Hello all! Quick blog today. The world cup is coming to a fantastic climax after the elimination of the Latin American superpowers both of whom I thought would be the finalists. In good news, Yossi Benayoun signs for Chelsea for which you don’t see Chelsea fans doing a song and dance about. In bad news, David Silva signs for Man City after waxing lyrical about Chelsea. In other news,

The world champion is among Germany, Netherlands, Spain and Uruguay. The quarter final matches have produced some great performances and dramatic moments of this world cup. Brazil were beaten by Netherlands which even for the Dutch, must be a surprise. Brazil dominated the first half and went to the half time with a lead that could have doubled with some luck. Even though Netherlands won the match, they did not outplay Brazil but outperformed them with their desire and determination.

As per Robinho’s comments after the match, it appears that Brazil became a bit complacent and were thinking about the margin than the result. That, for me, is one half of the explanation of what happened in the second half. The other half is explained by Sneijder’s post match comments. Netherlands had decided that they would give it all and be ready to die on the pitch. Add up Brazil’s complacency and Netherlands’ super-determination, you get a rejuvenated second half performance that turned the match. Melo’s needless red card only worsened the situation for Brazil. It’s clear to all that Brazil is a better team than Netherlands but on those 90+ minutes, Netherlands came out as deserving winners.

The Uruguay vs Ghana match is the match of this world cup, undoubtedly. Both teams having the ability to create history for their respective nations, and with somewhat evenly matched up, it was always going to be a tight affair. The football on show was brilliant. As I was watching the extra time, I felt sad there’s going to be a loser in this match. The stoppage time handball by Suarez has come under a lot of criticism. My view is this: He did what I would have done at that time. See, in such times in football, the pressure is so intense and the emotions run so high that we may not even know what it means to live that moment by ourselves. It’s not the same as Henry’s handball – that one was very intentional while this one by Suarez was instinctive. Anyway, he was punished with a red card and his team was punished with a penalty. It was there for Ghana to create history. Gyan hit a poor penalty under the circumstances. Ghana should not complain about Suarez’ handball. Having said that, I can’t feel more sorry for Ghana.

The result of the Argentina vs Germany match was probably the biggest surprise of this world cup so far. I had said that Brazil will notch an easy win against Netherlands and I was wrong. Had I said that Germany would score an easy and big win over Argentina, I would have laughed at. But see what happened. That’s football. Make predictions but don’t claim to know of what would happen though. Don’t laugh at predictions too. None of us expected Germany to play like how they are playing at the moment. Surprises, not miracles, do happen. At least I was right about Argentina not being such a good team as they’re made out to be and Messi not scoring even one goal in the world cup. One thing is sure – with this win, Germany are firmly the top favourites to be champions.

Spain beat Paraguay. I have been saying that I find Spain very boring. Their kind of football doesn’t excite or interest me at all. There is no adventure, no innovation, no cutting edge. So many goals through rebounds, lucky flicks, off sides – just like Argentina. You know what happened to Argentina – they were found out by a top German performance. Paraguay played well and should have taken the lead but I always thought Spain would go through with a moment like the one that actually happened for David Villa. I’m not impressed with David Villa’s finishing as much as I’m impressed with his intelligence to be at the right place and time. That’s it on the world cup. Blog on the semi-finals late, probably!

Let’s get the bad news out. David Silva signs for Man City. I expected him to sign for us. Now, don’t even think we were never in the race. We wouldn’t know that. Don’t think that we would not spend too much because we would. It is so clear that we need one or two good replacements for Joe Cole, Deco and Ballack. This brings us to the good news – Yossi Benayoun has joined Chelsea FC.

Yippee! I found a Benayoun pic where he’s not in a Liverpool jersey! Sadly for him, he’s not gonna get his favourite shirt number of 15. He knows, he should go with the Flo!

My view about the Yossi signing is this – great! Yossi is a player that I have always respected. Regular readers would know that whenever we face Liverpool, it is Yossi that concerns me more than a Gerrard or Torres. Yossi has a great dribble and a good shot. Plus, he can never be doubted for his dedication and effort. Also, he can be the impact sub that we always wanted to have in our bench. I think he is a highly under-rated player. He has produced some blinders in his stint with Liverpool while Stevie Me walked away with the man of the match awards because he can run faster in a straight line and fall right inside the penalty box as soon as a defender moves in.

So what if Yossi is 30? Zola was 30 when he joined Chelsea. Age is never a factor if that has no impact or influence in the outcome. He is anyway on a 3-year contract, which is pretty decent. It neither too long nor too short. He has a very useful premier league experience and a wide range of experience/exposure than Joe Cole. He is an incomparably better goal scorer than Joe Cole and I think he is a better dribbler too. If Benayoun can play as well as he has with not-so-top teams such as Maccabi Haifa, Racing Santander and Liverpool, imagine what he can do with his Chelsea colleagues. Finally, we can have a set up where Flo and Yossi can interchange and play like Robben and Duff used to. So, if Yossi comes in at £6m as a replacement for Joe Cole, I would take him without blinking my eye. Shoot me now because I’m gonna say it – Yossi Benayoun is a better footballer than Joe Cole.

The good thing about this world cup is, the prices of the popular targets such as Aguero should have fallen. None of the popular targets have made their name in this world cup. If anything, it is the German crop that should have their prices spiraling up with every match. I think we are not done with our transfers. In the next few weeks, I truly expect, not just hope, that Chelsea would make a couple of good signings. I’m not referring to the stars, suns and moons, just the good players that can become great at Chelsea.