Spain wins World Cup final 2010

Spain wins the World Cup, finally claiming a place among the elite of world soccer after beating the Netherlands by a single goal deep in extra-time to lift a first World Cup trophy to go with their European Championship trophy of two years ago.

The victory confirms them as the best team in the world in recent times, but in truth, they rarely touched the heights this month and today there was no repeat of the second half charge against Germany in the semifinal. The passing was not as slick and there was little of the authority that we have become accustomed to with Spain.

They become the lowest scoring champions in the competition’s history following four 1-0 victories during their progress through a tournament that only flickered into life and fell far short of what the football hype machine promised.

The man who won it for them was the best player on the field, Barcelona’s Andres Iniesta. He more than anyone else constantly sought the ball and, amid the rush, had the presence of mind to take up intelligent positions in space.

He had wasted two good chances before, but with just four minutes of extra time left, he was once again free, this time on the edge of the Dutch box, where Cesc Fabregas slipped him the ball. His first touch saw it spin up and then the midfielder hammered it past the excellent Dutch goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg to finally break the deadlock.