Tonight we would see a new World Cup winner; as neither Holland nor Spain had won the trophy. For Spain, it's their first World Cup Final; Holland are hoping it's third time lucky.

Spain started the 2010 World Cup Final looking the more assured and made the first attempt at goal in the fifth minute; as Maarten Stekelenburg had to dive to parry away a header from Sergio Ramos and then get up quick to block Pique's attempt to get the ball across the goal.

Five minutes later, Ramos was at it again; as he slipped past Dirk Kuyt only to see John Heitinga boot the cross out for a corner.

Then Howard Webb started dealing out the cards: Holland, Spain, Holland, Spain; four yellow cards within eight minutes.

That spoilt the flow of the game.

The next card could have been a Jack of Diamonds (red) as Nigel de Jong seemed to plant his studs into 's chest.

Then Spain settled for a moment, by trying to play the ball around.

Holland tried to grab a quick goal just before the break but Iker Casillas kept them out. Holland van Thuggery were lucky to go in with a full team of players at half-time.

Half-time: 0:0

So much for a display of football by the best players on the planet; as Howard Webb continued to blow his whistle for everything but a goal.

Holland's best chance came in the 62nd minute; as Arjen Robben ran on the Spanish goal and almost waited for Iker Casillas to fall before he shot, but the Spanish stopper kicked out a foot and sent the ball out for a corner.

Spain came close with twenty minutes left to go as Heitinga stumbled all over Jesus Navas's low cross and David Villa cursed his luck to miss his chance at the far post; when Heitinga made a recovery.

Six minutes later, Sergio Ramos headed over the bar and Vicente del Bosque hid his head in his hands in disbelief.

Holland found a little more movement in the last ten minutes and Iker Casillas had to be quick to save at Arjen Robben's feet. Robben then turned and ran all the way up the pitch to chase after Howard Webb; complaining like a baby about an earlier challenge, and earned a booking for his efforts.

Into Extra Time - with another thirty minutes to avoid penalties.

And it seemed like the teams had saved their best football until the end. With nine players on yellow cards, they didn't really have much choice but to play the ball.

A red card just had to happen, the question would be for who? The arm on Andrés Iniesta's shoulder belonged to John Heitinga; and he already had his name in Howard Webb's book. So with a little over 10 minutes of extra-time to play, Holland were down to ten men.

Spain made the most of that as Cesc Fabregas looked up to see Andrés Iniesta back onside then fed in the perfect ball for a perfect finish to a not-so-perfect World Cup Final.

Howard Webb still had time to deal out a few more yellow cards before Spain went up to lift the World Cup for the first time in their history.

Holland 0 Spain 1

Last round, four South American teams could have made it through to the semi-finals. Instead, it's now going to be an all European World Cup Final.

Some would say that this was a re-match of the Euro 2008 Final; which Spain won (1:0).

Spain sought to control the midfield and thus restrict Germany's movement.

The European Champions also looked the more likely to score early in the game; Manuel Neuer quick to block from David Villa in the seventh minute, and Carles Puyol heading over the bar seven minutes later.

For their part, Germany had a slight penalty claim turned down, just before the break, when Sergio Ramos clipped Mesut Özil just on the edge of the area.

Half-time: 0:0

Germany semed a little more comfortable in the second-half; until Pedro skipped down the right, past Boateng and Friedrich, and tried to set up Alonso.

Joachim Löw didn't like the look of that; replacing Jerome Boateng with Marcell Jansen.

Spain joined Brazil (USA 1994) and Holland (France 1998) in completing 3,000 passes at a single World Cup Finals tournament.

Spain started to up the tempo, just before the hour, with Pedro forcing Manuel Neuer to make a save and then shooting wide less than a minute later.

Sergio Ramos also ran into the area to try his luck. The Real Madrid right back has been wanting to score for a few games now.

Iker Casillas made the save from Toni Kroos look better than the soft shot warranted; after some swift movement on the left and a lofted cross from Lukas Podolski found the German substitute unmarked.

Four minutes later, Carles Puyol powered a header in from a corner to finally edge Spain in front.

Pedro could have sealed the win for Spain, with a little over eight minutes left of normal time left to play, when he broke through with substitute Fernando Torres free to his left.

Spain repeat their Euro 2008 performance against Germany; with the same scoreline.

Germany 0 Spain 1

Paraguay or Spain for a semi-final meeting with Germany.

Iker Casillas showed a slight lack of concentration in the seventh minute but for the first twenty minutes nothing really seemed to take shape.

Paraguay did enough to contain Spain, before thinking about maybe moving forward a little themselves.

Fernando Torres almost woke up in the 27th minute, then once in the Paraguay area with two defenders Torres didn't seem to believe that he moved so well and the opportunity was lost. Xavi then watched his own shot float past the target.

Paraguay's closest attempt was when Jonathan Santana failed to get his head on Morel's long ball, and a goal disallowed for offside.

Paraguay deserved to be in front, just about; mainly because Spain didn't.

Half-time: 0:0

Spain continued to pass poorly at the start of the second-half; so much so that Vicente del Bosque decided to bring on the master passer Cesc Fabregas, for the ineffective Fernando Torres.

Then a few minutes of drama as Carlos Batres gave both teams the chance for a little penalty practise: Iker Casillas saved from Oscar Cardozo; then at the other end Justo Villar saved from Xabi Alonso, at the second attempt. Spain could have had another penalty in the melee that followed the save.

