It was not a classic final by any means, but it was dramatic and in the end it was decided by the slimmest of margins.
Whether it was a matter of both teams trying to assert themselves or pure nerves, Sunday’s final was not the kind of soccer you would expect of two nations known for playing beautiful, fluid football.
Instead it was a scrappy, testy match where neither team had space to produce mesmerizing soccer due to smothering defending and, at times, punishing tackles.
Referee Howard Webb was arguably the busiest man on the pitch, handing out a finals-record 13 yellow cards (eight to the Netherlands and five to Spain), which was not really a surprise considering how many fouls were committed during the course of the game (28 fouls for the Netherlands to 19 for Spain).
After years of underachieving on soccer’s biggest stage, the wait is finally over for Spain. La Furia Roja finally join the brotherhood of World Cup winners alongside Argentina, Brazil, England, France, Germany, Italy and Uruguay as countries to have raised the storied golden trophy.
Spain becomes the first nation since West Germany in 1974 to hold both the European championship and World Cup title simultaneously.
The Netherlands leave the tournament as runners-up for the third time, joining the great 1974 and 1978 sides as World Cup bridesmaids.
With the Netherlands down to 10 men after stalwart fullback John Heitinga collected his second yellow card of the match, Spain poured the pressure on. The Dutch defence couldn’t clear a cross from substitute Fernando Torres at the top of the 18-yard box and the ball popped out to Cesc Fàbregas. He deftly slipped the ball thought to Iniesta, who fired a strike past the outstretched fingertips of goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg.
Iniesta not only scored the winning goal, but he was the engine in the Spanish midfield. As he has been all tournament, the Barcelona star was displaying his supreme skill, spraying beautiful passes to his teammates and aggravating opponents with his quick footwork.
Photo: Netherlands’ Dirk Kuyt, right, battles for the ball with Spain’s Sergio Ramos, left, during the FIFA World Cup final Sunday at Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg. Spain won the match 1-0 in extra time.
Credit: cbc.ca
Comments