Après Match | Fixtures & Results | In Pictures
That's it from us for the World Cup 2010. Spain have won their first ever title. They add the title to their European crown of two years ago.
Will the tournament be remembered for a great Spanish team? The final certainly was not a memorable affair. A hard working, but far from attractive Dutch team designed to win has fallen short at the last hurdle.
The ball, it's safe to say, had an effect on the quality of play throughout the tournament. Best team? Germany, up until the semi-final. But bad refereeing and goals that shouldn't have been will reside long in the memory.
Hopefully we can remember the good things - Xavi & Iniesta's midfield skill, Villa's goals, Uruguay and Germany lighting up the pitch, Van Bronckhorst's goal as opposed to all the negative stuff.
Congratulations Spain, champions of the world.
Result It's all over. Spain are the World Champions after a late, late winner from Andres Iniesta taking advantage of a tired, stretched Dutch defence.
120+1 mins Torres chases down a long clearance and his hamstring goes. He's on the deck and his game is over.
119 mins That looks like being that for the World Cup final. Two minutes of injury time for Holland to hurl everything at Spain.
117 mins Iniesta blasts it home from the right side. The game is stretched and Spain drove forward from deep in their half, Holland had a couple of chances to clear, but their tired legs only deflected the ball into Spaniards' paths. Fabregas collects from such a deflection at the edge of the area, slides it through to Iniesta on the right side, he has loads of space and he powers it into the net past the advancing keeper.
GOAL FOR SPAIN
115 mins Elia is hauled down 40 yards out in front of goal and Sneijder will try to win it - clearly deflected out for a corner off the wall. But a goal kick is given.
114 mins Controversy - Robben plays on after being blown up for offside and kicks the ball away. He's already been booked, but is only warned by Howard Webb. That's fair enough, that's common sense from Webb.
112 mins Van der Wiel sees yellow for tripping - or not tripping as replays show - Iniesta down the left. Free in is punched clear by the keeper and Navas attempts a wildly ambitious shot that finds row ZZ.
110 mins Xavi sends it too high again. Now the heat is on Holland even more - can they hold out for 10 minutes?
109 mins Johnny Heitinga sees his seoncd yellow for hauling back Iniesta as the little Barca midfielder broke through behind him. Easy call and off he goes. Great shooting chance for Spain at the edge of the area.
RED CARD FOR HOLLAND
105 mins Here he comes, Fernando Torres comes on for David Villa. Strange call.
Half time in extra time Exciting 15 minutes, chances at both ends there, but Spain are knocking loudest. Robben is still Holland's best - only - threat down the right, but the Dutch defence is looking pretty tired and Navas and Fabregas are showing them up.
105 mins Edson Braahheid comes on for Gio Van Bronckhorst. He must also be good at penos. Also Gio is pretty old.
104 mins Driving run from the fresh Fabregas leaves several Dutch players in his wake and he slides to shoot at the far post, but it slips by the upright.
102 mins Big, gaping holes appearing at the back for Holland. Navas receives out right, takes on Van Bronckhorst and fires a shot through his legs - it ripples the side netting. They're knocking pretty hard now, Holland will do well to hold out.
100 mins Roles reversed this time as Fabregas plays Iniesta into acres of space behind a tiring Dutch defence. He's one-on-one, but Van Bronckhorst nips across and makes a sensational tackle to save Holland. De Jong is subbed off, van der Vaart - who plays for Real Madrid - is on. Exciting extra time.
96 mins Terrific ball from Iniesta through to Fabregas beats the offside trap and he's one-on-one. Stekelenburg comes out big and blocks with his leg. Great save. Down the other end, corner for Holland and Mathijsen rises well, connects, but his header is just over the bar.
94 mins Penalty shout for Spain - ball breaks loose in the box for Xavi to hit and Heitinga steps in and blocks the swinging leg. Play continues and Villa has a shot that zips wide of the post, so no pen. Corner is dealt with. Tough call - would have been a really great spot by the ref, but a very harsh way to decide a World Cup final.
91 mins We're off in extra time and Robben still has juice in the legs, sprinting away down the right, but he's dispossessed by a team of three Spaniards.
