Sunday, 11th July 2010
Spain Winiesta
Holland vs Spain
in Jo'burg Soccer City
Tonight we would see a new World Cup winner; as neither Holland
nor Spain have won the trophy. For Spain, it's their first World Cup Final; Holland are
hoping it's third time lucky.
Spain started the 2010 World Cup Final looking the more assured and
made the first attempt at goal in the fifth minute; as Maarten Stekelenburg had to dive to
parry away a header from Sergio Ramos and then get up quick to block Pique's attempt to
get the ball across the goal.
Five minutes later, Ramos was at it again; as he slipped past Dirk
Kuyt only to see John Heitinga boot the cross out for a corner.
Then Howard Webb started dealing out the cards: Holland, Spain,
Holland, Spain; four yellow cards within eight minutes.
That spoilt the flow of the game.
The next card could have been a Jack of Diamonds (red) as Nigel de
Jong seemed to plant his studs into 's chest.
Then Spain settled for a moment, by trying to play the ball around.
Holland tried to grab a quick goal just before the break but Iker
Casillas kept them out. Holland van Thuggery were lucky to go in with a full team of
players at half-time.
Half-time: 0:0
So much for a display of football by the best players on the planet;
as Howard Webb continued to blow his whistle for everything but a goal.
Holland's best chance came in the 62nd minute; as Arjen Robben ran on
the Spanish goal and almost waited for Iker Casillas to fall before he shot, but the
Spanish stopper kicked out a foot and sent the ball out for a corner.
Spain came close with twenty minutes left to go as Heitinga stumbled
all over Jesus Navas's low cross and David Villa cursed his luck to miss his chance at the
far post; when Heitinga made a recovery.
Six minutes later, Sergio Ramos headed over the bar and Vicente del
Bosque hid his head in his hands in disbelief.
Holland found a little more movement in the last ten minutes and Iker
Casillas had to be quick to save at Arjen Robben's feet. Robben then turned and ran all
the way up the pitch to chase after Howard Webb; complaining like a baby about an earlier
challenge, and earned a booking for his efforts.
Into Extra Time - with another thirty minutes to avoid penalties.
And it seemed like the teams had saved their best football until the
end. With nine players on yellow cards, they didn't really have much choice but to play
the ball.
A red card just had to happen, the question would be for who? The arm
on Andr�s Iniesta's shoulder belonged to John Heitinga; and he already had his name in
Howard Webb's book. So with a little over 10 minutes of extra-time to play, Holland were
down to ten men.
Spain made the most of that as Cesc Fabregas looked up to see Andr�s
Iniesta back onside then fed in the perfect ball for a perfect finish to a not-so-perfect
World Cup Final.
Howard Webb still had time to deal out a few more yellow cards before
Spain went up to lift the World Cup for the first time in their history.
Final Score:
Holland 0 Spain 1
 Goalscorers:
0:1 Andres Iniesta (116 mins)
Man of The Match:
Andres Iniesta - His crucial goal won the World Cup for the European Champions.
Teams
 Holland:
1 Maarten Stekelenburg; 5 Giovanni Van Bronckhorst, 4 Joris Mathijsen, 3 John Heitinga, 2
Gregory Van Der Wiel; 7 Dirk Kuyt, 8 Nigel de Jong, 6 Mark Van Bommel, 11 Arjen Robben; 9
Robin Van Persie, 10 Wesley Sneijder.
 Spain:
1 Iker Casillas; 11 Joan Capdevila, 5 Carles Puyol, 3 Gerard Piqu�, 15 Sergio Ramos; 6
Andr�s Iniesta, 16 Sergio Busquets, 14 Xabi Alonso, 18 Pedro; 7 David Villa, 8 Xavi.
Referee:
Howard Webb (England)
Substitutions:
60 Mins (Spain) - 22 Jesus Navas on for 18 Pedro
71 Mins (Holland) - 17 Eljero Elia on for 7 Dirk Kuyt
87 Mins (Spain) - 10 Cesc Fabregas on for 14 Xabi Alonso
99 Mins (Holland) - 23 Rafael van der Vaart on for 8 Nigel de Jong
105 Mins (Holland) - 15 Edson Braafheid on for 5 Giovanni Van Bronckhorst
106 Mins - (Spain) - 9 Fernando Torres on for 7 David Villa
 14
Yellow Cards:
15 Mins - Robin Van Persie (Holland)
17 Mins - Carles Puyol (Spain)
22 Mins - Mark Van Bommel (Holland)
23 Mins - Sergio Ramos (Spain)
28 Mins - Nigel de Jong (Holland)
54 Mins - Giovanni Van Bronckhorst (Holland)
56 Mins - John Heitinga (Holland)
67 Mins - Joan Capdevila (Spain)
84 Mins - Arjen Robben (Holland)
109 Mins - John Heitinga (Holland)
111 Mins - Gregory Van Der Wiel (Holland)
117 Mins - Joris Mathijsen (Holland)
117 Mins - Andres Iniesta (Spain)
120 Mins - Xavi (Spain)
 1 Red Card:
109 Mins - John Heitinga (Holland)
Previous Encounters:
Holland and Spain have never met at a World Cup or European Championship.
Holland won their last two friendly matches (1:0) in Rotterdam (March,
2002) and (2:1) in Seville (November, 2000).
2010 World Cup Finals - Knockout Stage.
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