The FIFA World Cup finally reaches its end on Sunday when Spain take on Holland in the final at Soccer City in Soweto.
Holland have maintained a 100 per cent record at the World Cup, winning all six their matches to date, but they were not too impressive in the early rounds.
They were rather fortunate to beat Denmark 2-0 after an own goal swung the match in their favour, while they were not too convincing in beating Japan (1-0) and Cameroon (2-1).
Holland however picked up their game to send Slovakia packing with a 2-1 victory in the Last 16, while they caused one of the upsets of the tournament by beating Brazil 2-1 in the quarterfinals.
In that match Robinho gave Brazil an early lead, but Holland launched a great comeback and two goals by their star midfielder Wesley Sneijder saw them dumping the former five-time World Champions out of the tournament.
Holland duly dismissed Uruguay 3-2 in their semifinal on Tuesday, with the match not as close as the scoreline suggested.
After the teams were level at 1-1 at halftime, two goals in three minutes by Sneijder and Arjen Robben put them in control before Uruguay scored a late consolation goal.
Holland have a well balanced side with a strong defence and midfield, and fast and hard working wing attacks in Robben and Dirk Kuyt. Robben has made a big impact since returning from injury which saw him missing their early games, but their star player has been central midfielder Wesley Sneijder who is currently the joint leading goalscorer with Spain’s David Villa with five goals.
Spain had a poor start to the World Cup, crashing to a 1-0 defeat against Switzerland in their opening match. Since then, however, they have gone on an unbeaten run, beating Honduras 2-0 and Chile 2-1 in the group stages, and Portugal (1-0), Paraguay (1-0) and Germany (1-0) in the knockout stages.
Germany were the favourites to win their semifinal after some great performances against Australia (4-0), England (4-1) and Argentina (4-0), but Spain completely outplayed them from the start. Midfielders Xavi and Iniesta dictated play with their crisp, constant passes in midfield, and although their top marksman David Villa for once did not score, veteran defender Carles Puyol scored the wining goal with a great header from a Xavi corner.
It was the first time in five matches that goal poacher Villa had not scored, and his five goals at the tournament have taken his international tally for Spain to 43 – one behind Raul’s national record.
Players like goalkeeper Iker Casillas, defenders Puyol and Gerard Pique and midfielders Sergio Ramos and Xabi Alonso have also impressed, but striker Fernando Torres has been disappointing. After coming back from a long injury, he has failed to impress and was dropped to the bench for the German match, with the young Barcelona striker Pedro given a start. Pedro had a fine match, but blotted his performance when he tried to go on his own, in stead of passing to an unmarked Torres (who had come on as a sub) in front of goal.
It will be interesting to see if coach Vincente del Bosque will stick with Pedro, or whether he will revert back to Torres. Another option he could have is using Cesc Fabregas, who missed the German match because of injury, in the attack.
In historical terms, there is not much to choose between the two sides as they have a near identical record. They have met nine times before, with each winning four matches while one was drawn. Spain however hold the edge in terms of goals scored with 15 against 11 by Holland.
Holland however have a better World Cup record, having reached the final twice before. On both occasions they lost, going down 2-1 to Germany in 1974 and 3-1 to Argentina four years later.
Holland and Spain have never met at the World Cup before and the last time they met was eight years ago when Holland beat Spain 1-0 in a friendly encounter in Rotterdam.
Since then Spain have however grown into the dominant force in European football and will now start as the favourites to add the World Cup to their European champions title of 2008.