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Spain are champions of the world after Andres Iniesta's goal deep into extra-time gave them victory over Netherlands in the World Cup final at Soccer City after a goalless first 105 minutes.
Iniesta netted as Spain broke to punish 10-man Holland after John Heitinga's sending-off seven minutes earlier.
Both sides lined up as expected. Netherlands continued with the 1 to 11 which has been Bert van Marwijk’s first choice line -up since Arjen Robben’s return from injury, while Vicente Del Bosque favoured Barcelona’s Pedro to Liverpool’s Fernando Torres just as he had for the semi-final victory over Germany.
At the renditions of the national anthems there were signs of nerves across the faces of players on each side, everyone concerned knowing that they could make history for their country by claiming the moniker of world champions for the first time.

The opening few minutes were notable mainly for the inability of either side to really string a significant series of passes together as every player looked to get a calming first touch of the ball. But in the fifth minute Spain created a real opportunity for themselves as they started to impress their authority on proceedings.

Xavi sent a free-kick in from the right to find the Sergio Ramos, who had gained half a yard on the flinching Robin van Persie, but the right-back’s header came from an awkward height and allowed Maarten Stekelenburg to make a full-length parry to keep the scores level.

Holland’s first shot at goal came when Dirk Kuyt scuffed a 30-yard effort after Sergio Busquets had failed to control a simple square pass, but the Liverpool wide man’s effort was easily gathered by Iker Casillas.

In the 11th minute Spain created a second decent opportunity, and again it was full-back Ramos who was the Johnny on the spot. Having run at Giovanni van Bronckhorst, he took a step to the right and saw a gap open up, but his right-footed effort was well blocked by Joris Mathijsen.

From the resulting corner Xavi Hernandez swung in a delicious far post ball for David Villa, but the striker’s volleyed effort hit the side-netting when he’d have hoped to do better.

The game was beginning to get a little scrappy as the Netherlands looked to find a way to earn more possession. Van Persie was the first player to enter referee Howard Webb’s notebook when he brought down Joan Capdevila with a nasty looking challenge, and moments later he was followed by Carles Puyol, booked for a tackle from behind on Arjen Robben.

Wesley Sneijder fired in a dangerous free-kick, but Casillas managed to collect before the ball took a potentially nasty bounce. Winger Robben was temporarily the centre of attention as within minutes he was running at Capdevila, eventually winning a corner as Xabi Alonso came in to cover.

The near-inevitable Mark van Bommel booking arrived in the 22nd minute, when he was late arriving for the ball and went right through Andres Iniesta. Seconds later it was 2-2 on the yellow card count after Ramos was slightly late sliding in on Kuyt wide on the Holland left.



Whilst Spain were still enjoying most of the possession, suddenly the Netherlands were managing to earn more territorial advantage, breaking up the rhythm of la Furia Roja’s passing temporarily. They did so by foul means rather than fair when Nigel de Jong’s high boot caught Alonso flush on the chest after the Real Madrid midfielder had nicked away a bouncing ball. The Oranje midfielder may have thought himself lucky only to become the fifth player cautioned, rather than the first man into the showers.

There was a much more pleasing piece of sportsmanship shown by the Dutch a few moments later. Iker Casillas had thrown the ball out after he’d collided with Puyol, allowing the Barcelona defender to receive treatment, but upon arrival of the long pass from a Dutchman at the restart, the keeper misread the flight and palm the ball away for a corner. However, Van Persie simply rolled the ball in from the flag to spare the Real Madrid man’s blushes and allow Spain to rebuild from the back.

The next Dutch corner nearly had a very different ending. Robben played the ball in low to the edge of the area, from where Van Bommel played a cross to the far post for Mathijsen, but the centre-back could only respond with a complete air shot.

Breaking up the other end, Spain could have had an opener when Pedro’s quickfire shot from range sailed just wide with Stekelenburg still to set himself.

Sneijder almost became the sixth name in the book when he caught Busquets just before the break as the game continued to flatter rather than thrill, but referee Webb saw fit to give the Inter midfielder a final warning.

