Good afternoon and welcome to Sports Mole's rolling news coverage of day 28 of the World Cup.
We now know the lineup for this Sunday's final at the Maracana, with Argentina's penalty-shootout win over Netherlands last time sending them through to face Brazil's conquerers Germany in Rio de Janeiro.
SM will be bringing you more reaction to both semi-final games, as well as keeping you up to date with the latest news, gossip and opinions from Brazil throughout the day.
That's all from the team at Sports Mole. Thank you for following our coverage of today's news from the World Cup. Joe Fish will be in the chair at 12pm tomorrow as the build-up to the World Cup final continues. Goodnight.
Oliver Bierhoff is confident that Mats Hummels will shake off a knee injury to take his place in the centre of the German defence for Sunday's World Cup final. Everyone in Germany will be keeping their fingers crossed the Borussia Dortmund ace proves his fitness.
Brazil's sports minister Aldo Rebelo believes that it is time for the country to work harder to prevent younger players leaving for Europe following their World Cup exit earlier this week. Is that the answer for Brazil?
If you missed the big news from FIFA earlier today, it has been confirmed that Luis Suarez's appeal against his four-month ban has been rejected. The striker, who is expected to sign for Brazil in the near future, will still be prevented from training, while his nine-game international suspension has also been upheld.
Brazil's former striker Romario, who now works as a politician, believes that the players and coaches are not the only ones to blame for the host nation's humiliating World Cup exit at the hands of Germany, and has called for the "talentless moguls" to take responsibility.
Javier Mascherano is fully aware that Argentina cannot afford to make the same mistakes as Brazil ahead of the World Cup final against Germany. The Barcelona midfielder believes that keeping the space on offer to a minimum is a must for Alejandro Sabella's side.
It's no surprise to see Per Mertesacker has been praising Germany's World Cup squad once again, suggesting that the strength in depth is the reason for Joachim Low's side's success in Brazil.
Let's move away from the World Cup for a brief moment. Alexis Sanchez, who impressed with his performances at this summer's tournament with Chile, has finally secured his move to Arsenal from Barcelona. It looks like an excellent piece of business from the Gunners.
Mehmet Scholl, who worked with Louis van Gaal at Bayern Munich, has criticised the Dutchman for allowing his ego to get in the way throughout the World Cup prior to their semi-final exit at the hands of Argentina on Wednesday night.
Manuel Neuer has suggested that it was difficult for Germany to control their nerves prior to that incredible 7-1 triumph over Brazil on Sunday. Well, I think it's fair to say they hid their emotions impressively, but the pressure will go up another few levels against Argentina on Sunday.
Plenty of people have paid tribute to Miroslav Klose this week after he broke Ronaldo's record for goals scored at the World Cup, but Jose Mourinho was slightly disappointed for the Brazilian, who he believes was the finest player of his generation.
Thanks Shane. There might not be any matches on tonight, but the news from Brazil keeps on coming. The wounds in the Dutch camp surely won't heal for a long time, and Wesley Sneijder is the latest player to reveal his frustration after accusing Argentina of playing for penalties.
That's all from me for one night, my friends. Stay tuned, though, because Callum Mulvihil is next up and he'll be taking you straight through to 10pm with all the latest goings-on from Brazil. See you next time.
We've got a little more build-up to Sunday's final now, and Miroslav Klose claims that beating Ronaldo's World Cup record to become the tournament's highest goalscorer of all time will count for very little if Germany fail to win the competition.
The fallout from the Netherlands' World Cup exit shows little sign of subsiding, as Georginio Wijnaldum laments the lack of a creative spark following the drab semi-final affair with Argentina.
Bit of a blast from the past here as Gareth Barry says that he has not given up on his England career and hopes to play a part in the Three Lions' Euro 2016 qualification campaign.
Lionel Messi has dedicated Argentina's World Cup semi-final victory over the Netherlands to journalist Jorge Lopez, who was killed in a car crash hours before kickoff. The 38-year-old was travelling back to his hotel in a taxi when the vehicle was struck by a stolen car as it attempted to evade the police in Brazil yesterday.
Raheem Sterling has said that England will learn from their disappointing World Cup campaign and come back stronger next time. Defeats to Uruguay and Italy consigned the Three Lions to a group-stage exit for the first time since the 1958 edition of the competition.
Miroslav Klose has revealed that he is "full of confidence" that Germany can pip Argentina to World Cup glory in Sunday's final in Rio. Joachim Low's side booked their place at the Maracana by thumping host nation Brazil 7-1 in a morale-boosting win in Belo Horizonte on Tuesday night.
Diego Maradona has claimed that beating Germany in Sunday's World Cup final is not "mission impossible" for Argentina. Joachim Low's side flashed their title credentials by thumping host nation Brazil 7-1 in Belo Horizonte on Tuesday to move one step away from ending a 24-year barren spell at the finals.
