Skip to main content

FINAL: SPAIN 0 - NETHERLANDS 0 (1-0 EXTRA TIME)


Andres Iniesta's strike with four minutes left of extra-time fired Spain to World Cup glory for the first time in their history as they vanquished Holland in a fractious final at Johannesburg's Soccer City stadium.

In a game when a record number of yellow cards were given and John Heitinga was sent off in extra-time, both sides missed great chances from Arjen Robben and Cesc Fabregas, but Andres Iniesta netted in the 116th minute to give European champions Spain their first World Cup title.

Spain completely dominated possession but had few clear-cut chances to show for it, with a free header from Sergio Ramos and a David Villa strike that was deflected over the best opportunities in normal time. Demonstrated some excellent touches in midfield, with plenty of classy interchanges and never showed frustration when they couldn't break through. 

After an unimpressive first period, in which four Dutch players were yellow carded, Bert van Marwijk's side came into the game more after the interval, trying to get the ball to Arjen Robben as much as possible. It almost worked to devastating effect on two occasions when Carles Puyol's pace was exposed, but Robben was twice thwarted by Iker Casillas. Were outclassed in extra-time and after losing their cool a third World Cup final defeat will be the bitterest pill to swallow.

The introduction of Fabregas injected some much-needed freshness into Vicente del Bosque's side and the winning goal was just reward for the team that unquestionably played the better football.

Three minutes into the first period of extra-time, Spain had appeals for a penalty rightly turned down by Webb, who judged that Xavi kicked into Heitinga when in the area. 

In the 19th minute of extra-time, Holland were reduced to 10 men after Heitinga received a second booking for pulling on Iniesta's shoulder. And with four minutes remaining, Spain scored the goal that won them the 2010 World Cup.

Fabregas slipped a pass to his right, and waiting was Iniesta. The Barcelona schemer took one touch before planting the ball past Stekelenburg with aplomb, sparking delirium from the Spanish players as they completed their mission for world domination.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

MANCHESTER CITY WIN FIFTH PREMIER LEAGUE IN SIX SEASON

Manchester City bagged their third consecutive Premier League title after Nottingham Forest defeated Arsenal 1-0 on Saturday evening.  Under Pep Guardiola, City has won the title five times in the last six seasons. The Premier League is the first of a potential treble this season. They will play against Manchester United in the FA Cup final, and the Inter Milan in the Champions League final next month. Arsenal had an eight-point lead over City in January, but Guardiola’s side have overhauled them with three games to spare. Erling Haaland’s 36 goals in the league have been crucial to City’s success. The Football Writers’ Association player of the season’s tally is a Premier League record, the Norwegian scoring more than a third of City’s 92 league goals in 35 matches. TIGERS SUPER SPORTS

JDT II BEAT PKNS IN ILL TEMPERED MATCH

​MALAYSIA FA CUP: JOHORDT II 2 - PKNS 1 JohorDT II defeated eight-man PKNS 2-1 to set up a meeting with Kedah in the Malaysia FA Cup . Skipper Shahril Ishak was the hero for JDTII as he fired home a 92nd minute winner in a hot-tempered match. Japanese striker Keisuke Ogawa 's first-minute goal gave PKNS the lead. JDTII launched continuous attacks but failed to find an equalizer. ​JDTII finally drew level through Leandro Velazquez in the 61st minute. PKNS were reduced to 10 men when Muhd Khairul Azrin Khazali was sent off in the 65th minute. ​The Klang Valley outfit suffered more woes after Liberian striker Patrick Ronaldinho  and Mohd Fazli Baharuddin were shown the red card deep into extra-time. JDTII took the advantage as Shahril scored the winning goal. Photos by: Hafiz Hassan | Tigers Super Sports Visit AMF Sports for more news.

MESSI INSPIRES ARGENTINA TO WIN THIRD WORLD CUP

In probably the wildest final in the tournament’s 92-year history, Argentina won its third World Cup title. They beat France 4-2 in a penalty shootout after a 3-3 draw featuring two goals from Lionel Messi and a hat trick by Kylian MbappĂ©. Messi was in scintillating form from the start of the final, putting Argentina ahead from the penalty spot after Angel Di Maria was tripped. Just 11 minutes later, he played a part in a flowing team move that resulted in Di Maria making it 2-0 after 36 minutes. Argentina dominated the first half and took a 2-0 lead into the break. MbappĂ©, on the other hand, was anonymous until bursting into life by scoring two goals in a 97-second span. The first came from the penalty spot in the 80th minute, and the other was a volley to take the game to extra time at 2-2. The 35-year-old Messi still had plenty of energy, and he was in the right position to tap in his second goal in the 108th minute. Argentina was on the brink of the title once again. However, Franc...