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Spain players celebrate with the World Cup trophy at the end of the World Cup final soccer match between the Netherlands and Spain at Soccer City in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Sunday, July 11, 2010. Spain won 1-0. (AP Photo/Dani Ochoa de Olza)
It took 116 minutes and the goal came from the unlikeliest of sources, but Spain finally claimed their first ever World Cup title thanks to a dramatic late winner from midfielder Andres Iniesta.
Just when the world was steadying itself for only the third ever penalty shoot-out to decide a World Cup final, substitute Cesc Fabregas squared an intelligent ball to an unmarked Iniesta, who responded by lashing the ball past an exposed Maarten Stekelenberg.
“If it goes to penalties, do the Spanish know they can’t pass it to everyone else before they shoot?” was the pithy query from one friend of mine deep into extra-time, but in the end a shoot-out proved unnecessary as the tournament’s best team finally conjured a late winner.
Perhaps it is fitting that Iniesta is the man who will go into the history books, with the Barcelona star enjoying a stellar game in midfield – even if he blew an earlier opportunity in extra-time when he attempted to pass instead of simply shooting on sight.
Yet, for all their possession, the match could have ended so differently for the Spanish had Arjen Robben not been uncharacteristically profligate in front of goal for the Dutch.
Anyone who doubts just how suffocating the pressure of such an occasion can be need only witness Robben’s miss just after the hour mark, when the Bayern Munich man’s blistering pace took him one-on-one with Spain goalkeeper Iker Casillas, only for Robben to hit the legs of Casillas when the entire goal seemed to be at his mercy.
It was just one of several chances wasted by the Dutch throughout, and while coach Bert van Marwijk’s game plan was one of containment, the Netherlands were deserving finalists on the back of an excellent World Cup.
They had two genuine superstars in Robben and fellow midfielder Wesley Sneijder in their midst, but ultimately their twenty-five match unbeaten run came to an end at the worst possible time.
A shoot-out would have left a bitter exclamation mark at the end of a memorable tournament – particularly if Spain had lost – but justice was finally done when Iniesta kept his head where others around him had previously lost theirs.
That’s not to say that the Netherlands didn’t play their part in an engrossing encounter, but on the balance of play it was a deserving victory for the team from the Iberian peninsula.
The tournament leaves us with some quirky end points, not least the fact that Paul the Octopus once again tipped the winner!
It would have been cruel to see the sea-born soothsayer turned into paella following Spain’s narrow semi-final win over Germany, and one wonders if Paul has as bright a future as the rest of the Spanish national team.
Spare a thought for David Villa, who would have finished with the Golden Boot award had he not drilled his group-stage penalty wide of the goal in Spain’s comfortable 2-0 victory over Honduras earlier in the tournament.
Instead he finished equal top scorer with Sneijder, Uruguay’s ace striker Diego Forlan and emerging German star Thomas Müller, all of whom enjoyed outstanding tournaments.
So it’s congratulations to Spain for their deserving World Cup win, as Vicente Del Bosque’s side claimed the World championship crown to add to their European championship title lifted just two years ago.
A hearty salute must also go out to the people of South Africa, who silenced the doubters with a colourful and entertaining World Cup both on and off the pitch.
It was the best team who won it – both on the night and via their form throughout the entire tournament – as Spain conjured a victory for the football romantics.
Influenced by the Dutch school, fortified by Catalunya – but Spain’s victory was a win for the whole country, and they deserve heartfelt congratulations for a wonderful campaign.