by Michael Fletcher

Created on: July 12, 2010   Last Updated: July 13, 2010

Spain versus the Netherlands, a meeting of the the two best football playing nations never to have lifted the world cup trophy. With the kickoff approaching the look of expectation was plain to see on the faces of the players. This was going to be special night for one of these groups of 23 players.

On a chilly night in Johannesburg not 20 kilometers from my home, Spain and the Netherlands slugged it out at the culmination of world football. Mere words cannot explain what the world cup final means for a footballer. Playing in the world cup is the ultimate honour a footballer can achieve, if a player is lucky he may get to do it twice, perhaps thrice in his playing career. For many a trip to the world cup is but a dream.

The Netherlands were looking to make history. Victory in the final would make this Dutch side the first in history to have won every game from the qualifying through to the final. Spain were chasing their own little piece of, albeit less impressive, history by becoming the first side in the history of the world cup to win the World cup after losing their first game of the tournament.

This was never going to be a silky spectacle of football. World cup finals are rarely free flowing affairs. With the weight of your nations hopes on your shoulders, it's tough to step aside of your nerves and truly express yourself. Spain with it's supremely experienced team of European champions league winners then, were not surprisingly the less fazed in the opening exchanges, trying desperately to get their mesmerizing passing game working. The Dutch however had no intention of making the same mistakes the Germans made. They seemed resigned to the fact that they could not outplay the Spanish and set about a physical assault on the Spanish play-makers that would have been equally at home on a rugby or NFL field.

Howard Webb has received a lot of criticism for the 14 yellow cards and one red card that he produced in this match, however on looking back at the calls he made with the possible exception of one or two which were borderline they were good calls. In fact If anything  I think, had Howard Webb sent Sneijder off for one of his many overlooked offences in the first half he may have had a lower total card count. As it was on the day the Dutch walked a tight rope putting their foot into every tackle and at one point Xabi Alonso's chest too for good measure.

On the balance of play Spain deserved their win against a Netherlands side that showed up to assert themselves physically. The Netherlands will feel hard done by for missing out on gilt edged chances to win the game against the run of play when Arjen Robben got free of the last man on two occasions and failed to beat the goalkeeper one on one.

In the end neither side managed to break the deadlock in 90 minutes, in which the football field resembled a battlefield rather than a footballing theater for large periods of the match. Iniesta redeemed himself for a world cup in which he was workmanlike without ever coming to the boil, when he swept the ball into the back of the net when the prone Rafael van der Vaart played him onside when the ball broke to him on the far post.

In the end the Spanish were probably the best team in a tournament that will not be remembered for it's technical brilliance but rather for big upsets from workman-like teams. This was a world cup final that was cagey and kept the tensions running high throughout. All in all this was by no means a classic but in the end the Spanish did enough to become only the second reigning European Champions to become World Champions.

Learn more about this author, Michael Fletcher.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.