Full time whistle We're heading to another 30 minutes. Holland still knocking with the breakaway, but Spain had a couple of amazing chances from corners and are holding possession better. It's a much more even game. One would think that Holland's toil without the ball will start to tell as we continue. But it really is anyone's game to win.
90+2 mins Holland still working really hard at closing Spain down. Will their efforts take their toll in the extra half-hour?
89 mins Sneijder's sweet inside pass finds van Persie in behind the back four, but he's drifted offside. Looks like we're heading for 30 more minutes of World Cup final. He said, tempting fate.
86 mins Cesc Fabregas is introduced for Xabi Alonso. Can he unlock the Dutch defence? He's also good at penalties...
84 mins Speaking of breakaway - Robben skins the retreating Puyol and tries to go around Casillas this time, but the keeper goes to ground and gathers well. Great save. Robben is booked for protesting for a peno too much - never a pen, great save at Robben's feet.
82 mins Into the final minutes now - one goal should be enough. Spain have much more possession and Holland are retreating. They can't get a foot on the ball and probably need extra time, or a breakaway goal.
78 mins Sitter missed by Ramos. Corner swung in finds the totally unmarked Ramos on the six yard line and he gets under the header to send it over the bar. Dreadful miss.
76 mins Difficult opportunity for Villa on the far post - Navas sends it over to him and Villa's attempt at a really diffcult first time volley is skied over the bar. The striker is working hard to open space now - he receives from Iniesta and has a shooting chance, but van der Wiel slides in to block.
74 mins Villa has a crack at the top right corner, but it's high and wide.
73 mins Iniesta is caught by Heitinga and 25 yards out, left side, Spain have another good shooting chance.
72 mins Elia comes off the bench for Holland, the tireless Dirk Kuyt is, perhaps, tired, as he is called ashore.
71 mins Unbeliveable stop. Low cross in from the impressive Navas is swiped at by Heitinga, but he only succeeds in knocking it to the lurking Villa. The striker controls it and from inside the six yard box on the right, he must score. But Heitinga swings out a despairing leg while lying on the ground to block.
69 mins The game is opening up and the pace is hotting up. End to end stuff is being let down by poor final balls, but it's a much more entertaining and exciting game. Probably because almost everyone's been booked.
67 mins Capdevila the latest name to go into the book as he trips van Persie who was clear down the right otherwise. The free is cleared by the first man.
65 mins Spain display some regal skills as they build up some pressure and mount a sustained examination of the Dutch defence from both wings. Down the right, Jesus Navas struts his stuff and nimble feet to get away from the already booked Van Bronckhorst twice.
63 mins Sensational chance. Wonderful through ball from Sneijder finds Robben in behind the back four. He's one-on-one with Casillas, but the Real Madrid keeper slides out and gets a vital leg to the ball to stop a certain goal. Great save.
61 mins Kuyt receives wide left and a solid delivery finds the head of van Persie, but his header is over the bar after Puyol leaps into him to put him off.
60 mins Jesus Navas comes on for Spain, Pedro takes a seat.
59 mins Lovely outswinging ball in from Robben finds Heitinga advancing and his header is low and just wide of the post. He is, however, flagged for offside.
57 mins Heitinga booked now - that's five Dutch players. Lazy late leg, but Villa was writhing around in agony like he'd had his leg hacked off. He is, of course, fine now. Your preferred form of cheating? Fouling or diving? Such is our menu this evening.
55 mins Xavi tries a curler to the near post top corner, but it's always going over.
54 mins Van Bronckhorst booked there for hauling back Ramos as he tried to burst through following a one-two. Good shooting chance for Spain, 25 yards out, right side.
52 mins Robben drifts inside again and has a crack at the near post, but it's never really troubling Casillas. Good start to the second half by the Dutch.
50 mins Nice play from Holland. Van Bommel strides out of defence, two touches and van der Wiel is free down the right. One-two with van Persie and he's through to the byeline - great cross in across the face, but no other Dutch player had made the effort to get into the box. Lovely move up the pitch though.
