As Spain were crowned World Cup winners in Soccer City, the curtain came down on the first World Cup to be held in Africa. European teams completed a 1-2-3 with Spain beating Holland in the final and Germany taking 3rd place with a 3-2 victory over Uruguay.

This only goes to strengthen the argument that European football is the strongest in the world and that the European championships are a superb tournament. Qualifying for the Euro 2012 finals begins in September and despite finishing 3rd, Germany will be amongst the favourites to win the title. Their young team produced some brilliant football throughout the World Cup with Thomas Muller taking the Golden Boot with 5 goals and 3 assists. With other young stars like Ozil, Boateng and Kediera, Germany will be one of the teams to beat.

As current World and European champions, Spain will be another difficult opponent. Most of their team will still be young enough in 2012 to provide stiff opposition and they will be keen to defend their title.

For once Holland managed to leave their individual egos behind at the World Cup and as a result, they reached their 3rd World Cup final beating many peoples favourite, Brazil, on the way. With better finishing from Robben, Holland could well have won the tournament instead of Spain and they will look to continue in the same vein during Euro 2012.

The traditionally powerful teams of France, England and Italy both failed miserably in South Africa and as a result, the curtain will definitely come down on many of the older players careers. England have a host of exciting young players to bring to the international stage and if they can emulate the German team, there will be high hopes amongst the English fans.

The Euro 2012 host nations of Poland and Ukraine will both enjoy tremendous support but ultimately, they probably do not have the quality to seriously challenge for the title.