History: Netherlands third time unlucky, Spain rule the world in 2010

This FIFA World Cup History feature is part of our build-up to the 2014 edition, which will chart the most special moments from previous tournaments. Today we have a look at the 2010 World Cup. CLICK HERE for the full series.

If Euro 2008 was anything to go by, then what Spain would achieve in the next four years was as close to world dominance in football as you can get. It was the era of tiki-taka and Spain, who were one of the greatest underachievers, came upon the most wonderful coincidence of their best players reaching their peaks in a collective explosion of beautiful football based on pressing, passing and annoying the heck out of their opponents.

Just to give you an idea of how they would play football, check this Guardian graphic out — an incredible illustration of their patience to break down more free-flowing teams. Spain was good at Euro 2008 — they matured by World Cup 2010 — and as if that wasn’t enough, triumphed at Euro 2012 — making their golden generation of players the most successful in terms of trophies won (add Barcelona and Real Madrid’s club successes too).

The run-up to the World Cup was built on how it was finally going to Africa — with Shakira’s Waka-waka and K’Naan’s Waving Flag generating not just national, but continental pride. When the World Cup host was announced eight years ago in 2002, this writer happened to witness fire-crackers bursting and parades streaming out at night in neighbouring Zambia in a show of collective joy — the equivalent of the hard-to-imagine occurrence of Indians celebrating if China got the right to host the World Cup.

The warning shots that this would be an entertaining and highly competitive tournament were fired pretty early on — the would-be champions lost their first game 0-1 to Switzerland and Italy didn’t win a single match, finishing last in their group in a dismal defence of the title. The Germans also succumbed 0-1 to Serbia but went through and eventually finished third.

Germany, Uruguay and Netherlands were playing the more entertaining brand of football — Arjen Robben and Wesley Sneijder coming to life for the Dutch; Germany’s youngsters — Thomas Mueller, Mesut Ozil et all heralding a new era and Uruguay riding on the Diego Forlan-Luis Suarez wave. Spain, on the other hand, won all their knockout games 1-0, stifling opponents through their five-second rule (get possession back in five seconds when you lose the ball) and making it look like they had possession forever as vuvuzelas rung out through South Africa.

Meanwhile, the French could not cope with mutiny on board — their players refusing to play and falling to defeat against Mexico and South Africa in a shocking turn of events. Having got to the tournament in acrimonious circumstances, (their playoff win over Republic of Ireland was marred by a Thierry Henry handball in the run up to France’s equaliser) many thought it was a fitting end to their World Cup journey.

Germany avenged Geoff Hurst’s debatable World Cup 1966 goal against England as they cruised past them 4-1 in the last 16, with Frank Lampard’s potentially game-changing goal ruled out despite bouncing inside the goal-line off the underside of the bar. They then crushed Diego Maradona-led Argentina 4-0 in incredible fashion before running against Spain in the semis and losing 0-1 on a 73rd minute Carles Puyol goal.

Netherlands took out a gritty Slovakia 2-1 before beating Brazil with the same scoreline — the Oranje not playing total football but a fluid counter-attacking style aided by Sneijder’s eye for a pass and resilience at the back. Uruguay were up next in the semis and the two teams threw up a thrilling match which finished 3-2 and saw some breathtaking end-to-end stuff.

Soccer City was lit up for the final — one which saw referee Howard Webb keep his nerve in a match which was fiery, feisty and gripping — something Xabi Alonso must have literally felt when he was kicked in the chest by Nigel de Jong. As chance after chance went begging at each end, with Robben missing the best of the match when he was put through on goal by Sneijder — the dreaded extra-time came up, where Andres Iniesta stepped up and smacked in the winner in the 116th minute.

The Spanish became the first team to win the World Cup after losing their first match — and the group of Iker Casillas, Sergio Ramos, David Villa, Xavi, Iniesta, Fernando Torres, Sergio Busquets, Gerard Pique, Pedro, Cesc Fabregas and co had etched their names in history — and most of them had not even come of age.

As for the Netherlands, it was third time unlucky.

World Cup 2010 Hosts: South Africa Champions: Spain (1-0 vs Netherlands) Top-scorers: Thomas Mueller, Diego Forlan, Wesley Sneijder, David Villa (five goals each)

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