreign based coach that steps in and takes over.

Again, for me, I’d like to see Bradley stay on but two World Cup cycles is a very tall task to ask of anyone. Hopefully whatever happens Gulati gets someone in that can understand how the US style of play is and perfects it. Also getting someone who understands the weirdness of getting players from Major League Soccer will be key.

So who would you like as the next coach? Do you want a high-profile guy or someone off the radar a bit?

US fans cheer on the USMNT against Ghana. (Getty Images)

I nearly came to talking about the US loss to Ghana on Saturday, hell even yesterday. But I just couldn’t do it. I don’t feel like breaking down the game or telling you all why the US lost the way they did. We weren’t the better team that day and to be honest the magic juice just ran out.

I will say however that I am more amazed at people around here in Dallas and across the country when it comes to our beloved sport. They care, they honestly and truly care now. It’s not just the World Cup buzz that has people interested in the game again, its the fact that our team gave them something to be interested in and now that they’re gone they want to see how this thing will play out.

Normally I use the test on soccer with a select few people in my circle. A couple family members and a couple friends that I have that know very little of the game and normally aren’t the least interested in watching 30 seconds of it, let alone the full 90 minutes of it. It seems that has all changed and it’s not because they know I’m passionate about it but its because deep down they always knew they’d find a way to enjoy the sport.

Now soccer may still not be their cup of tea because some of these folks are old school sports types. They’ve been fashioned to know what to like and not to like by some of the old media types that continue to say “America does not like soccer.” But just as the media has evolved a bit to like the sport so have they. The few of them see the game as something they can understand, or at least to a degree. Offside calls and questionable officiating may bug them about the game but when they realize those same questionable calls come in their favorite sports like baseball or football they don’t see to get as cranky about it.

So today don’t tell me that you don’t like soccer because I know you probably watched this past weekend or at some point these past couple weeks. The numbers and ratings suggest that. There will be plenty of folks on talk-radio and in newspapers (that still exist) that will suggest otherwise but those small-minded folks probably watched just like you.

The two-and-a-half-hour match window averaged an 8.2 rating, 9.45 million households and 14.8 million viewers making it the most-watched men’s World Cup game ever.

Soccer in America is now the Apple of the sporting world. It’s got the hardcore followers like Apple does but millions of people see the appeal to it and don’t even realize that they use one of their products on a daily basis.

Below is the schedule the the knockout phase, we knew of most of the games already but for those catching up here it is. Obviously tomorrow is important for the U.S. but Sunday has some ridiculously good match-ups on tap. Tuesday will be equally as interesting with that Spain-Portugal game as well.

SATURDAY
Uruguay vs. South Korea in Port Elizabeth, 10 a.m. ET
United States vs. Ghana in Rustenburg, 2:30 p.m.

SUNDAY
Germany vs. England in Bloemfontein, 10 a.m.
Argentina vs. Mexico in Johannesburg/Soccer City, 2:30 p.m.

MONDAY
Netherlands vs. Slovakia in Durban, 10 a.m.
Brazil vs. Chile in Johannesburg/Ellis Park, 2:30 p.m.

TUESDAY
Paraguay vs. Japan in Pretoria, 10 a.m.
Spain vs. Portugal in Cape Town, 2:30 p.m.

People are watching and I’ve even heard of work production at places like the New York Stock Exchange slowing down massively during the games.

The Algeria game was seen by an average of 6.12 million viewers on ESPN, the highest number for a soccer game on ESPN. The Slovenia game just days before it drew in 5.2 million viewers. Also even more impressive was the fact that nearly 1.1 million unique viewers were watching on ESPN3.com for the Algeria game.

Not bad folks. Not bad at all. People are indeed starting to care and the further this thing goes on for the US the more will show up.

I know the quality of the video isn’t great but what was the referee Koman Coulibal thinking? Or not thinking?

It should have been three points but let’s face the facts the US still control their own destiny as England failed to show up against Algeria. We couldn’t ask for more than that at this point to control our own destiny too.

Wednesday it will be all to play for and let’s hope the comeback kids show up in full force this time to take care of business.

Germany looks like a possessed team. (Getty Images)

So as of a few minutes ago every team has played at least one group game in this World Cup. A lot could be taken out of it and a lot stands to change in the next round of games starting this afternoon.

So far only a couple countries look remotely like contenders so far, even that may be a stretch. With most games ending 1-0 or in a draw it was obvious most clubs were looking for a point to start out the tournament. Teams that did play a little more open saw results while others just got lucky in the end.

The Favorites

The usual suspects in Brazil, Italy, Spain, Germany and Argentina all looked different in their openers. Italy and Spain failed to impress as the defending champs had to battle back to draw Paraguay. Spain had the possession against Switzerland but the Swiss used the American template of how to beat the mighty Spanish attack.

Brazil and Argentina looked alright. There were times in both matches that we could have seen a slip in play by each of them but they still both got favorable results.

Then there was Germany who absolutely dominated their opener against Australia. The biggest result so far, 4-0, was impressive by this young German squad. I thought they’d be good coming in but I didn’t think they’d blow someone out of the water like this. For Australia it shows that that 3-1 win for the US wasn’t a fluke.

The Surprises

South Africa showed up and got a draw in the opener and really has impressed as a host.

Folks are complaining more about the weather than the adidas ball. Though the complaints about the ball will continue as this tournament goes on I believe. Its winter there though so we shouldn’t expect 90 degree weather.

The Swiss beating Spain today was a surprise but a pleasant one indeed. It shows that if you follow how the U.S. beat Spain a year ago in the Confederations Cup that good things can happen.

South Korea could be one of the more shocking teams in this tournament. Also don’t sleep on Japan either. It comes to show that we know nothing about these Asian teams until the tournament actually starts. Most of us (including myself) were counting these teams out from the start but each showed up and got results. Kudos to WVH writer Geoff Reid for his predictions of South Korea doing well in this group, he was dead on.

The US

I won’t go too into  USMNT here right now as I’ve already discussed the draw against England on here. But again we have to feel good about where this team is at right now. Sure our next match is against the current group leaders in Slovenia but this is a game the US should win and likely will win. It won’t be easy as the Slovenian defense is one tough cookie to crack but the speed of the US attack should break it down. Something Algeria lacked in the opener.

African Teams

So far its so-so from the home continent’s set of teams. Ghana got a nice result against Serbia; South Africa got a point; and Ivory Coast did well to get a draw against Portugal. But Cameroon and Algeria failed to get anything out of their openers. I still think Cameroon will get points in their group, though it won’t be easy against Denmark and Holland. Algeria on the other hand looks like a team that could potentially end up in last in this tournament with no wins and a lot of questions.

The Ball

A lot of discussion about the ball has been done already. I won’t bore you with more though I do think the ball is effecting the scorers and not the keepers here. I also think weather and altitude are playing a bigger factor than the ball but that may just be me.

Look the games were low scoring in the first set of matches because teams didn’t want to expose themselves and set up a disaster like Australia did in the first game. You give up a bunch in the first game like that and your tournament is over as quickly as it got started. Teams will begin to open it up more today and into the weekend, count on it.

The initial nerves should be gone and now its time to get down to business.