World Cup: Germany vs. Spain: Fernando Torres left out of Spanish starting lineup

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The stage is set at Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban and we are 90 minutes, or perhaps 120, away from finding out whether it will be Germany or Spain which moves on to Sunday’s World Cup final against the Netherlands in Johannesburg.

The starting lineups feature one mild surprise. Spain Coach Vicente del Bosque has opted to leave out-of-form forward Fernando Torres on the bench.

Here are the starting elevens:

Germany: Manuel Neuer, Philipp Lahm, Arne Friedrich, Per Mertesacker, Jerome Boateng, Sami Khedira, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Piotr Trochowski, Mesut Ozil, Lukas Podolski and Miroslav Klose.

Spain: Iker Casillas, Sergio Ramos, Gerard Pique, Carles Puyol, Joan Capdevila, Sergio Busquets, Xabi Alonso, Andres Iniesta, Xavi Hernandez, Pedro Rodriguez, David Villa.

-- Grahame L. Jones in Johannesburg, South Africa