Update: Spain wins the 2010 World Cup after Iniesta scores in the 116th min with a nice volley from Fabregas. The game was marred with 13 yellow cards and a red card against Netherlands that allowed Spain to play with a man advantage that led a great goal by Iniesta. Congratulations to Spain for their 1st World Cup.
After 30 days, its finally here.. the culmination of the 2010 World Cup. Its Spain against Netherlands, two teams that are chasing that elusive dream of finally holding the Worldcup. So how did these two teams manage to get into the finals of this year's worldcup instead of the favorites Brazil, Argentina or Germany?
Netherlands
The Dutch or Oranje, ranked 4th in the FIFA World Rankings, were the favorites to win Group E and sure they did by winning all their matches. The Oranje beat Denmark 2 - 0 with the help of Daniel Agger's own goal in the 46th min. They followed that with a 1-0 win against Japan on a strike by Wesley Sneijder in the 53rd minute and 3 - 2 win against Cameroon getting inspired by the return of Arjen Robben from injury. The Dutch were ahead in the 1st half when Robin Van Persie scored in the 36th minute. But Cameroon answered back when Samuel Etoo scored on a penalty kick in the 65th minutes. The Oranje would eventually win the e match on a rebound score by Klass Jan Huntelaar in the 83rd minute to barge into the Round of 16.
During the knockout stage, the Dutch easily beat Slovakia 2-1 with Robben (18') and Sneijder scoring (84') before Slovakia got a consolation on a penalty kick by Vittek in stoppage time. The Oranje then surprise everyone when they beat Brazil 2 - 1 scoring two goals in the second half as the Samba Kings lost their composure. Wesley Sneijder keyed the comeback with a strike that was deflected by Felipe Melo in the 53rd min and scored on a header in the 68th min. This set up a match against Uruguay which was a pretty intense match that saw both teams scoring 1 a piece in the 1st half. The Oranje then scored two goals in the 2nd half courtesy of Sneijder (70') and Robben (73'). Uruguay did scored during the stoppage time courtesy of Pereira but that wasn't enough and the Dutch gets into the finals, winning all their matches.
Spain
The La Roja were ranked second in the FIFA World Rankings but never played like they deserved the ranking. Spain was heavily favorite to win Group H but lost to the Switzerland on their first match of this years world up when Gelson Fernandes scored on the 52nd minute, which during that time, was the biggest upset of 2010 World Cup. Spain regroup and beat Honduras 2-0 with David Villa scoring both goals in the 17th and 51st min. They beat Chile 2-1 to get into the round of 16.
Spain's knockout matches weren't as high scoring as the Oranje. The La Roja relied on the heroics of David Villa to beat Portugal and Paraguay 1-0 to setup a semi-final match against heavily favored Germany. The match was easily won by Spain as Germany looks out of sync with Muller serving a suspension following a yellow card during their match against Argentina. Puyol scored on a header in the 73rd minute to set up a showdown against the Dutch for the World Cup.
So who will win?? We will know in 45th minutes of play.. or more
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