It took 116 minutes and 19 shots, but after a poor Fernando Torres cross was deflected away by Rafael van der Vaart, the ball fell to substitute Cesc Fabregas, who spotted an open Andres Iniesta to his right. Iniesta took one touch forward, allowing the ball to bounce into the air and then hit it past Maarten Stekelenburg inside the far post. Spain 1, Netherlands 0.
Paul the Octopus was right.
El Furia Roja was the better team, outpossessing the world's second-most masterful purveyors of possession style soccer by 57 percent to 43 percetn, but Spain surely needed some luck. In truth, the Dutch had the best chances to win the game in normal time, as Holland's star winger Arjen Robben twice found himself with the ball and only goalkeeper Iker Casillas to beat. He couldn't beat him.
While neither team really looked fluid on offense, the game featured a huge number of missed scoring opportunities: breakaways, wide open headers and miskicked shots. The game also featured a huge number of yellow cards, 14 in total. Every Dutch outfield starter except for Wesley Sneijder and Dirk Kuyt was awarded one, but the second yellow card to Johnny Heitinga, given in the 109th minute on a relatively soft challenge to Iniesta that hypothetically prevented a breakaway, was the game changer. The man-down Dutch had to hold out for 11 more minutes to make it to penalty kicks. They couldn't.
In truth, the vast majority of the 14 yellow cards given by English referee Howard Webb were deserved, as the Dutch chose to play rough in order to neutralize Spanish finesse, and the Spanish did much the same when the Dutch had the ball. The players were almost too good to be defended any other way.
The game was not what people would call "beautiful." It was even difficult to watch at times because of all the fouling and lack of flow, but it was surely tense and gripping. Spain came out of the gates as the better side, requiring Stekelenburg to make amazing saves to keep the score 0-0 in the opening parts of the game, but Holland fought its way back into the game in the latter portions of the first half.
If the Dutch were to win the game, it likely would have occurred in the second half, as they repeatedly let scoring chances slip through their fingers. Just as in 1974 and 1978, Holland came as close as you can get, but remains the greatest soccer nation to never be world champions.
Only eight teams can claim that title: Uruguay, Brazil, Argentina, Italy, England, France, Germany and now Spain.
Spain is the only champion to ever have lost its opening match, and the Spanish often looked nervous and unimpressive in their run to the championship, but you can rest assured that they only care about one word in those statements.
Champion.