On the stroke of half-time the Dutch created one of the best chances of the game so far when Robben cut inside to drill a low left foot shot which Casillas got down to and pushed wide.

Spain appeared to come out after the interval with a little bit more fire in their bellies as they looked to repeat their second half efforts against Germany. Within three minutes they’d forged an opening when Puyol got his head to a right wing corner and Capdevila failed to get anywhere near enough on his right foot effort and the ball ran harmlessly away.

Holland responded when Van Persie’s backheel sent Gregory van der Wiel in behind the Spanish defence, but his cross was met by no Oranje jerseys, though a nervous looking Casillas may have got a slight touch before the ball ran out and a goal kick was given.



Dutch skipper Van Bronckhorst was next in the book for pulling back Ramos as he went for a return pass in a dangerous position. From the set piece Xavi curled the ball just wide of the near post, but Stekelenburg had it well covered.

John Heitinga soon became the fifth Dutchman to have his name taken when he clattered into David Villa after Ramos had broken up a Holland attack and sent the forward on the run down the left.

Iniesta was perhaps lucky not to join them as the game once again threatened to deteriorate, his foul on Sneijder giving Robben the chance to swing in a free-kick towards Heitinga. The defender sent a header just across the face of goal, but had been flagged offside in any case.

Mathijsen did well to head away from a Capdevila cross as a game of football finally started to break out amongst the scrappy challenges.

Spain coach Vicente Del Bosque made the first change of the final on the hour by introducing Jesus Navas for the ineffective Pedro.

Suddenly, the best chance of the final was handed to Robben by a delicious through ball by Sneijder and a bad misjudgement on the part of Gerard Pique. The Bayern Munich winger found himself one-on-one with Casillas, but after delaying once too often, his shot sent the glovesman the wrong way, but was blocked by Casillas’ boot nonetheless.

Capdevila joined the ever-increasing list of numbers in Howard Webb’s notebook but again the Netherlands failed to make the most of the resulting free-kick as they continued to get half-chances to show up the favourites.

Substitute Navas did superbly to run at Van Bronckhorst and make space to cross for David Villa, but after Heitinga had slipped to open a really shooting opportunity for the Spaniard the centre-back recovered magnificently to block the shot that followed.

Dirk Kuyt was replaced after a hard-working performance in favour of speedy winger Eljero Elia as Van Marwijk looked to keep Spain guessing at the back.



Heitinga conceded a further free-kick, which Villa could only tun over, before Sneijder got a second final warning from Howard Webb as the referee looked to save his ink with just 15 minutes separating the World Cup decider from extra-time.

After an excellent exchange between Villa and Xavi, the former had a left foot shot well blocked by Heitinga, but from the corner Sergio Ramos was guilty of wasting a magnificent chance to settle the contest as he headed over from eight yards when completely unmarked.

There was a real flashpoint in the 78th minute when Van Bommel caught Iniesta as he retrieved the ball, but the Spanish midfielder decided to take his own retribution by lashing out at the Bayern Munich man. Again, Webb decided that leniency was the correct course of action and Iniesta got away with only a lecture.

Iniesta then came extremely close to opening the deadlock when he jinked past Heitinga inside the box, but Wesley Sneijder of all people was sweeping up behind the defence and made a magnificent last-ditch challenge to save the Dutch.

In the 83rd minute it was Holland’s Robben who could have struck as he left Puyol and Pique in his wake before Casillas smothered the ball. The Bayern Munich winger exaggerated his contact with the keeper having shrugged off a near rugby tackle from Puyol, but all he succeeded in doing was earning a yellow card for his fall and subsequent penalty claims.

Spain’s second substitution saw Xabi Alonso replaced by Cesc Fabregas in an attacking change with just three minutes of normal time remaining.

Wesley Sneijder looked to steal a glorious victory on the stroke of full-time, but his ambitious 45 yard effort went harmlessly wide.



Within two minutes of the extra 30 minutes resuming, Spain thought they should have had a penalty when Heitinga and Xavi collided, but it looked as though the midfielder made contact with the Dutchman rather than the other way around.

