Its a beautiful game....
The final whistle of the tournament sounds, and Spain, in its first World Cup final, claims its first World Cup title.Thanks to late goal by Andres Iniesta.
For Spain, the road to the World Cup title in South Africa wasn't paved with gold, as many expected. Spain lost its first game, against Switzerland, 1-0, and marched through the knockout round with four straight 1-0 victories. In all of those games, Spain waited until the second half to break the deadlock. Today, Iniesta scored in the 116th minute, the latest a winner has been scored in the history of the tournament.
The Netherlands were booked nine times, including a red card for Heitinga seven minutes before Iniesta's goal. The Netherlands tried to stunt the Spanish attack by fouling, again and again and again, and almost succeeded in snatching a win on multiple occasions. But bad luck and some nervous finishing helped hand the Dutch their first loss since Fall 2008. In three World Cup finals, the Netherlands has lost three times -- and has now lost twice in extra time.
Spain bungled its share of chances also. But it finally put the ball in the net with penalty kicks looming around the corner. The goal began with Torres on the left wing. The striker lobbed the ball towards Iniesta in the box, but it was under-hit and Van der Vaart headed it away. However, the ball fell right to Fabregas at the top of the box. The midfielder, who was active after coming on as a sub in the 87th minute, passed to Iniesta. Van der Vaart couldn't get back to the midfielder in time, and Iniesta volleyed past Stekelenberg, who had been brilliant today but only managed to get his hand on the ball as it sailed past him and into the Spanish soccer history books.
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