Andres Iniesta struck a dramatic winner late in extra time to give Spain World Cup glory for the first time but condemned the Netherlands to their third defeat in a final.
Euro 2008 champions Spain deserved their victory after eventually controlling a tense and bad-tempered contest that produced 14 yellow cards with Johnny Heitinga sent off on 109 minutes after picking up a second yellow card
Netherlands 0-1 Spain (aet)
World Cup 2010: Dutch tactics upset Johan Cruyff
Monday's World Cup round-up
And so we reached the disappointing end of a somewhat disappointing World Cup. As football spectacles go, Sunday's final was a complete anti-climax, littered with some bad fouls. The cynical, one-dimensional Dutch received nine yellow cards, and one of their players saw red (Heitinga). Ultimately though, the Dutch got exactly what they deserved for their tactics, and for them to complain about referee Howard Webb, when De Jong and Van Bommel could have been sent off along with Heitinga is laughable. No wonder the great Johan Cruyff described Netherlands' display as "anti-football".
Looking back, to me the saddest thing about World Cup 2010, is that the antics of Paul the octopus (who pulled off a betting coup any racing tipster would envy – eight correct results), was more entertaining than a lot of the matches on offer. But well done to South Africa for proving their doubters wrong by staging a well-run tournament, and viva España!
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