Y Viva Espa̱a РSpain are World Champions

Spain became the first European country ever to win sport’s biggest prize outside Europe when they beat the Netherlands 1-0 in a tense and tousy World Cup final in South Africa. Andres Iniesta scored the only goal in the second half of extra time to give Spain the only and decisive goal despite Dutch goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg managing to get a hand to the ball. The match stood at 0-0 after ninety minutes with the number of yellow cards dished out by referee Howard Webb, attracting more comment than anything else. Spain took five overall and the Netherland’s nine, including two for Jonny Heitinga who was dismissed for the second, administered when Andres Iniesta took one of several theatrical dives in the 109th minute.

The Dutch probably had the better of the goal chances with Arjen Robben being foiled twice by Iker Casillas, despite his legitimate claim on one occasion, that Spain centre back Carlos Puyol had hauled him back when through on goal. Casillas made saves with both hand and foot to deny a Dutch side who struggled to cope with some world class Spanish marking and defending.

Match report and photos here