This of course, was no surprise to anyone, as the announcement had already been made two months prior, on December 2, immediately after which Russian President Vladimir Putin travelled to Zurich to offer his complete support and commitment to the event, to the point of building brand new stadiums, roads, and other facilities to ensure its success.

Following Sunday’s signing of the Declaration of Appointment, the president of FIFA attended the CIS and Baltic Cup finals, party of Russia’s own football legacy. At that game, Azerbaijan’s K Inter Baku emerged victorious over Belarus’ Shakhter Soligorsk 6-5 following a game-defining a penalty shootout.

In other World Cup related news, the president of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), Mohamed Bin Hammam, declared publicly his praise and approval for the Asian Cup to be hosted by Qatar, saying he believes it acts as an ideal preparation for Qatar’s hosting of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. A Qatari himself, Bin Hammam had a great deal to do with his home nation being chosen as hosts of the 2022 World Cup. Bin Hammam has also said that he isn’t ruling out the possibility of running against Sepp Blatter for the position of FIFA president come May when the current head goes up for re-election.

Whilst its good to spread the game to new places, it also has to make economic sense. Imagine having the Olympic Games in Thailand or the WSOP, World Series of poker India? These sports or games still need to become very popular before they can be hosted in these regions.

The upshot of the Asian Cup was that the facilities were top dollar and excellently organized. The downside is that the fans still haven’t been turning out for football in Qatar, even the big games like Japan vs. Saudi Arabia, which only saw 2,000 fans turn out, and only about twice that each when China faced off with Uzbekistan and Australia took down Bahrain. Even Qatar’s own team failed to fill the stands in the recent quarter finals against Japan, the home team’s biggest game in years.

There can be no doubt that showcasing your football talents on a global stage like the World Cup can certainly raise your profile in the minds of the viewing millions and it may spark interest from clubs looking to strengthen their squads too. Big-name signings would be sure to affect the football betting odds on clubs winning the Premiership.

Players like Japan’s midfield star Keisuke Honda, who is currently signed to CSKA Moscow, have been linked with a number of English clubs, including Tottenham. Just two years ago CSKA paid only £4.9 million to sign him and if they choose to let him go they could expect a massive return on their investment after his great performance in South Africa. Take a look at the goal he scored against Denmark from a free kick to see what Harry Redknapp would be getting for his money. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eybIMmivSHQ&NR=1

Another player rumoured to be attracting interest from English clubs is Thomas Müller, the Golden Boot winner. The 20 year old Bayern Munich forward, who was also awarded the Young Player of the Tournament title, is said to be a potential target for Chelsea. Bayern would be looking for around £25million for him. Take a look at his World Cup goals here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzA4njC01kg

The influx of foreign stars to the Premiership after recent World Cups has been a declining trend with few players being signed immediately after the Germany 2006. The most notable signings then were Argentina duo Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano who were signed by West Ham (the club was later fined for breaching Premier League rules over the signings) and Ecuador’s Antonio Valencia who joined Wigan. It would seem that clubs have to be more cautious in their transfer dealings due to the growing financial pressures that many are facing these days.

Not all clubs are in that position though. Let’s not forget the elephant in the room i.e. Manchester City, who have the sort of financial resources at their disposal that makes major signings for big money a very real possibility. Even before the World Cup had got under way Roberto Mancini had splashed out over sixty million quid to bring the Ivory Coast’s Yaya Toure, Spain’s David Silva and Germany’s Jerome Boateng to Eastlands. The latest footy odds from online betting websites have Manchester City at 9/2 to win the Premier League and no one, not even Paul the octopus, should bet against them doing it if they continue their spending spree.

After the success of the first ever World Cup tournament to be held in Africa it would have been nice to see a final that was a great showcase of all that is best in football but sadly what the 84,490 spectators in the Soccer City stadium and the watching millions around the world got was not the Beautiful Game but a shocking display of clogging negative football. The chief culprits in the thuggery and fouling were Bert van Marwijk’s Netherlands. Not only did his team lose the game but they also lost the respect and goodwill of many who remembered the “Total Football” era Netherlands of the 1970’s with affection. They clearly decided to try to disrupt the Spanish style of passing, flowing football by putting the boot in.

