Andres Iniesta goal seals first ever World Cup win for Spain
Spain have lifted the World Cup for the first time after a 1-0 win against Netherlands on Sunday night as the 2010 World Cup final was decided after extra-time
Spain dominated the early stages of the game, passing the ball well in midfield and closing Holland down whenever they got the ball. The Dutch defence were also given several early reminders of the treat posed by David Villa as on three occasions in the opening 10 minutes he looked to get in behind the back four.
With Spain getting their full-backs forward, much of the opening 20 minutes was played in the Dutch half, with Villa going close as he fired a volley into the side netting from a Sergio Ramos cross.
The first booking of the game came on 14 minutes when Robin Van Persie was shown a yellow card for a foul on Carles Puyol, with the Barcelona defender then booked himself a minute later when he brought down Arjen Robben.
The bookings continued when Mark van Bommel picked up a yellow card - to the surprise of probably nobody - for a terrible tackle on Andres Iniesta, while Ramos was booked just seconds later for a foul on Dirk Kuyt.
Premier League referee Howard Webb was having a busy night and issued his fifth yellow card just before the 30 minute mark when Nigel de Jong was booked for a chest-high kick on Xabi Alonso which on another night could easily have been a sending off.
Holland could have taken the lead - albeit accidentally - when they were attempting to give the ball back to Spain after an injury stoppage by kicking it back to Casillas. The Spanish keeper completely misjudged the flight of the ball as it bounced over his head with him tipping it away for a corner. Sportingly, Holland gave the ball back from the resulting corner.
The game was in need of a goal as the first half came to an end, with both sides cancelling each other out in an opening 45 minutes that had been spoilt at times due to the amount of free-kicks and bookings. To his credit, Howard Webb was doing a solid job as referee, but no doubt he will come under criticism from some as the first half ended goalless after Robben's shot on the stroke of half-time was tipped away by Casillas.
The game opened up more in the second half, with Holland showing more signs of being a threat going forward. Robben saw a 30-yard attempt saved by Casillas, while at the other end Puyol rose well from a corner only for his header to flash across goal.
But the bookings continued, with Netherlands captain Giovanni van Bronckhorst picking up a yellow card for blocking Ramos and Johnny Heitinga also booked after 56 minutes after a kick on David Villa as Howard Webb continued to do his best to keep all 22 players on the pitch.
Holland could have taken the lead after 61 minutes when Arjen Robben was played in from a brilliant Wesley Sneijder through ball that split the Spanish defence, but as Robben tried to curl his shot in from the edge of the box, Casillas got his timing spot on and saved the ball with his legs.
Holland then dangerously broke again just minutes later, only for Robin van Persie to be brought down on the right by Joan Capdevila, resulting in yet another booking - the eighth of the game.
David Villa, whose involvement in the game had been limited at times due to the midfield battle, then could have put Spain in the lead as Jesus Navas' cross was missed by Heitinga, only for the defender to redeem himself by desperately blocking Villa's close range shot.
With the prospect of extra-time becoming more likely, Sergio Ramos then missed a glorious chance to break the deadlock as a Xavi corner found him unmarked six yards out, but the right-back's headed flew over the bar.
Spain looked the better side as the game went into the last ten minutes but Robben again found himself in a great position through on goal after Puyol misjudged the ball and was beaten for pace. Robben's shot was saved by Casillas but the Dutch winger was unhappy that he was not awarded a free-kick for a foul by Puyol. His protests resulted in him becoming the latest player to be given a yellow card, with replays suggesting that Robben was perhaps guilty of looking for the foul.
It was a tense finish to the 90 minutes as both sides looked to break the deadlock, knowing that a goal now would almost guarantee them their first ever World Cup trophy.
But the second half came to an end with the game still goalless, as the 2010 World Cup final headed to extra-time.
Spain had the first chance of extra-time, with substitute Cesc Fabregas and Xavi combining on the edge of the box. Both were involved in challenges and Spain protested for a penalty for a foul on Xavi, but Howard Webb rightly awarded a corner.
Fabregas then missed a great chance to put Spain 1-0 up in similar fashion to Robben's first chance in the second half, but after the Arsenal midfielder was played in behind the Dutch defence, his shot was well saved by Maarten Stekelenburg.
Iniesta was next to have a great chance saved as he was put through on goal only to be denied from close range as players began to tire and the game become even more open for both sides.
Just moments later, Spain broke again with Navas through on goal on the right hand side of the box with his shot taking a deflection and going wide as the first half of extra-time came to an end with the score somehow still 0-0.
Spain brought Fernando Torres on for David Villa for the final 15 minutes of extra-time but it was Iniesta who created the first chance of the half as he raced through on goal after a through ball from Xavi only to be brought down by Heitinga, who put his arm across the midfielder. Heitinga had already been booked, leaving Howard Webb no choice but to send the defender off.
From the resulting free-kick, Xavi missed the target but the sending off meant Holland were on the back foot with 10 minutes left to play with 10 men, and just moments after Heitinga saw red, Netherlands saw yet another player booked when Gregory Van Der Wiel was booked for a foul on Iniesta.
Holland then could have been down to nine men after Arjen Robben was flagged for offside. The winger continued with play and kicked the ball away. Despite already being booked, Howard Webb decided against a second booking, although it would safe to say that should he not already have been booked, a yellow card would almost certainly have been awarded.
Webb made his first blunder of the night with five minutes left in extra-time after Sneijder's free-kick took a massive deflection off the Spanish wall before going behind for a corner, only for Webb to award a goal kick.
The decision proved to be a massive one as Spain broke from the goal kick. Fernando Torres' cross was only half-cleared and fell to Cesc Fabregas, who played the ball into the box to find Andres Iniesta in space, who volleyed home to make it 1-0 in the 116th minute.
Holland piled players forward in the closing stages of the game as the bookings continued, but the 10 men were unable to find the equaliser that would have taken the World Cup final to a penalty shootout as the full-time whistle blew with Spain winners of the 2010 World Cup.
