Today sees the second semifinal of the 2010 World Cup, and isn't it a cracker: Germany versus Spain. Just 4 years ago, we saw Schumacher vs Alonso for the F1 crown. This time, we see their respective football teams take to the pitch for the chance to face the Netherlands in Johannesburg.

On the surface, it's a rematch of the Euro 2008 final. But if you look closer, this is a much different German team than the one who played two years ago. Even without the injured Michael Ballack, they seem to be going from strength to strength. This is the team that has scored 4 goals for 3 matches now (2 of them in the knockout stages), against teams of increasing difficulty (Australia, then England, then Argentina).

On the other hand, they had a strange 1-0 loss to Serbia, who didn't even make it past the group stages, but it seems such a distant memory after their recent dominance. Their other concern will be missing Thomas Muller from the lineup, as he is serving a one-game suspension after previously receiving 2 yellow cards.

The new kids on the block take on the veterans from Spain, who no doubt are under significant pressure to win the World Cup for the first time. One may argue that they've had a slightly easier time of it than the Germans - their only real rated foe to date has been Portugal in the Round of 16, yet they've failed to dominate any of their matches. To add to that, they too suffered a strange 1-0 loss to Switzerland, who also failed to make it to the knockout rounds. That said, they've won all the matches they needed to win. And this will almost certainly be their most successful World Cup in 60 (yes, SIXTY) years, no matter what happens from here on out.

The key matchup for me is the battle of the strikers: Germany's Miroslav Klose versus Spain's David Villa. They are the reason their respective teams made it this far, and both are contending for the Golden Boot as well. Look for them to be scoring a goal or three tonight. In case this one goes to penalties (and there's a good chance it will), they will be the center of attention there as well.

So just to confirm today's sole game: Germany vs. Spain - 1930 BST - LIVE on BBC 1

How do I think this will go? It seems my heart and brain agree - Germany looks to be the better team, and I am rooting for them to win this one. They took out my bet Argentina, but they fully deserved to, so I'm transferring my support to them. Never discount Spain, though, as their experience may translate to them handling the pressure better than Germany. I'm predicting a 2-1 win for Germany. I will also go on the record to say that the winner of tonight's fixture will win it all on Sunday night in Soccer City. It's the first evening match I'm staying up for, so I'll see you in the comments!

We've covered an enormous amount of topics in our Thursday Thoughts series, and we've got more to come before the season ends. If you want to pose a question, please sign up on the wiki, but for now, I'll hand over to our lead blogger, Journeyer.

Although I don't have my own personal blog, I've loved the concept of Thursday Thoughts. And I'm honored to ask the question for this week.

We've talked a lot in the comments about who deserves a drive in Formula One, and who doesn't. With so many new seats and new drivers flying around, perhaps it's time we put ourselves in the team owners' shoes.

So my question for all of you is:

If you were a team boss with 3 vacant seats (2 race seats and 1 test seat), who would you hire?

To make it a bit easier, let's make a few assumptions. Assume that there are no financial restrictions and that all the drivers are free agents. In other words, you have an unlimited budget and can hire anyone of your choice.

However, while there may be no formal restrictions, you may want to ask yourselves some of these questions: Will they get along? Do they have compatible driving styles? Are they both quick enough to win races? Do they have sufficient experience and/or potential?

The possibilities are endless. And just to get things started, here's mine:

Race Seats:

1. Michael Schumacher - Really, was there any doubt? Based on the tests this week, he's still got the speed and the motivation. And his skills in technical feedback wouldn't go amiss, either. The tricky bit here is looking for a driver who would get along well with Michael, but be competitive enough as well.
2. Sebastian Vettel - It was a coinflip for me between him and Felipe Massa, but I think Vettel is the better long-term choice. Michael won't be around forever, and I'd need someone who can lead the team even after he's retired. He has potential by the bucketload, and he's come a very long way in just over 2 years.

Test Seat:

Marcus Ericsson - This young Swede is about to enter his first full season of GP2 after a good run in F3, but in his GP2 Asia debut last year, he did pretty well. He also held his own when he did the Young Drivers Test late last year alongside Mike Conway at Mercedes GP. I'm giving him the test seat because I think he has the potential to perform well at the highest level - and because no one else has given him an F1 seat (Not to mention I wanted to make an unorthodox pick). If he's good enough and I stay loyal to him and give him a good enough car, I'm hoping he stays loyal to me too.