It took a while coming but even the goal was hysterical as Iniesta laid the groundwork for Pedro Rodriguez to hit the ball onto the post. David Villa's follow up shot also hit the post before settling in the back of the net.

Paraguay 0 Spain 1

There's nothing like a neighbourly challenge.

David Villa tested his shooting boots in the third minute. A couple of minutes later, he stretched his running legs.

Then we were treated to the usual hands on hips from Cristiano Ronaldo, when a free-kick wasn't given to him.

Iker Casillas flapped at a Tiago shot in the 20th minute but instantly redeemed himself by palming the ball away from Hugo Almeida's head.

Casillas looked suspect again, eight minutes later, when he shovelled at a Ronaldo free-kick.

Argentina's Hector Baldassi just shook his head and left Ronaldo sitting on the floor again in the 35th minute. Ronaldo stayed on his feet four minutes later, by not running into players on purpose. Instead, when the run came to a dead-end, he just laid the ball back.

Casillas raced off his line shortly before the break, to make sure the deadlock wasn't broken. If it keeps on like this, we could be in for a long evening.

Half-time: 0:0

Nothing too inspiring at the start of the second-half.

Third-time lucky for Casillas, as he watched a potential Spain own-goal just bobble past his post; Almeida's low cross taking something of a looping deflection off a defender.

Just a minute after coming on for Fernando Torres, Fernando Llorente should have scored with a free header.

Spain looked more lively and after a series of combination passes around the Portugal area, David Villa scored at the second attempt. The arrival of Llorente has added the much-needed strength to the Spanish front line.

After a run down the right, Sergio Ramos came close to adding a second for Spain seven minutes later. Then it was Villa's turn to try a long shot on the left.

With four minutes to go, Llorente glanced a header wide and then a couple of minutes later his over-acting earned Ricardo Costa a red card. The man who came on and started putting it about amongst the Portuguese defenders was seen rolling around like a baby.

Oh the pain.

Spain 1 Portugal 0

Having lost to a resilient Switzerland in their opening match, Spain couldn't afford to lose again. Even a draw would have been disastrous, if Switzerland were to beat Honduras in their last match.

If Spain lost, the World Cup tournament would have been over for the European Champions. David Villa didn't let that bother him as he thundered the ball off the crossbar in the seventh minute.

Sergio Ramos later had a penalty appeal turned down and then held his head in horror when he headed over the bar.

On fire from the start, David Villa allowed all of Spain to relax when he weaved in from the left, through two centre-backs and stretched past Osman Chavez; to fire into the top corner.

The 2008 European Champions had finally announced their arrival on the 2010 World stage.

Due to continued Spanish pressure, Honduras didn't really get a look in but did manage to keep the scoreline respectable.

Half-time: 1:0

Early in the second-half, David Villa produced another excellent strike from the edge of the area; although the up and under flight of Jabulani was probably helped on by the shin of Osman Chavez.

Then Sergio Ramos again tried desperately to get himself on the scoresheet. Maybe sometimes he just tries too hard.

Just after the hour, Emilio Izaguirre took the legs of Jesus Navas out from under him in the Honduran penalty area. David Villa stepped up to try for his hat-trick; sent Noel Valladares one way and the ball wide of the post the other way.

A couple of minutes later, Cesc Fabregas came on for Spain and almost scored at the first attempt.

When it comes down to the final games, Spain might rue their missed chances here; even Sergio Ramos had a chance to score his own hat-trick.

Spain 2 Honduras 0

Spain and Switzerland were the last two teams to kick their World Cup campaign off.

Spain, one of the favourites to win the World Cup, started as expected; looking comfortable on the ball, with plenty of possession. Switzerland would have been chasing shadows, if the sun were shining.

Even when Switzerland earned a corner, in the ninth minute, it was Spain who almost scored; breaking out with snappy passing, but David Villa missed the option of Sergio Ramos at the far post.

Diego Benaglio spread himself at the feet of Gerard Piqué to deny Spain, then Reto Ziegler forced a save from Iker Casillas; when he fired a low free-kick at the other end, in the 26th minute.

Switzerland worked hard to keep the Spanish attacking threat neutralised and for most part, despite a few scares, it worked.

Despite intricate flashes of brilliance from Iniesta and David Villa on the left, the dim reality is that it's goalless at half-time for the ninth time - out of sixteen matches played.

Half-time: 0:0

The second-half started as the first finished, with Spain mostly attacking down their left.

From a long Swiss clearance down the middle, the ball was flicked on then, amid plenty of rolling and tumbling in the Spain penalty area, Gelson Fernandes emerged as the unexpected hero; the European Champions a goal down.

Spain continued to press forward: Fernando Torres closed down; Alonso hits the bar; Switzerland holding out.

Spain were very nearly two goals down, with fifteen minutes to go, when Eren Derdiyok lost the defenders long enough to flick the ball onto the post with the outside of his foot.

With Spain pushing everyone forward, Switzerland continued to pose problems on the counter-attack. The minutes seemed to tick away like seconds for Spain, yet drag on like hours for Switzerland.

The Swiss fans looked nervous; five minutes away from an historical moment. Then fireworks exploded in the tiny Alpine country and car horns sounded from Appenzell to Zurich.

Spain 0 Switzerland 1