Spain Beat Netherlands in World Cup Final

Finally Spain are the champions of the World. Andres Iniesta fired home a shot near the penalty area in extra time, beating Netherlands goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg to hand Spain their first World Cup final victory and end decades of disappointment.

Always a favorite but never a winner in the world’s foremost football stage, Spain now join West Germany and France as the only countries to hold both the World Cup and European Championship titles at the same time. Spain are the reigning European champions following their victory in 2008.

The match, which was held at Soccer City in Johannesburg, was very tight and physical that sometimes went ugly. It was so physical that 14 yellow cards were handed out with the Dutch team finishing with only ten players. The end for the Netherlands came in the 116th minute inside injury time, when Cesc Fabregas passed to Iniesta, who broke free from the defense to send the shot that broke the hearts of the mostly Oranje fans inside the chilling stadium.

“When I struck it, it just had to go in,” said Iniesta of the goal that end Spain’s dubious distinction as the country with the most World Cup victories without winning the title. That distinction now belongs to the Netherlands, who lost their third final following defeats in the 1974 and 1978 editions of the World Cup.