The European champions then forced a real save out of Stekelenburg for the first time since the early moments of normal time as Fabregas broke clear, but the big goalkeeper did superbly to block his right foot shot.

Within seconds they were nearly behind when Casillas came for a corner and collided with Fabregas, leaving Mathijsen to beat Ramos in the air but miss the open goal.

It then took a magnificent piece of defending from Van Bronckhorst to keep the scores level as the game became more stretched. Fabregas sent Iniesta through, but the Dutch skipper did brilliantly to send Iniesta onto his wrong foot and then snuff out the danger, winning a goal kick to boot.

Bert van Marwijk decided to increase the attacking intentions of his team by bringing on Rafael van der Vaart for defensive midfielder De Jong.

In a now very open game, Jesus Navas’ shot deflected off Van Bronckhorst and found the side-netting before the Netherlands cleared the corner with relative ease.

Giovanni van Bronckhorst was then substituted into retirement, replaced by Edson Braafheid.



After spending over an hour warming up, Fernando Torres was finally introduced at the beginning of the second period of extra-time, surprisingly enough for the tournament’s joint top scorer David Villa in a like for like switch.

Elia went on his first attack at Ramos and beat the full-back with ease, but couldn’t reach his overhit touch before getting a cross in as Holland continued to look the more worried by the prospect of penalty kicks.

After so many yellow cards it appeared only a matter of time before a red would follow and with only 11 minutes remaining it finally came, though it did seem a little harsh on John Heitinga when he became the fifth player to be dismissed in a World Cup final.

The Dutch defender laid a soft hand on the shoulder of Andres Iniesta as the Barcelona man broke front and centre, but an exaggerated fall came after contact had been released. Nevertheless, Howard Webb saw fit to send off Heitinga for a second offence.

Moments later the 10 men were hit with another yellow when Van der Wiel took down the self same Iniesta.

Many Spain players asked for Holland to be reduced to nine when Robben turned in a left foot effort long after the whistle had gone for offside, but Webb, not for the first time tonight, showed leniency towards a man walking the tightrope.

With five minutes left a Wesley Sneijder free-kick was clearly met with a heavy deflection off Fabregas in the wall, but the referee’s rough night continued when he failed to spot the touch and gave a goal kick. There was then an apparent foul on Elia on the edge of the area overlooked as Holland looked for a winner.

And the decision was to be vital as Spain broke to the other end of the pitch and scored a 116th minute winner.

With the 10-man Dutch stretched, the Furia Roja used the extra man as Andres Iniesta got on the end of a crossfield ball at the far post to drill across Stekelenburg into the back of the net.

Spain's only bad news of the night came when Torres pulled up with an apparent hamstring injury in the second minute of injury time, but he'll be taking a World Cup winner's medal to the treatment table with him.

World Cup favourites Spain suffered a shock defeat by Switzerland as South Africa 2010 served up its first major upset.
The European champions enjoyed almost total control of the game in Durban but were wasteful in front of goal and went behind after 52 minutes when a long ball eventually found its way through to Gelson Fernandes, who, after a series of errors, bundled it into the net.
With Barcelona trio David Villa, Andres Iniesta and Xavi unable to conjure a breakthrough, coach Vicente Del Bosque threw on Fernando Torres, Jesus Navas and Pedro, but to no avail as the Spanish slumped to only their second defeat in 49 games.
The result piles pressure on Spain, who were widely-tipped to finally end decades of underachievement on the game's biggest stage and Del Bosque's men could now be forced to face Brazil in the second round if they finish Group H as runners-up. Chile beat Honduras 1-0 in the earlier match.
For the unfancied Swiss, it was a historic first victory over the Spanish and another triumph in the glittering career of their German coach Ottmar Hitzveld.
Del Bosque's men had quickly settled into their rhythmic short passing game and, with Switzerland struggling to get the ball out of their own half, the match came to resemble a training session.
The first real opening fell to Spain right-back Sergio Ramos, who received the ball in space on the right before dragging his shot wastefully wide, much to the anger of his better-placed team-mates Xavi and David Villa.
Moments later, Iniesta slipped a pass through to Gerard Pique, who cut inside his man before firing straight at goalkeeper Diego Benaglio.
The next attack saw David Silva chip a delightful ball over the Switzerland defence for Iniesta, who was brought down on the edge of the area as he tried to get his shot away. Villa fired the resultant free-kick straight at the wall.
The Swiss were forced into a change midway through the half when former Arsenal defender Philippe Senderos limped off with a foot injury and was replaced by Steve Von Bergen.
Lone striker Villa looked skilful and lively, but when he finally found space in the box, he opted to pass, and chipped tamely across the face of goal.
The second half began in a similar vein until the Swiss took the lead with the first real attack of the game.
A long goal-kick was flicked through to Eren Derdiyok, who bundled it past goalkeeper Iker Casillas and the falling Pique to leave former Manchester City midfielder Fernandes with a simple finish.