So there's my personal line-up. I'd love to hear your line-up! Blog about it and plug it here. No blog? No problem - post your thoughts in the comments, or even better, send a guest post to Christine. Speak out and make yourself heard.

No matter what happens in Formula 1, it seems as though Schumacher's name is never far from the headlines. We rarely feel inclined to discuss the man, but are happy to host guest writer Journeyer's thoughts on a potential comeback from the seven times world champion.

For the second time this year, rumors are spreading that Michael Schumacher is coming back to race in Formula One. But this time, he wouldn't be racing for Ferrari. Instead, he'd be racing for Mercedes, the company that kickstarted his top-level motor racing career.

And just like last time, the prospect of a Schumacher comeback has fans salivating in anticipation. While some media channels have reported that this will probably happen (therefore hyping it up even more), the truly major sources (Joe Saward, James Allen, and AUTOSPORT) have been either quiet or dismissive of the rumors.

And yet, the fans continue to eat it up. Some ask why no denials have been forthcoming, when in fact, Ross Brawn himself had already stated that Michael wasn't interested in a full-time comeback (not at the time of the interview, anyway). There have been all sorts of statements explaining why Michael is more likely than not to come back - no smoke without fire, no denials from Norbert Haug or Nick Fry, Michael hasn't officially signed his Ferrari contract yet - just to name a few.

Before I go to my personal opinion on how this will end up, let me share with you this observation: it seems to me that Formula One does not yet have its next superstar. Yes, we have Lewis Hamilton on the grid. Yes, Fernando Alonso is about to drive a Ferrari next season. Yet no-one on the current grid seems to have succeeded Schumacher in capturing the casual fans' imagination and getting them hooked on the sport (again). It may be good for the sport that the grid as it was in the 3 post-Schumacher years was closer than ever - and thus the racing was good (for the most part, anyway). But many casual fans didn't follow as closely because their number one driver - the driver who may have created the two most boring seasons ever in 2002 and 2004 - wasn't driving anymore.

All this leads me to think that these people who are tweeting about a Schumacher comeback may be doing so out of hope rather than expectation. Personally, I don't think it will happen due to a number of reasons.

First, there is his neck. This was the biggest reason why his summer fling with Ferrari didn't push through. Before any comeback happens this time, Schumacher's doctors will have to check his neck and give him the fitness seal of approval. But even if his neck does fully heal, will it ever be as strong as it was during his peak? Also, given that we're now in the middle of December, will Michael have enough time to get back to the levels of full racing fitness he was at in 2006?

Second, there is his long-term motivation. I say long-term because while he may want to drive again, he doesn't necessarily want to do it for an entire season. Being interviewed at the Race of Champions in Beijing just last month, one of the reasons he was willing to substitute for the injured Felipe Massa was that it was a "part-time" thing. A Mercedes race seat for an entire season at least would definitely be a full-time deal. Even James Allen, who wrote the Schumi biography "The Edge of Greatness", has mentioned in his blog that he doesn't feel Michael really wants to go back to that level of work. And this is Michael Schumacher we're talking about - if he can't give 110% commitment to it, it's not worth doing.

Third, there is Ferrari - specifically, Luca di Montezemolo himself. LDM would probably be less than keen on letting Michael go off - to a competitor, no less. Allen has also mentioned in his blog that Ferrari would want Michael to be promoting their roadcars, rather than Mercedes roadcars (and that new SLS Gullwing set to go on sale). I would add to this that whoever Schumacher races for last will probably end up having his services (and endorsement) for the rest of his life - and if Ferrari lose him, that would be a huge blow to them. If it is true that there is currently no signed contract between Schumacher and Ferrari, there is probably nothing LDM can really do to stop Michael from leaving. However, Schumacher is also separately under contract to Ferrari fuel partner Shell. With Mercedes running on Mobil 1 products, Schumi would have to get out of his Shell contract as well for him to make the move.

Fourth, there is the competition. Many fans wonder how Schumacher would fare if he raced head-to-head against Hamilton or Sebastian Vettel. But even if Michael comes back, how fair a comparison would it be? Even if Michael fares well in his comeback, it would be hard for us to say that he's just peaking right now. In comparison, Hamilton, Vettel, and Alonso (who beat Schumacher in 2006) will all have gotten better in the last three years. As Nick pointed out in the comments, if Schumacher couldn't beat Alonso to the title in 2006, what chance does he have now?

