Iniesta scores the vital goal which earned Spain their first World Championship
Spain won their first World Championship of their history with a 1-0 win against Holland at the Soccer City Stadium in Johanesburg. FC Barcelona'sAndres Iniesta was the hero of the night, scoring the vital goal with just four minutes left for the end of extra time. Spain become only the second reigning European Champions who managed to win the World Cup. The match did live up to his billing of a tight contest, but failed to match his billing as a Clash between two brilliant "Total Football" side. The match was a huge headache for referee Howard Webb, who flashed 10 yellow cards, including two for Heitinga. He overall did a good job, but there were times when he left the game to become more physical. De Jong's kick on Xabi Alonso's chest was a huge moment and the player should have been send off. But Webb flashed a yellow card instead.
The match followed after one of the most brilliant closing ceremony in the history of the tournament. Holland from the begining were determined to close down the space available from Spain's midfield. The game started becoming pretty physical from the word go. Spain dominated the early exchanges creating some early half chances. But the Dutch defense stood firm. Most of the Spain's threat came from corners and Ramos had the best chance putting a free header above the bar. Robben was the best player for the Dutch in the match, but has to take the blame failing to finish the match with two one on one chance. The first one was the biggest miss after being played through by Sneijder with a ball which caught Pique off gaurd, Robben waited till Iker commited but the final shot had no height and Iker made the save with his trailing legs or maybe its better to say that the ball his Iker's leg. Fabregas and Iniesta both returned the favour failing to score in similiar one on one situation. But then in the 116th minute Iniesta finished off a move which he started with a clever back heel. Fabregas made the assist and started weeping like a baby the moment the ball went in. On the other end of the pitch, Iker's situation was no better.
Andres Iniesta has been Spain's most consistent player throughout the World Cup. He once again was their best player on the pitch. He is finally getting out of the shadow of Xavi in the midfield. Great news for Barca. But Guardiola has to encourage him to take more shots on target. Many times during the match he skipped past opponents and moved into promising position, only to search for a playr to pass. He should definitely take those shots and hopefully this goal (probably will be the greatest in his career) will encourage him to do that. He was getting kicked all over the place, but you can feel that the more he is getting kicked the more he was getting into the game. Following the Chelsea Goal, he was christened as "San Andres" by Barca fans and most probably from now on by whole of Spain. This is also a proud moment fro Barca fans as seven of their players started the match. Diego Forlan has been awarded the golden ball and Iker Casillas was awarded the Golden Glove.
Fuente: All About FC Barcelona
