1||July 11, 2010: Spain defeats the Netherlands 1-0 in the FIFA World Cup Final to become world champions for the first time in the competition’s history. The cup began in 1930 and is held every four years.||Newscom/imagosports&&
2||Spanish players Andres Iniesta, Joan Capdevlla, David Villa and Xabi Alonso before the match.||Newscom/imagosports&&
3||The final took place at Soccer City stadium in Johannesburg, South Africa. Former South African President Nelson Mandela and his wife Graca Machel were in attendance.||Newscom/ptsphotos&&
4||Fabio Cannavaro, captain of the 2006 championship Italian team, presents the World Cup trophy before the game. Cannavaro announced his retirement from international football on June 25 after Italy failed to advance to the knockout stage of the cup.||Newscom/ptsphotos&&
5||A fan tries to nab the trophy before the game.||Newscom/AFLOsports&&
6||The final match was tense and often brutal — here, Spanish midfielder Xabi Alonso takes a hard foul straight to the chest from the cleats of Dutch player Nigel de Jong. De Jong received a yellow card for the tackle and said afterwards he feels lucky to have avoided a red card. Alonso left the pitch following the injury but came back on to play the majority of the game.||Newscom/Zuma&&
7||Though de Jong avoided being sent off, his teammate John Heitinga was booted from the pitch in extra time, leaving only ten Dutch players on the field. The Netherlands received nine of the 14 yellow cards that referee Howard Webb doled out during the game, the most ever in a World Cup final (the previous record was just six in the 1986 final between West Germany and Argentina).||Newscom/ptsphotos&&
8||Paul the psychic octopus became an international phenomenon during the World Cup because of his accurate predicting ability — he correctly predicted the outcome of all of Germany’s matches as well as Spain’s final victory, making him eight for eight.||Newscom/imagosports&&
9||After more than 90 minutes of regulation, neither team had scored. Then, in the 116th minute, just a few minutes before the end of extra time and the possible beginning of a penalty shootout, Andres Iniesta scored for Spain — a drive past Dutch keeper Maarten Stekelenburg that would be Spain’s winning goal.||Newscom/Zuma&&
10||Iniesta celebrates after the winning goal. His shirt says “Dani Jarque, always with us,” in honor of the Spanish footballer who died last year from a heart attack at the age of 26.||Newscom/Zuma&&
11||Queen Sofia of Spain celebrates Iniesta’s goal in the stands. In front are Prince Felipe and Princess Letizia, also of the Spanish royal family, and to the side of the Queen is Prince Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands (in the orange scarf).||Newscom/pacificphotos&&
12||Thousands of fans at the Cibeles Fountain in Madrid celebrate the victory.||Newscom/EFE&&
13||Dutch player Wesley Sneijder on the pitch after the match. The Netherlands have reached the World Cup finals three times in their history but have never won the title. Though Spain are the reigning European champions (they beat Germany in the Euro 2008 finals), this was their first time in the World Cup finals.||Newscom/ptsphotos&&
14||Spanish keeper and captain Iker Casillas and the Netherlands’ Arjen Robben after the match.||Newscom/ptsphotos&&
15||Prince Willem-Alexander and Dutch coach Bert Van Marwijk at the trophy ceremony. Marwijk took his silver medal off after leaving the stage.||Newscom/Zuma&&
16||FIFA President Sepp Blatter and South African President Jacob Zuma hand the trophy to Spanish captain Casillas.||Newscom/ptsphotos&&
17|| ||Newscom/Zuma&&
18||Shakira singing “Waka Waka,” the official World Cup anthem, at the closing ceremony.||Newscom/pacificphotos&&
19||Elephant puppeteers at the closing ceremony.||Newscom/Zuma&&
20||The national flags of Netherlands and Spain displayed at the closing ceremony at Soccer City stadium.||Newscom/ptsphotos&&