Spain, who won all 10 of their World Cup qualifiers, looked visibly shaken and Del Bosque responded by sending on Torres and Navas just after the hour mark.
Iniesta and Torres both curled shots wide before former Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso almost broke the crossbar with a stunning strike from just outside the area.
With Spain committing more men forward, the game became stretched and Switzerland came within a whisker of taking a 2-0 lead when Derdiyok cut inside Pique and Carles Puyol before flicking a shot which had Casillas beaten but bounced back off the post.
The last 10 minutes were a predictable Spanish onslaught but, with Torres looking rusty on his return from knee surgery, Spain seemed to run out of ideas as their efforts became increasingly desperate.
As it was, Switzerland held firm for a truly memorable victory - their first in a World Cup opener since 1954.

Spain produced a mesmerising display as they vanquished Poland in their final World Cup warm-up game in Murcia.

Leading by two at the break thanks to early goals from David Villa and David Silva, the European champions continued after the break with a masterful display of finishing as Xabi Alonso and substitutes Cesc Fabregas, Pedro and Fernando Torres all got on the score sheet.

La Furia Roja certainly saved the best until last in terms of pre-tournament performances, producing a series of sublime, slick passing moves as they dominated proceedings from the outset.

In the possession stakes Vicente del Bosque's men were entirely in control as Xavi and the excellent David Silva carved their way through the Poles at will.

The breakthrough came shortly after the ten minute mark when the lively Andres Iniesta found himself in acres of space down the left. The dynamic Barcelona midfielder angled an inch perfect cross with the outside of his right boot into the path of new club-mate Villa who slotted home from close range for his 38th goal in a Spain shirt.

Spain then found themselves two in front two minutes later after an excellent interchange involving Villa, Iniesta and Xavi who sneaked inside the Polish defence before squaring to Silva to hand the in-demand Valencia star the simplest of tasks.

Both goals typified Spain's unselfish team ethic and set the tone for the remainder of their first half endeavours as they continued to probe deep in opposition territory.

The resistance from the Poles ranged from resolute to desperate at times as they rode their luck trying to play for offside against Spain's near perfect movement in attack. With Iniesta in fine form on the left and Silva in a similar vein on the right, neither channel provided much respite for Franciszek Smuda's charges and through the middle was also proving fruitless as a wall of red snuffed out any attempted attack. One early long range strike from Robert Lewandowksi was as much as they could muster in terms of an attacking threat as Spain's superiority was never in doubt.

Xavi and Silva made way ten minutes after the interval but not before the Barcelona man worked a well-rehearsed free kick to Xabi Alonso, who slotted home from the edge of the box, although the ball did take a horrid deflection on it's way past Tomasz Kuszczak.

Fabregas, on for Xavi, made it 4-0 just three minutes after coming on, making a trademark burst into the penalty box before coolly placing the ball beyond the hapless Kuszczak.