The English referee Howard Webb handed out 14 of yellow cards – a record for a World Cup final – and sent off Johnny Heitinga of the Netherlands in a brutal game that was marred by heavy tackling and blatant fouling, most of it perpetrated by the Dutch.

Almost from the kick off the Spanish dominated the play and they pushed the deep into the Dutch half with their fluid passing and skill. The only answer that the Netherlands players seemed to have was to try and use brute force to disrupt the Spanish onslaught. This led to a fairly dire first 45 minutes although Spain’s Ramos nearly scored after just four minutes but his header was brilliantly saved by Dutch keeper Maarten Stekelenburg.

Things did improve slightly in the second half and for a few moments it did look like the Dutch might take the lead when Wesley Sneijder put Arjen Robben through but his shot was saved by the Casillas. That was probably the best chance that the Netherlands had as gradually Spain began to assert themselves.

In spite of the Dutch strong-arm tactics the Spaniards were patient and when the game went into extra time the arrival of Cesc Fabrigas had a major impact on the game. It was his assist that led to Andres Iniesta breaking the deadlock in the 116th minute.

Vincente del Bosque’s Spain were already European champions and few who witnessed the final game in the South African tournament would argue that they did not deserve to be World champions as well. They conceded only two goals during the entire tournament and are the first European nation to win the World Cup on another continent.

Spain was not the only winner though. The staging of the tournament has been a triumph for South Africa and they can how consider bidding for the Olympic Games, either in 2020 or 2024.

I can count the amount of decent games on one hand and that is honestly no exaggeration.

It was a World Cup where an octopus was the star of the show as Paul correctly predicted every German game and indeed in the final.

I was so disappointed at how bad the final between Spain and Holland was. It really did sum up the whole tournament.

What did you make of the 2010 World Cup as a whole? Comments below please.

Holland and Spain go head-to-head in the magnificent Soccer City stadium in Johannesburg and I for one simply can’t wait.

Football Corner wants to know your prediction for the game.

Paul the octopus thinks Spain will win it but what do you think?

Who will be lifting the trophy at the end of the night. Holland or Spain? Tell us your prediction by leaving a comment below.

I’ll start us off with my prediction: Spain to win it in the 90 minutes.

The Holland v Spain Odds make Spain the favourites, no shockers there. So put your money on Spain to win this Sunday. Out of the last five World Cup finals, four have ended in under 2.5 goals, and only one final has seen both teams score. So we’re looking at under 2.5 goals and with one team keeping a clean sheet. Spain look a good bet to win this game 1-0. They have won their last three games 1-0, and should be able to make it four in a row. Back Spain to win 1-0.

Two of the topscorers in the World Cup will be playing in this game. Villa and Sneijder both know that one more goal could secure them the Golden Boot. Villa has scored five out of Spain’s seven World Cup goals, and looks the most likely to score. Back Villa to be first goalscorer in this game.

For more World Cup Betting tips, Click Here.

First of all, congratulations to Howard. Thoroughly deserved.

I must admit, I had a few quid on him to ref the final at a juicy 16/1 so you can probably guess I am fairly happy with FIFA’s decision. I hope you listened to my advice when I gave the tip for Webb to ref the final at the end of May.

Once again, well done Howard!

Spain and Holland will meet this Sunday in the magnificent Soccer City stadium as both go in search of their first World Cup triumph in their historys.

You may know already, I started working for FootballQ’s a few months back and I used to have my ‘Question of the Week’. Well it’s back after two months and this week’s ‘Question of the Week’ is simple. Who will win the 2010 World Cup?

I’d really appreciate it if you took a few seconds out of your day to head over to FootballQ’s to vote in the poll. Cheers.