Is the money on offer a factor? Perhaps, perhaps not. It depends on how badly Schumacher wants to race again. That said, the speculation is that Michael will get the same base salary offer that Jenson Button got. Michael may have been retired a while, but I wouldn't put him in the same pay bracket as Jenson, if only because of his marketing value (which is a lot, to say the least). One wonders if Michael would feel the same way.

For those reasons, I don't think Michael Schumacher will race for Mercedes GP in 2010, or in Formula One anytime in the future, for that matter. But the other question is, do I want to see him come back and race again?

As a Schumacher fan, I would have to say... no. It's probably not the response you'd expect from a typical Schumi fan, but let me explain why. For me, he has nothing else to prove. Why go back and take the risk of being beaten week in and week out by a Nico Rosberg, never mind a Lewis Hamilton? Also, Michael went out on a high - remember that awesome recovery drive in Brazil, pulling off a gutsy pass on Kimi Raikkonen in the process? Overtaking the guy who was about to replace him - in that fashion - was memorable on many levels, and it was the perfect way to sign off on what had been a brilliant F1 career.

Michael's already achieved the whole lot, so any Schumacher comeback would only have one aim: to win the Championship for an 8th time. Can he pull it off? As much as I'd want him to, my heart of hearts tells me that he is still human, and that magic touch with the steering wheel will fade with age. Does Michael believe otherwise? Only Michael would know the answer to that question. Would I support Schumacher if he raced again? Absolutely. But would it be the correct decision for Michael to race again? On balance, I would say no.

So if I don't think he'll race for Mercedes, what's next for Michael Schumacher? There's plenty of possibilities. He could stay with Ferrari as their ambassador. He could still move to Mercedes in a consultant role and become Ross' confidant and advisor, as well as their ambassador. But I think his next office will not be in Maranello or in Brackley - it will be in Paris, either as a Formula One Ambassador, or more probably, as the new Formula One Commissioner. Everyone seems to have forgotten that Jean Todt has an open offer to Michael to work with him in the FIA - and I think he will take it.

Fearless forecast? Absolutely. Correct forecast? That remains to be seen.

We've just witnessed a fascinating race in Malaysia, but what was it like to actually be there? Guest writer Journeyer gives us an insight into how things appeared trackside, plus what the Sepang organisers can do to make it a little bit nicer for the fans.

Before coming in to this weekend, I was excited, but not THAT excited. The Malaysian Grand Prix had produced some good races, but had also produced some boring ones as well. The fact that the first race I attended was at Singapore last year set the bar pretty high for me. Surely, there was no way that could be beaten.

I was wrong. Yet I was also right. Confused? Read on.

FRIDAY: It was our first time going to the circuit, and the package we got (available from the Sepang website) was interesting. We took a monorail from the hotel to KL Sentral Train Station. From there, we took a Transit train to KL International Airport (KLIA). From there, a shuttle bus would meet us and take us to the outside of the circuit. From there, we'd switch to another bus that would take us to the gate. Once off the bus, it's a one-kilometre walk through the gates and to our stands. It was tiring at first, but you get used to it.

The two free practice sessions were on offer that day. In an effort to attract more people to the circuit, the Sepang organizers decided to open it to the public for free.

Did it help with the crowd? Perhaps a little, perhaps not - most of the people I saw on Friday also showed up on Saturday and Sunday. But it did allow us to sit where we want. My mom and my sister went with me and my dad that day - they weren't going to watch for the rest of the weekend.

We decided to sit here:

Yup, the front of the Brawn garage. It was quite interesting how they went about their work. They didn't care about how cramped their space was or how far away their garage was from parc ferme. All that mattered was that they thought they had the fastest car that weekend - and time would tell if they were right.

Another new feature of race weekends this year was the 'mandatory' autograph session. I say 'mandatory' because I encountered a couple of big issues with it. The first one was on Friday morning - I lined up for the Williams session. We were hoping to get Nico's signature at least - perhaps both him and Kazuki if we were lucky!

Then the Williams drivers came... well, driver.

Only Kazuki showed up - Nico got pulled from the line-up since he wasn't done yet with his debrief, according to the emcee on stage. So much for mandatory, then. It left us disappointed, but we weren't going to waste our spot in line - we got Kazuki's autograph.

Some of the others decided to skip Williams altogether and formed their own line for McLaren, who came later in the afternoon. I decided to go with Kazuki, thinking Lewis might not show up, especially after it was announced that McLaren only decided to go with the session at the last minute. As it turned out, Lewis did show up, but I didn't mind too much - was never really much of a McLaren fan, anyway.