Torres was introduced to a rapturous reception for the final half hour and looked sharp as he begins his comeback from a knee injury. Even after making six changes la Furia Roja were in complete control of the game and added a fifth with a quarter of an hour remaining as Torres got on the end of Pedro's cross to fire home to rubber stamp his return to fitness.

Five minutes later Torres again had the Poles in a bind at the back as Kuszcak and Maciej Sadlok tried to intervene, allowing Pedro to pounce on the loose ball and loft a clever chip over the goalkeeper to seal Spain's sixth.

There was still time for substitute Jesus Navas to sting the palms of Kuszczak from distance and the Polish 'keeper was called into action to save from a Gerard Pique header from the resulting corner as the onslaught of attack from the Spaniards continued unabated.

After a devastating display of possession football and quality finishing it is easy to see why the Spaniards are amongst the favourites for glory in South Africa and surely there are few that can stop del Bosque's men in this kind of form.

Spain coach Vicente del Bosque made nine changes to the starting XI that took on Saudi Arabia last Saturday, with Cesc Fabregas the highest profile inclusion as he slotted in to the centre of midfield.

But just like it was against the Saudi’s, La Furia Roja started slowly and it was the South Koreans who had the first crack at goal after seven minutes but Jae Sung’s long range effort was easily saved by Pepe Reina.

The Liverpool shot stopper had to be alert again moments later when he rushed off his line to intercept a long ball from Chung-Yong, and just minutes after that, Jung Woo almost opened the scoring when his low piledriver from 20 yards out flashed just inches wide of Reina’s right post.

Spain’s most threatening player was undoubtedly Jesus Navas, who marauded down the right flank countless times but his crosses into the box failed to find his intended target.

By the 20th minute, the European champions started to control the game with their usual patient passing build up. And they carved out their first chance on 22 minutes when Andres Iniesta toe-poked a through ball to Mata, but the Valencia forward had the ball robbed off him just as he was about to pull the trigger. Llorente then headed over from a Fabregas freekick, but it was Cesc himself who had the best chance of breaking the deadlock in the 34th minute.

A brilliant passing move between Joan Capevila and Mata opened up a clear view on goal for Fabregas, but the Arsenal captain’s shot from the edge of the box clipped the top of the bar. Five minutes later, Fernando Llorente dragged his shot through a crowd of defenders wide after good work by Fabregas.

Jesus Navas had a chance himself on 40 minutes when he breezed past two defenders down the right channel and let fly with a shot from a tight angle which just smacked into the side netting.

But it was the Asians who almost took a lead right at the end of the half. First, Chu-Young’s dash towards goal was smothered by Reina in a one-on-one, before the Spanish custodian flapped away Chung-Yong’s lob from the follow up.

That was Reina’s last contribution in the game as La Roja coach Del Bosque sent in Victor Valdes for the second half, while his counterpart Jung-Moo did likewise as he replaced Woon Jae with Sung-Ryong in goal for the Koreans.

Spain again started the half sloppily and the Taeguk Warriors almost stunned their European rivals two minutes into the restart. An error by Raul Albiol allowed Chu-Young to ghost in behind the backline, but he miscued his volley right in front of goal and Valdes had the easiest first touch of the game as he collected comfortably.

With the Spaniards struggling to impose themselves in the second period, Del Bosque threw in his big guns as Xavi, David Villa, Xabi Alonso and Pedro were all introduced.

Javi Martinez should have scored for Spain on 67 minutes when Jesus Navas and Xabi Alonso combined to tee up the Athletic Bilbao midfielder, but he ballooned his shot from 12 yards out. Navas then carved out an opening for himself when he checked past his marker and powered into the box, but his low shot from angle was kept out by Sung-Ryong’s kick-save.

With eight minutes remaining, South Korea almost scored. Sung-Yong’s set-piece deliver found Jung-Soo, but his header just flashed wide of an open goal after Valdes came to claim but was beaten in the air.

Straight to the other end, Sung-Ryong made a stunning reflex block to deny David Villa, but the South Koreans failed to clear their lines as Jesus Navas picked up the rebound and drilled in a sensational 25-yard screamer right into the top corner to put Spain ahead.

