And mind you, it took a little while before we had a winner.

Exhausted and out of breath, the players knew just one goal would be enough to win the elusive 2010 FIFA World Cup for their nation.

As the clock ticked toward penalty kicks, the shivering crowd at Soccer City Stadium grew anxious. Spain or the Netherlands would win its first championship. That is if somebody can find the back of the net.

Andres Iniesta did, and Spain rules the soccer world at long, long last. “We have all done an incredible job,” Andres Iniesta said Sunday night, shortly after the 1-0 extra-time victory. “I don’t think we even realize what we have done.”

They beat the Netherlands on Sunday to go one better than the European title Espana won in 2008. Spain won its last four games by a score of 1-0 — a tight margin that characterized the month-long tournament. The World Cup featured a record 31 one-goal decisions out of 64 matches — four more than the previous high set in 2002, according to STATS LLC.

This final was a physical test of attrition that sometimes turned dirty — a finals-record 14 yellow cards were handed out and the Dutch finished with 10 men. In the end, it was Iniesta breaking free in the penalty area, taking a pass from Cesc Fabregas and putting a right-footed shot from 8 yards just past the outstretched arms of goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg with about seven minutes left to play, including…

2010 WORLD CUP TEAMS
Teamwork. That’s what Japan has in South Africa.
Japan brings a fast-moving style, featuring good ball movement, to the 2010 FIFA World Cup. They have, at times in the past, had problems turning their possession into goals, but during 2009 they scored a lot of goals.
Their results included 6-0 and 4-0 thrashings of [...]

2010 WORLD CUP TEAMS
Can they win it all again?
Italy, the defending world champions does not only have four World Cup titles to their name they also have as many World Cup appearances as the other three Group F teams combined in the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
Also known as team Azzuri, Italy has previous experience of [...]

2010 WORLD CUP TEAMS
Serbia will have a lot to prove in South Africa.
Serbia is in the 2010 FIFA World Cup as an independent nation for the first time. However, as Yugoslavia, they have plenty of previous World Cup experience.
The Serbians topped their qualifying group ahead of France and enjoyed a good 2009, recording nine [...]

2010 WORLD CUP TEAMS
Excitement, that’s how one can describe what the entire of nation of Slovakia is feeling.
Making the 2010 FIFA World Cup finals is a very big deal for Slovakia. It is the first time they have qualified for football’s biggest event as Slovakia. Previously, as Czechoslovakia, they had reached the finals on eight [...]

2010 WORLD CUP TEAMS
Here come the Black Stars.
Ghana, known as the Black Stars, qualified for the World Cup finals for the first time in 2006. Their record on the African continent is far more impressive. They have won the African Cup of Nations four times, but the last of those victories was in 1982. They [...]

2010 WORLD CUP TEAMS
The group of death?
Dubbed as group of death, Germany is the favorite in its group for the 2010 FIFA World Cup with an impressive display in the qualifiers, winning eight and drawing two of their 10 matches and scoring 26 goals and conceding only five.
As the host nation of the last [...]

2010 WORLD CUP TEAMS
Denmark missed out on Germany 2006 and two years later failed to qualify for Euro 2008.
But they’re back on the world stage for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. They booked their spot by topping their qualifying group ahead of highly rated Portugal, which occupies fifth place in the [...]

2010 WORLD CUP TEAMS
They want redemption.
The challenge for Australia will be for them to better their performance from Germany 2006, where they qualified from the first round only to be eliminated by a last-minute goal from eventual champions Italy. Can they accomplish that in the 2010 FIFA World Cup?
Australia thrived following their switch to the [...]

2010 WORLD CUP TEAMS
The big question for team Algeria in the World Cup is this, how will they fare against England and USA?
Algeria’s bid for the 2010 FIFA World Cup would be the first time since 1986 that Algeria gets to play in football’s grandest stage. Not since the untroubled days of Algerian football in [...]