48 mins Puyol nods on the corner and it falls practically onto the foot of Capdevila four yards out - he misses it completely. That was goal time.
47 mins Villa looks hungry for the ball - he receives it on the right and earns a corner off Van Bronckhorst.
46 mins We're back underway and both sides exhibit some sweet control and are playing it on the deck to start things off, but a wayward final ball lets down both sides.
2025 Liam reckons Van Bommel and De Jong are both lucky to be on the pitch. The panel are lambasting the Dutch fouling as a 'horror show'. Liam calls it 'brutality.' They're all dumping on the ref for not being firm enough and bottling it, not wanting to send someone off in the final. If the Dutch continue the way they are, their entire complement of players will not stay on the field.
Half time Disjointed, scrappy, no flow, etc, etc. Spain began on top and looked in control, but - at the cost of a few yellow cards - the Dutch interrupted the Spanish flow and have worked hard to drag Spain down to their level. Unfortunately, the game is, subsequently, pants. But the Dutch don't care - they're Phil Lynott.
45 mins Long ball to the back post finds Heitinga, who nods it across the box. Puyol clears, but it breaks to Robben who finds the gap in a crowd and tests Casillas low and to his right. One save by each keeper is the extent of the chances so far.
42 mins Another kung-fu move by Holland, Sneijder this time as he plants Busquets on the knee studs up. This time it looks fairly accidental. Xabi Alonso has a crack at a Roberto Carlos from 40 yards out, but it whistles a fair bit wide of the upright.
38 mins Holland's stars Robben and Sneijder both have a go at Capdevila down the right. Clever corner finds Van Bommel at the edge of the box, he lays it off far post to Mathijsen, who has a clear shot at goal six yards out, but miskicks completely. Missed chance.
35 mins Casillas climbs high to claim a long ball and almost knocks out Puyol with his knees. Then, amazingly, Casillas put it out of play for treatment, Heitinga chips it back and the ball bounces over Casillas and only narrowly misses the goal! It's a Dutch corner as the keeper touched it, but fair play to fair play - Van Persie plays it to Casillas from the corner. Along the deck this time.
31 mins Well scrappy business out there now - Spain have been - from the Dutch perspective - successfully disrupted by an extrememly hard-working Dutch outfit. Trouble is, they can't build any decent possession themselves.
28 mins De Jong gets a yellow card for literally kicking Alonso in the chest. That was a kung-fu McAteer special and could have been red. I seriously, seriously doubt that all 22 players will finish this game out.
24 mins Straight away, Sergio Ramos slides in late on Kuyt and he sees yellow. It's not a dirty game, mind, but challenges are flying in. The initial Spanish dominance has receded somewhat and the scrappy nature of the game will suit the Dutch.
22 mins Van Bommel gets his booking as he scythes down Iniesta with a legs and all challenge. Deserved. No leeway for the Bayern player today.
20 mins Robben gets his first run in at Capdevila, but Alonso comes across to help out and it's a corner to the Dutch. It's cleared easily. That could be fruitful for the Dutch though.
17 mins Sneijder tries a free from 35 yards out on the wing and it's straight down the throat of Casillas.
15 mins Van Persie is booked for a clumsy slide tackle, but there's no contact and Capdevila is rolling around and screaming like a baby. It's embarrassing stuff and he's gotten the Arsenal striker booked. Lot of talk about how the Dutch foul too much and how Spain play beautiful football. The Spanish team has more than a few diving cheats in it. Speaking of which - Arjen Robben goes down hard after a Puyol tackle. The Barca defender is booked and he did catch the winger on the ankle. Hard.
13 mins Too easy for Spain - it's moved wide to Ramos as the Dutch are stretched - he's one-on-one with Kuyt and he ghosts past him and blasts it across the face, but Heitinga clears over the bar. From the corner, it's clipped to the far post, where an unmarked Villa tees up a volley, but finds only the side netting.
11 mins Spain also putting the Dutch players under pressure deep into their own half and the difference at the moment is that Spain are handling the pressure comfortably, whereas the Dutch are coughing up possession straight away. Spain on top.