On our way home from Sepang, we heard about Lewis' press conference and apology regarding Australia. Lewis was profusely apologizing, but I would've wanted to hear from Davy Ryan too. Martin Whitmarsh's run as team principal at McLaren is slowly descending into total chaos, it seems. It's hard to tell whether the bigger problem is their car or their reputation.

SATURDAY: My dad and I met up with a friend of ours that day who was also going to watch the race. It was a trouble-free ride to the circuit, everything going rather smoothly. What we did notice that morning, though, was just how hot it was - and I'm from a tropical country! But I was lining up for autographs again, this time for Ferrari, so I just grinned and bore the heat.

But I was only to be disappointed - again. Kimi and Felipe both showed up - but they came five minutes late and left five minutes early. There were people in front of us who had lined up for two and a half hours, and still didn't make the cut.

And here lies the other problem with these 'mandatory' sessions - if the organizers said they'd be there for 20 minutes, why would they only stay for 10? It's a bit unfair to those who stayed in line for hours just for them. I would've thought that such details were covered in the regulations for these autograph sessions. If they're not, they should be.

After all that, I decided to make a gamble. The Toyota drivers, Jarno and Timo, were next. Hearing that Brawn may have decided to have their session earlier than planned, I decided to skip Toyota, let those behind me past and wait for Brawn. Initially, the event security wouldn't let us, despite Friday's McLaren line. But we got some help - there was a Polish girl and a Japanese girl who, having missed Ferrari, wanted to see Brawn instead. We joined up and decided to do the same thing. There were also two Malaysian fans who joined us. The six of us just kept letting those behind us pass.

After Jarno and Timo said their thank you's and goodbyes, the news came from the emcee - Red Bull and Brawn would have their session together! That meant we'd get four autographs in one go. Our gamble worked beautifully. We even got a cameo in the form of Ralf Schumacher, who was on one side of the stage, happily doing work for RTL.

The other drivers, though, were a mixed bag when we saw them. Brawn's Jenson and Rubens were happy. Jenson, in particular, was absolutely beaming. We even had a quick chat about his hopes for the weekend. And he and Rubens signed this:

It's F1 Racing's 2009 Season Preview - Brawn GP didn't even exist yet as it went to print. Button signing it was a nice touch, and it would be even better if he won the whole thing this year.

Red Bull, meanwhile, was more downbeat. Mark and Der Seb had the 'I'd-rather-be-somewhere-else' look on their faces, and it showed. They were even hesitant to sign something other than their PR-provided driver cards. Not that it stopped my dad from insisting they sign our race programme, though. Event security were not amused.

Free Practice 3 was next on the agenda, so we went to look for our seats. When we found them, we couldn't believe our luck. The view doesn't get much better than this.

Just goes to show that, like Singapore, early booking reaps rewards.

The break between FP3 and Qualifying gave us a chance to buy some food. This wasn't Singapore, where there were dozens of different well-known establishments selling food inside the venue. Here, the options were much more limited: 1 type of burger, 2 types of hotdogs, 2 types of satay, and fish & chips. The taste left much to be desired, but it filled our tummies just fine.

Qualifying saw the same big names from Australia go for pole. It was a bit sad to see a lot of empty seats - there was no one to our left, right or front.

But there were bigger things to consider; we were on tenterhooks due to the possibility of rain - which never came. After Button seized pole, it was time to go home. We decided to take the circuit bus back to the front of the circuit. It was a big mistake.

First, there was no line to get on the bus - it was every man for himself. The bus driver also got mad for some reason we couldn't understand. He got so mad, he decided to just pick up sticks and leave - even if his bus wasn't full yet. He took the bus round the back of the circuit, which we didn't expect - it was different from what happened on Friday.

The traffic was bad at the back of the circuit. And just to make things worse, the heavens opened.

At this point, Sepang's organization just went belly-up. When we got out of the circuit bus, there were just a few, small, leaky tents to protect people from the monsoon. We even lost contact with our friends due to the chaos in the tents. Eventually, we saw them crossing the highway back to the shuttle bus. We followed them - and duly got wet. The highway crossing wasn't covered, so everyone who wanted to get out of the circuit got drenched.

