The celebrations for Spain continue following the team reaching the World Cup Final.

The celebrations for Spain continue following the team reaching the World Cup Final for the first time, and the press obsessed with coverage ahead of the final against The Netherlands on Sunday in Johannesburg.

It’s already been decided that there will be a fiesta on Monday in Madrid, whether the team win or lose, with the team travelling through the capital’s streets in an open top bus from around 7pm.

A stage is already under construction on the Esplanade at Puente de Rey, next to the Manzanares river. The large screen from the Bernabéu will be erected in Cibeles. The route has been changed since 2008 when Spain won the European Cup as at the time it was considered too short.

Rafa Nadal has said that he will be travelling to Johannesburg for the final on Sunday. A well known football lover the World Number One is friends with some of the Spanish side, and was seen on the streets of Mallorca on Wednesday night celebrating the victory of Germany having watched the game with his family at home.

The theft of items from the rooms of Sergio Busquets and Pedro before the game could not dampen the party, with Busquets losing some 800 € and other items, while Pedro lost about 1,000 €. It does of course raise questions about security.

Paul the German octopus who lives at the Sealife aquarium in Oberhausen, and who correctly predicted the Spanish win has seen his fame reach as far as the Spanish Congress. The eight legged thing obviously knows more than Gary Lineker, who famously said once that ‘football is a game played by 11 against 11, which lasts for 90 minutes and which Germany always wins’. Spanish Prime Minister, José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, said he was worried for the Octopus and was considering sending a team to protect it, while the Minister for Industry, Miguel Sebastián declared that the octopus should be declared a national hero. Minister for the Environment, Elena Espinosa, said she would be calling for special protection measures, to make sure the Germans don’t now eat it.

Video of Queen Sofía has emerged when she went down to the team dressing room after the game in Durban, and caught the goal scorer Carles Puyol coming out of the shower.
‘Fantastic, Congratulations’, said the Queen saying that ‘in the name of the King and all the members of the Royal Family and of all Spain it was marvellous’.

For those who are superstitious, Spain will be playing the final in their blue strip, the colour in which the side has won all its games in South Africa, even it was just the two games against Chile and Paraguay.

‘Manolo el del Bombo’, the famous Spain supporter got back to South Africa on Wednesday in time to see the Germany game. He had earlier to return to Spain for medical treatment last week.

The British ex Policeman, Howard Webb, will be the referee for the final on Sunday. He was already the referee when Spain lost against Switzerland in their first match.

Finally, maybe it had something to do with the beer many were drinking, but the demand for water in Madrid rise by 26% in just four minutes during half time, according to the city’s water board.


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