10 mins Xavi lobs one over the top and Villa beats the offside trap, but the ball runs away from him and into the grateful Stekelenburg's hands. That's a goal waiting to happen.
9 mins Busquets inexplicably lets the ball run on in front of his box and Kuyt is there to intercept - he tries a snapshot, but it's a piddler and Casillas gathers easily.
7 mins All Spain so far and Villa has been caught offside - just - twice already as he tries to beat a high Dutch offside line. Very, very dogdy policy by the Dutch defence.
5 mins Free on the right wing for Spain after Sergio Ramos dives. He goes into the centre and Xavi's cross is met with a great diving header by Ramos - it's on target, but Stekelenburg gets down early to pull off a great save on his right. Great chance, great save.
3 mins A couple of Spanish players on the deck already appealing in vain for frees as the Dutch press high, early and hard. But Spain have all of the ball.
1 min We're underway. And straight away, things are true to form - a late boot from van Persie gives Sergio Busquets a chance to do what he does best - fall on the ground and roll around like a child. Of course he's up and fine seconds later.
1928 All hugely civilised and polite as both teams shake hands, exchange those little pennant thingys and get ready for the biggest game of their lives. Even the two royal families in the stands embrace. It won't last.
1925 Teams on the pitch, anthems blaring, atmosphere electric - THE WORLD CUP FINAL! HAVE IT!
1923 Some random punter has just legged it onto the pitch and tried to swipe the World Cup trophy, which stands on a podium in the centre of the pitch. He has - off screen - been 'dealt with' accordingly. Cheeky devil.
1920 Predictions are in - Eamon and John have plumped for a narrow Spain win, while Liam has gone for the 'experienced, united' Dutch side. Ten minutes until kick-off. It is on.
1915 Two key areas identified by the panel - can Van Bommel and de Jong work hard enough to disrupt Xavi and Iniesta's midfield play? And just as importantly, will referee Howard Webb punish them for their consistent infringements? Eamon points out that Mr. Webb booked Van Bommel in the Champions League final this year, which he also reffed. He's FIFA's current go-to guy alright.
1910 Eamon - ignoring the previous comment of overpraising Spain - declares that Xavi will go down in history as one of the greatest midfielders ever to play the game. 'He's like John and Liam, he's in the same class.'
1905 Eamon goes against the bookies - Spain are not heavy favourites according to himself, and the entire panel predict an extremely close game. They decry the media for heaping too much praise on Spain in the aftermath of the German semi and reckon the confident, physical Dutch side will put it up to them.
1900 The panel is in harness and ready to talk some jive. Their bete noire Van Bommel is immediately trawled through the mud for his fouling, while Dunphy lays into the Spanish back four with his customary vigour.
1850 Let's have a look at the odds - Spain are 11/10 to win, and you can have the Netherlands at 3/1 to claim their first World Cup crown. But all of that is almost irrelevant - Paul the octopus (seven out of seven correct so far) has predicted a win for Spain. On the Beeb there, Kofi Annan just referenced him as the expert in the field. Which is somewhat surreal.
1835 Looking again at the teams below, van der Wiel and de Jong are back in for Holland, with Khalid Boulahrouz and Demy de Zeeuw making way. Good news from them - Boulahrouz is a walking red card/penalty, while de Zeeuw probably still hasn't recovered from his almighty kick in the face in the semi.
For Spain, the big news is that Pedro is preferred to Torres, and Fabregas remains rooted to the bench. The Torres call is no big surprise - but what about Llorente, who was ace when he came on earlier in the tournament?
Regardless of these minor details, Spain are heavily favoured to pass the Dutch out of it. I reckon that Van Bommel and de Jong will get right up in their grill and I also think that their inexplicable luck in not getting booked for hacking players down will run out under the shiny bald gaze of England's Howard Webb. But if Spain fail to convert possession into goals, then Sneijder and Robben can conjure up goals out of thin air. It's on!
1825 Just over an hour until kick in the World Cup final - get in. Nelson Mandela, 91 years of age, has just stepped out onto the pitch at Soccer City and waves to the rapturous crowd. It's getting closer.