Eventually, we got in line for the shuttle bus. There were tents provided for the queue, but the organizers didn't want to use them, leaving us outside the tents in the rain. Common sense eventually prevailed and they let us in. But we saw why they didn't want us to at first: the grass underneath the tent had turned to mud. Some foreigners took the opportunity to get photographed barefoot on the mud. We braved the mud and got on the bus eventually. The rest of the trip was uneventful, but I got home completely exhausted. Sleep came quickly.

SUNDAY: We knew that we were in for an awesome race. We took an early lunch, then got on the train to Sepang - and duly ran into a deluge. It was nice to see the British weather making an appearance in a Commonwealth country.

This was noon, remember, so the rain was earlier than usual. My initial thought was that the rain came too early - with the heavens having opened already, we were probably going to get little to no rain for the race.

The rain finally stopped when we got off the shuttle bus outside the circuit. We managed to get to our seats relatively dry - even if we had to avoid a lot of puddles. Now back in our seats, we were in for a bit of luck again. There were leaks of rainwater falling on the seats to our front and right. As it was, we were safe and dry - for the moment, anyway.

The rain delayed the GP2 Asia and Formula BMW Pacific races. It forced the organizers to compress the schedule a bit - which they did well, as the drivers parade still started on time. We got the less extravagant 'one-bus-fits-all' option. My dad asked how one bus could be a parade, and he had a point there. We also saw Lewis chatting with Felipe. One must wonder what they were talking about...

While the drivers were making their way round the circuit, the starting grid presentation began. Everyone took pictures of the performers - until the drivers got back to the front straight. At which point, everyone looked away from them and started taking pictures of the drivers again. Thankfully, the presentation wasn't done yet after the drivers went back into the paddock. It would've been a bit embarrassing for the performers if they finished without us looking.

It's nice to see the grid forming up live - I saw some great people, like Ross Brawn, Vijay Mallya, and John Button. I also saw the amazing Martin Brundle and Ted Kravitz having a quick chat before Martin's gridwalk - must be comparing notes or something. And I also saw this guy in red:

Yes, my favourite and Mr C's sworn enemy was on the grid - and for quite a while too. He had a good long look at Brawn's trick diffuser as well, trying to figure it out himself. This picture was taken as he was watching the cars go off on their formation lap.

The excitement in the crowd was amazing as the race got under way. Nico's start was unbelievable - he was already alongside Button within 10 yards of the line. We were stunned - and then we got even more stunned as Kubica wheezed his way off the line. Kubica's eventual retirement came as no surprise after that start.

As the race settled down somewhat, the Kangaroo TV helped us keep track of who to watch for as they entered the front straight. Those we had to keep an eye on a lot were Webber (who was either passing others or being passed), Alonso (who was racy even with an ear infection) and Hamilton. But again, we were on tenterhooks - would it rain?

It took forever, but when the heavens opened, everyone got soaked - even us! The rain had a certain charm to it though - the cars looked beautiful throwing up spray (a shame I never got to take a shot of that). The water leaking through the stands, as well as the fading light gave this shot an artistic feel to it.

As the race got red-flagged, we all wondered: would it get restarted, even if only under a Safety Car to get to the 3/4ths distance? The rain never wavered, and time was running out. By 6:30 PM, there was no sign of the race resuming - and by that point, I doubted we'd still see a restart.

To pass the time, FOM treated us to Kimi getting an ice cream and some cola, as well as some Europeans sliding down the hillside. It made us in the stands cheer them on, but it didn't make a restart any more likely.

True enough, the race was finally called off at 6:50 PM. No chequered flag for us, unfortunately, but we did get these money shots - in the dark:

And it's not only Michael and Stefano who get intimate:

They soon left the podium, and just like that, it was done.

So what if the race just lasted for an hour and change? This weekend had excitement stamped all over it - it even beat Singapore in terms of action. But the organization left a lot to be desired - we had to go through even more mud just to get home on Sunday night.

Sepang has the basic elements to create a good race - solid layout, changeable weather, long straights. But for a Tilke-drome and, in the words of Eddie Jordan, a 'circuit for the new millennium', it lacks a lot of basic features - like a covered walk and a proper bus shed. How can it expect to properly host an F1 race without these structures? For a place that sees a lot of rain, you'd have hoped they'd thought of that already. And it's in this aspect where Singapore is miles ahead, even if they've only hosted one race.

Would I recommend this race as one to watch in person? Absolutely - it's one of the cheapest races on the calendar, and we had tons of fun. But for the organizers, there is definitely lots of room for improvement.