Michael*

First full Doctor Who trailer revealed ahead of series eight premiere...

What a tense game that was. Great opportunities missed by both sides, great goal to decide it. If there's one thing the World Cup has really highlighted this year, it's the importance of having that extra bit of quality in the final third. Ghana, Algeria, France and Argentina all failed to convert excellent chances against Germany, and all were made to pay for it. Still, there can be little doubt that they were good value for the victory, both on their display in the final and overall. Such a lovely team to watch, always playing their own game instead of adjusting to that of their opponents. Messi's Golden Ball win, while not exactly grand larceny, was ill-deserved. Thomas Muller and James Rodriguez would have been better candidates, the former having five goals and three assists and the latter having six goals and two assists, in comparison to Messi's four and one. Although to be fair to him, he did carry Argentina on his back at times, particularly in the group stages. Lavezzi looked their biggest threat last night, carrying the ball into the German box and supporting little Leo. A really strange decision to replace him with an unfit Aguero. Did I miss Gisele?

Poor Christoph Kramer. Fascinating first 45 minutes, a really tight encounter. No goals yet, but I've no idea how.

Superb movie. Seu Jorge can pretty much do no wrong in my eyes.

Slightly leaning towards Germany again for tonight. I would say they've been the most potent attacking force at the tournament, while Argentina have perhaps become the most resolute defensive unit. If Germany can successfully break them down, then they'll fully deserve to win the final. If Argentina can contain, and be resilient against the Germans, then they'll deserve it. Promises to be a true clash of styles.

It was a very comfortable, controlled 3-0 win for Holland. The final score could perhaps have been a bit closer as a couple of refereeing decisions went against Brazil, but overall, it was the right outcome. Once again, the Brazilians looked disorganised at the back and were completely bereft of ideas going forward. Respect to their supporters though, after losing heavily twice in a week, the majority stayed in the stadium to congratulate the Dutch players.

Comprehensive victory for the Dutch tonight, with Van Gaal signing off in style. Not exactly the improvement Brazil would have hoped for in the wake of Tuesday night’s capitulation, as once again, they looked slow and rather shapeless. Highly uncertain futures for many of them, no doubt.

The criteria for picking the midfielders looks to be heavily weighted in favour of attack-minded play, because Javier Mascherano would almost certainly be in there otherwise. Still, it's not a bad looking team.

According to WhoScored.com, who utilise statistical data (saves per game, goal assists, key passes, clearances and suchlike) to determine the highest performing players, this is the strongest individual XI of the tournament so far. Not sure who's going to be doing the spade work in the middle though...

RIP Tommy Ramone. http://youtu.be/O7PEzQQYWag

I quite liked it. It seem to lose its way a bit when the 'mystery' was over and Kick-Ass (who didn't make for a particularly compelling lead) was expected to pick up the slack, but it was full of visual and audio brilliance and had a nice slow burning setup, something that seems to be lacking in a lot of modern blockbusters. My advice would be to judge it on what it sets out to achieve and see it on the noisiest IMAX screen you can find.

"I have an army" "We have a Hulk" It had some impact when Robert Downey said it. Big Phil Scolari, less so.

Third place play-offs have never generated excitement, but you'd be surprised at how often they can deliver it. Past losing semi-finalists like Sweden, Croatia, Turkey and Uruguay have played it with joy and passion, and it's another chance for those trying for the Golden Boot. Four years ago, the game decided who top scored between Thomas Müller and Diego Forlan. This year, Brazil will aim to restore some pride, and Holland could become the only Dutch squad to end a World Cup undefeated. So while it is a mostly pointless exercise, it should be one worth watching.

Good luck Roy. Or should I say, break a leg!

Should be exciting to see Sanchez line up alongside Ozzle (© Jamie Carragher). He always looks at his best when he's able to thread delicate through balls behind the defence for others to run onto, and now with Sanchez he has someone other than the slower Giroud and the erratic Walcott to provide for.

Latest band crush.

Comeback tune from Interpol. As someone who is a huge fan of the debut and 'Antics', but wasn't crazy about the last album, I don't think this is half bad.

Woah. Time to give this guy another outing...

In which case, congratulations are in order my good fellow!

Overall, although a physical and edgy affair was probably always on the cards last night, I think both sides deserve pelters for an almost total absence of attacking intent. Regardless of tactics, players as talented as Messi, Higuain, Van Persie and Robben should really be making more of a mark on games like these. That Cillessen offered as much quality on the ball was pretty damning. While it could obviously be argued that the Dutch made the most of their resources and performed beyond all reasonable expectations, the only time they’ve consistently played anything other than stodgy, conservative football was against Spain. They squeaked past a gritty Australian side, made my eyes bleed against Chile, rode their luck to beat the Mexicans and failed to score in 240 minutes against Costa Rica and Argentina. That’s fine in a Jose Mourinho 'if we’re winning then who cares?' kind of way, but once you’ve lost, a bit of honesty should kick in. Despite the respectable results they've achieved, their approach to the last two World Cups has been mostly disappointing.

A World Cup thread making mention of Jack Colback and now Nathan Baker. Hopefully not a sign of things to come!

An occasion billed as Messi vs Robben ends up being dominated by the likes of Mascherano, Romero and Vlaar. Commiserations to the Dutch, who didn't really turn up tonight. Van Gaal's change of goalkeeper in the quarters eventually came back to bite him, you could see the pressure on Cillessen's face to somehow live up to what Krul did when he came on so unexpectedly against Costa Rica. Sending Vlaar to take the first kick of the shoot-out was no less bizarre. Argentina were pretty atrocious too - I can't honestly say there's been a more obviously deserving team in their half of the draw so it might as well be them, but on that evidence Joachim Löw won't be losing any sleep.

I'm getting such a good feeling about this movie, I hope it tears up the box office and Marvel are encouraged to keep trying new things. They seem to be nailing the humour, and Rocket Raccoon will clearly steal the show. For some reason, something about his voice just screams 'Zoolander' to me. I wonder if the shiny purple oval-shaped thing on Ronan's hammer will turn out to be another Infinity Gem?

Absolutely astonishing stuff. I feel bad for the Brazilian fans, who made such a great contribution to the atmosphere over the four weeks. To say their team let them down badly would be the understatement of the century, Luiz and co had themselves whipped up into such a frenzy amid all the passion and expectation that they had no idea what they were doing, and capitulated horribly. The gulf in class was unreal, so much so that it was actually a little hard to watch. Germany with more goals in a quarter of an hour than England, Italy and Portugal managed in the whole tournament. Words like blistering, fearless and relentless simply don't do their performance justice - it was just sheer, professional brilliance without mercy, and what impressed me most was that the players never showboated or looked smug after the goals kept coming. They fully deserve it and I’m certain that it'll be a wonderful final, regardless of who they play.

This is quite the war of attrition.