Johannesburg: So many World Cup finals are dark affairs, with one shadow or another looming over them. This final had no taunting or head-butting like the last one; no team played with an undetected Hand of God in its very recent past.
And in the long run, the very long run, this final did not end with the gloomy coup de grâce of penalty kicks. Instead, it had two crack teams, two grand soccer traditions, testing each other for a very long time until overdue Spain defeated the overdue Netherlands, 1-0, with a goal by Andrés Iniesta in the 116th minute, that is, four minutes away from the dreaded penalty kicks.
This is worth remembering as Spain celebrates and the Netherlands rages at a few officiating calls: both teams knew how to move the ball, and tried to do so. They nullified each other, not themselves. There have been darker finals.
While Spain's players rejoiced and Iker Casillas, the great goalkeeper, sobbed and sobbed, the Netherlands players and their fans did not go quietly.
And in the long run, the very long run, this final did not end with the gloomy coup de grâce of penalty kicks. Instead, it had two crack teams, two grand soccer traditions, testing each other for a very long time until overdue Spain defeated the overdue Netherlands, 1-0, with a goal by Andrés Iniesta in the 116th minute, that is, four minutes away from the dreaded penalty kicks.
This is worth remembering as Spain celebrates and the Netherlands rages at a few officiating calls: both teams knew how to move the ball, and tried to do so. They nullified each other, not themselves. There have been darker finals.
While Spain's players rejoiced and Iker Casillas, the great goalkeeper, sobbed and sobbed, the Netherlands players and their fans did not go quietly.
They raged at many things, including a claimed offside on the only goal of the long night, which was not supported by replays. Iniesta was onside when the ball was released and then he pumped it off the fingertips of the diving Dutch keeper.
Afterward, the fans booed at the mention of the English referee Howard Webb, who did not have a good match, issuing too many yellow cards and touching off more acting and marginal play.
The Dutch were down one player for the fatal goal, the only goal, because of a second yellow card in the 109th minute that sent off defender John Heitinga. Iniesta helped sell the yellow card to Webb by toppling easier; he had sustained worse whackings this night.
Even in the normal exhausted state of overtime, the Spanish knew how to exploit the extra space on the field. They are one of the best passing teams of this generation, moving the ball like a pinball being operated by remote control. Even their defensive headers have a purpose higher than merely clearing the ball. So they had the skill, and the coaching of Vicente del Bosque, to take advantage of this sudden one-player advantage.
This is the proper way for a World Cup to end -- with a real goal, not the necessary but sour punctuation of penalty kicks. That solution was looming as Fernando Torres, who had become an injured bench-warmer as the tournament progressed, came on as a late substitute. Torres, who scored the goal that won the European championship in 2008, showed his grit, controlling a ball in the left corner and sending it toward the center. He had not even warmed up with his teammates before the game, standing around like a man who knew he was not going to play.
But Torres is part of this greatest generation of Spain, that perpetual underachiever that had never even played a semifinal match in a World Cup until it slayed the potent dragon of Germany on Wednesday night in Durban.
The Spanish have often wobbled and folded, despite their talent. But this is a team that earned its World Cup victory and brought glory to its nation by playing intelligent and hard and brave soccer. They had to, in order to beat the Dutch. That country lost finals in 1974 and 1978, which is mere history to these final players, who were a match for the Spanish for 116 minutes.
They counter-attacked and sent some hard shots ricocheting toward Casillas, who has openly hated and feared this convoluted gimmicky ball, calling it a "beachball." He had to scramble a few times to keep it from ending up behind him, but he did.
The Dutch clutched and grabbed and yapped and dove a bit more than the Spanish, but they also had skill and they also had heart. Arjen Robben chased the referee and railed at him, claiming he had been interfered with in the penalty area, but that was gamesmanship. The Dutch could not afford a letdown or a gap on the field.
This World Cup final ends without the most dreaded words of all: nil-nil. It will be remembered, and rightfully so, as the first World Cup held in the continent of Africa, and it will be remembered for the kind and hopeful people who ran this tournament, and it will be remembered for the multiple stages of this month-long marathon.
It seems like just the other day that South African fans cheered for their team, Bafana Bafana, and just yesterday that Landon Donovan scored in the 91st minute to save the United States against Algeria, and just a few hours ago that Germany demolished the English and Ghana outlasted the United States in overtime, and Brazil and Argentina went down in the quarterfinals. Now these two soccer nations have played a final that was not an epic match, but, not negative or dark, either. Spain has waited a long time. For the next four years, Spain is the champion.