1820 The teams are in, and Fernando Torres is not in the starting XI:
Netherlands: 1-Maarten Stekelenburg; 2-Gregory van der Wiel, 3-John Heitinga, 4-Joris Mathijsen, 5-Giovanni van Bronckhorst; 7-Dirk Kuyt, 6-Mark van Bommel, 10-Wesley Sneijder, 8-Nigel de Jong, 11-Arjen Robben; 9-Robin van Persie.
Spain: 1-Iker Casillas; 15-Sergio Ramos, 3-Gerard Pique, 5-Carles Puyol, 11-Joan Capdevila; 14-Xabi Alonso, 8-Xavi, 6-Andres Iniesta, 16-Sergio Busquets; 18-Pedro, 7-David Villa.
Referee: Howard Webb (England)
1810 After the game tonight, the Golden Ball will also be awarded to the player of the tournament. The nominees for this honour are: Andres Iniesta, Xavi and David Villa from Spain, Wesley Sneijder and Arjen Robben from the Netherlands, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Mesut Ozil of Germany, Uruguay's Diego Forlan and Ghana's Asamoah Gyan. The list of previous winners gives you an idea as to how prestigious this award is: Ferenc Puskas, Garrincha, Bobby Charlton, Pele, Cruyff, Kempes, Maradona, Zidane and...Toto Schillaci.
1750 You'll have the teams as soon as they come out, but they're still a mystery to all of us at the minute. Will Torres start? Pedro did pretty well against Germany - until the most selfish bit of play in the World Cup (so far). The Dutch welcome back Nigel de Jong and Gregory van der Wiel, who looks pretty slick. One of the recurring 'battles' that keeps cropping up in all of the reports that I've read today - Robben running at perceived defensive weakness Capdevilla. The Bayern winger certainly ate up and spat out Uruguayan left back Caceres in the semi. Of course he has to get the ball off Spain first.
1730 News coming in from the Netherlands - Amsterdam is full! Officials in the Dutch capital have urged people to stay out as over 100,000 people have already gathered in the main city square (Museumplein) to watch the final. Yowch. No such news from Spain, which is much bigger anyway.
1710 Before today, the Netherlands and Spain have never met in a European Championship or World Cup. Which is downright odd, as more often than not they've both been there. They've only ever played nine times, with four wins each and one draw. The last two encounters were won by the Dutch, but they were friendlies back in 2000 and 2002, with Frank de Boer scoring the winner in both ties.
More importantly than all of that rhubarb is that the Dutch are one win away from doing something no one has done since The Greatest Team Ever (tm) - Brazil's 1970 incarnation. This Netherlands side have won - not drawn, won - every single one of their qualifying games and every single one of their World Cup games. Brazil '70 did that and won the final. Can Holland 2010 match that incredible feat?
1650 Some quotes from the players: Andres Iniesta comes over all poetic: 'This is a historic event, a unique opportunity for us all. It makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up just thinking about it. We have all dreamed of this moment. But we have to finish the dream. We cannot celebrate anything yet. Before us is the challenge of winning a World Cup. We are cautious because we know that we still have the last step, and that last step is the most difficult and the most beautiful.' Hmm.
Meanwhile, Dutch skipper and scorer of the goal of the tournament (so far) Giovanni van Bronckhorst is keeping that infamous Dutch arrogance in check: 'It is our tournament. I have sometimes had the feeling that we cannot lose. We have not always played very well, but we have scored at pivotal moments. We have so often gone so close to a title that it would be nice to finish with a smile one day.' He believes.
1630 It's as big as it gets today folks - a worldwide television audience of more than 700 million and a bit less than that following along here with us online. Sunday's final is a first for Spain and a third for the Dutch, who were runners up in 1974 and 1978. Who do you think will emerge victorious later this evening? Predictions into sportonline@rte.ie please. Although it's a bit clogged at the moment after the Louth-Meath fiasco.
1600 Welcome one and all to the Big Day. The World Cup Final. Today, for the first time in a long time, a new name will be etched on the famous trophy as either Spain or the Netherlands claim the biggest prize in world sport for the very first time. Stay with us throughout the day as we build up to kick off, which is at 7.30pm Irish time.
SPA
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