Holland line-up: Stekelenburg, Van Der Wiel, Heitinga, Mathijsen, Van Bronkhorst (c) (Braafheid, 105'), Van Bommel, Kuyt (Elia, 71'), De Jong (Van Der Vaart, 99'), Van Persie, Sneijder, Robben
Spain line-up: Casillas (c), Pique, Puyol, Iniesta, Villa (Torres, 106'), Xavi, Capdevila, Alonso (Fabregas, 87'), Ramos, Busquets, Pedro (Navas, 60')
Spain became World Champions to add to their European crown after a feisty affair with the Dutch. Overall they deserved the victory which came in extra time in a game that had 12 yellow cards, two of which went to Heitinga. There was also slight controversy over the Spanish goal and Holland should have had De Jong sent off in the first half, but on the whole English referee Howard Webb and his two assistants played a fine game. With Spain as favourites and being backed by a certain octopus, they came out the gates quickest in the first half with their sheer dominating possession football. Ramos and Pique were first to test Stekelenburg and his defenders who stood up to the early challenge and kept Holland level. Heitinga could have an own goal but his clearance from Ramos' cross went over for a corner when it could have gone anywhere. The resultant corner gave David Villa his first chance but he sliced the volley wide into the side-netting and Holland were let off. From their Holland grew into the game and we had a midfield battle on our hands. Nigel De Jong was lucky to stay on the field when he placed a high boot right into the chest of Xabi Alonso, lucky for De Jong Webb saw it only as a yellow card offence and he became the fifth cautioned player in the first half-hour. Holland had the momentum in the final ten minutes of the half and when Van Bommel picked up a short corner from Robben, he crossed it into the path of the unmarked Mathijsen on the back post who, like a typical centre-back, got his volley all wrong and rolled off for a goal-kick. Robben forced Casillas into action for the first time minutes before half-time, Casillas dived neatly to the corner to deny Robben scoring for Holland.
Holland may have the momentum going into the break but Spain came out in the second half pretty much like they did in the first. Puyol, who scored Spain's semi-final match winner, looked to feed in Capdevila as he headed down another corner unmarked, but Capdevila couldn't stretch enough to make any meaningful contact. The game opened up more as the players began to tire, Wesley Sneijder played a beautiful through ball just after the hour mark, Robben went through to a one-on-one situation with Casillas and the keeper saved with his outstretched foot when Robben really should have scored. Substitute Jesus Navas proved a handful for the Holland defence as his pace couldn't be matched and he sent a cross in for Villa but his shot was deflected behind by Heitinga to save his country. Twelve minutes from time and Spain should have had their goal; Sergio Ramos was unmarked from a Xavi corner but somehow he managed to head the ball over from six yards out. From here it was Spain who looked the most likely to score and Sneijder had to produce a last ditch tackle to prevent Iniesta running his way through the Dutch defence. However Robben carried a constant threat and when he beat Puyol for pace he looked to be through again against Casillas, Puyol looked to have been holding him and if Robben had gone down he would have won a free-kick and possibly Puyol's sending off. But he kept going and Casillas saved bravely at his feet as Robben this time tried to buy a penalty by tripping over Casillas' body. Howard Webb correctly was having none of it and the final went into extra time.
Again Spain were looking more likely to grab the winning goal but the Holland defence stood up to the task. Xavi had a shot deflected before substitute Fabregas was played through only to be foiled by Stekelenburg. Holland's only real chance in the first half fell to Mathijsen but he could only head the ball wide from a corner. Fernando Torres' tournament was to get even worse when he was allowed a cameo in extra time replacing David Villa, but towards the end of extra time he pulled up after running after a ball and it could well be bad news for Liverpool fans. Ten minutes before penalties beckoned Holland were reduced to ten men; Heitinga pulled down Iniesta outside the box and rightly earned himself a second yellow and Holland's backs were well and truly against the wall. Four minutes from time and Spain were to take the lead, Iniesta was played through by Xavi and smashed the ball home for Spain. There were arguments for offside which replays showed were incorrect and Iniesta's goal correctly stood on that account. However the other controversy came from the end when Dutch substitute Elia tried running against Puyol and Pique and looked to have been sandwiched by them just outside the box, Howard Webb decided not to issue a free-kick and Spain countered and that's where they scored from. For this argument I think Holland do have a case but Spain overall deserved victory and can now celebrate with at least four years of being called World Champions.
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