Neither side pushed too hard after that and the solitary strike from Navas proved to be the winning goal as La Roja picked up another marginal victory ahead of the World Cup finals.

Vicente del Bosque has confirmed Spain's 23-man squad for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Two big names who successfully made the cut were Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdes and young forward Pedro Rodriguez. Also included in the final-23 was Athletic Bilbao's 21-year-old central midfielder, Javi Martinez.

However, del Bosque had to make a number of surprising exclusions. There was no place for Euro 2008 hero Marcos Senna and Villarreal team-mate Santi Cazorla, while one of the coach's reliable favourite, Dani Guiza was also omitted.

Spain's 23-man World Cup squad in full:

Goalkeepers
Iker Casillas Real Madrid
Pepe Reina Liverpool (ENG)
Victor Valdes Barcelona
Defenders
Sergio Ramos Real Madrid
Alvaro Arbeloa Real Madrid
Carles Puyol Barcelona
Gerard Pique Barcelona
Raul Albiol  Real Madrid
Carlos Marchena Valencia
Joan Capdevila Villarreal
Midfielders
Jesus Navas Sevilla
Xabi Alonso Real Madrid
Xavi Barcelona
Javi Martinez Athletic Bilbao
Cesc Fabregas Arsenal (ENG)
Sergio Busquets Barcelona
Andres Iniesta Barcelona
Forwards
David Silva Valencia
David Villa  Barcelona
Fernando Torres Liverpool (ENG)
Pedro Rodriguez Barcelona
Fernando Llorente Athletic Bilbao
Juan Mata Valencia

The seven players who were cut from the provisional 30 were goalkeepers Diego Lopez (Villarreal), David De Gea (Atletico Madrid), defender Cesar Azpilicueta (Osasuna); midfielders Marcos Senna (Villarreal) and Santi Cazorla (Villarreal); and forwards Dani Guiza (Fenerbahce) and Alvaro Negredo (Sevilla).

Spain coach Vicente del Bosque has named his provisional 30-man squad for this summer's World Cup in South Africa.

Among the notable inclusions are Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdes and young Atletico shot-stopper David De Gea. With Real Madrid’s Iker Casillas as Del Bosque’s number one and Liverpool's Pepe Reina thought to be second choice, Valdes and De Gea will be competing with Villarreal’s Diego Lopez for a seat on the plane to Africa.

Elsewhere, there are call-ups for Barcelona starlet Pedro, Osasuna’s Cesar Azpilicueta and Athletic Bilbao’s highly rated midfielder Javi Martinez, all of whom are uncapped at the senior level.

Up-front, Dani Guiza and Alvaro Negredo have earned call-ups but look unlikely to make the final squad while Bilbao striker Fernando Llorente will most likely compete with Pedro for the final slot upfront.

Spain’s final list of 23 will be made known on May 19. La Roja are drawn in Group H alongside Chile, Honduras and Switzerland.

Goalkeepers
Iker Casillas Real Madrid
David De Gea Atletico Madrid
Diego Lopez Villarreal
Pepe Reina Liverpool
Víctor Valdes Barcelona
Defenders
Raul Albiol Real Madrid
Alvaro Arbeloa Real Madrid
Cesar Azpilicueta Osasuna
Joan Capdevila Villarreal
Carlos Marchena Valencia
Gerard Pique Barcelona
Carles Puyol Barcelona
Sergio Ramos Real Madrid
Midfielders
Xabi Alonso Real Madrid
Sergio Busquets Barcelona
Cesc Fabregas Arsenal (ENG)
Andres Iniesta Barcelona
Javi Martinez Athletic Bilbao
Marcos Senna Villarreal
David Silva Valencia
Xavi Barcelona
Santi Cazorla Villarreal
Jesus Navas Sevilla
Juan Mata Valencia
Forwards
Pedro Barcelona
Daniel Guiza Fenerbahce (TUR)
Fernando Llorente Athletic Bilbao
Alvaro Negredo Sevilla
Fernando Torres Liverpool (ENG)
David Villa Valencia