Incase you missed it, Luis Suarez WILL serve the duration of his four-month ban after the 27-year-old and the Uruguayan FA had their appeals dismissed earlier today.
Mike Tyson has leapt to the defence of Luis Suarez after he bit Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini last month. Tyson, who himself has previous for a similar offence, described the incident as a "blackout moment" and claims that it was not the real Suarez.
Not quite Mary Shelley's Frankstein now, but Louis van Gaal claims that he "taught" Argentina goalkeeper Sergio Romero how to save penalties. The shot-stopper denied the Netherlands a place in the World Cup final by thwarting both Ron Vlaar and Wesley Sniejder from the penalty spot, and the irony is not lost on Van Gaal!
More fallout to Argentina's dramatic penalty shootout win over the Netherlands last night, and Dirk Kuyt has claimed to be unimpressed by the South Americans in the World Cup and questioned if they truly deserve to be in the final.
Perhaps still a little bitter over the Netherlands' World Cup exit on Wednesday, coach Louis van Gaal has claimed that he would prefer to leave the tournament than endure a third-place playoff, a fixture that he believes is rather redundant.
Cheers Joe. There are no fixtures today as you well know my friends, but there is plenty to chew on - including news that FIFA have upheld Luis Suarez's biting ban - so stay tuned because there's a lot of build-up and fallout to get through yet.
My final nugget of news before passing you on to Shane Callaghan is to inform you of West Ham United's reported £12m bid for Ecuador's World Cup star Enner Valencia, who has also been linked with Everton and Spurs. Anyway, over to Shane, who will give you your World Cup fix into the evening.
BREAKING NEWS: Breaking news, but hardly surprising, with FIFA having rejected Uruguay's appeal over Luis Suarez's four-month ban for biting Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini. The Liverpool striker is suspended from "all football-related activity" following his third offence of such a kind.
Moving away from the two finalists for a minute, Gus Poyet expects Jozy Altidore to report for pre-season training having fully recovered from the hamstring strain that ended his World Cup. The USA striker was stretchered off in their opening group game and did not feature again in Brazil.
I'm not sure your generous plan worked Mats, to be honest, with Brazil thoroughly humbled and now further embarrassed by the fact that arch rivals Argentina have reached the final on their patch.
The Argentine coach has a point, with Germany defender Mats Hummels admitting that they took their foot firmly off the gas after the interval in Belo Horizonte, revealing that a half-time pledge was made in the Germany dressing room not to further humiliate the hosts, who went on to lose 7-1.
Sabella also argues that their 120-minute "war" with the Dutch, which was the second time that Argentina had gone the distance in the knockout stages, has left them "sore, beaten, tired", while Germany could cruise through the second half of their last-four humiliation of hosts Brazil.
© Getty Images
There seems to be a slight Napoleon complex in the Argentina camp, with firstly Aguero doubting their pedigree and now manager Alejandro Sabella insisting that Germany are the favourites for the World Cup final. He claims that the extra day of rest gives Joachim Low's side an advantage.
Onto Argentina now, and Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero has claimed that they have proved people wrong in reaching the final, despite being one of the pre-tournament favourites.
We have mixed news on the managerial front this Thursday, with Hong stepping down but Bosnia-Herzegovina boss Safet Susic signing a new two-year extension up until Euro 2016.
Holland were World Cup casualties last night, and there is another this morning, with South Korea coach Hong Myung-bo resigning following their failure to win a match in Brazil.
There is sure to be a 'what if' feeling in the back of Van Gaal's mind, perhaps regarding his choice of opening penalty taker but certainly who he had between the sticks for the shootout. Tim Krul was the hero in the quarter-final win over Costa Rica after a masterstroke of a substitution, and the new Manchester United boss has admitted that he would have turned to Krul again if he had not used up all three of his changes. Number one Jasper Cillessen could not keep out any of the Argentine spot kicks.
© Getty Images
Despite many questioning Vlaar's selection as opening penalty taker, but the Aston Villa defender has insisted that he was happy to take on the responsibility of stepping up first.
But first a look at the overnight headlines, which include Holland manager Louis van Gaal revealing that two players refused their first spot kick last night before centre-back Vlaar stepped up and saw his effort saved by Argentina hero Sergio Romero: Here's the headlines:
Louis van Gaal: 'Two players declined first penalty in shootout'
Aguero: 'We won't change style for World Cup final'
Mascherano lauds "brilliant" Argentina
We will be bringing you the latest reaction to Argentina's progress and penalty controversy inside the Holland camp, as well as the latest news and opinions from Brazil all day long.
© Getty Images
Lionel Messi and company needed penalties to see off Netherlands after 120 deadlocked minutes in Sao Paolo, with Ron Vlaar and Wesley Sneijder the unfortunate Dutch villains.
Afternoon, all! We have been treated to two dramatic but vastly different semi-finals and we now know that it will be Argentina and Germany who battle it out to be world champions on Sunday.
