Netherlands v Spain in Historic World Cup 2010 Final

Venue: Soccer City, Johannesburg
Date: Sunday, 11 July 2010
Kick-off: 1930 BST

TEAM NEWS

It is expected that the Netherlands coach Bert Van Marwijk will recall Gergory van der Wiel as well as midfielder Nigel de Jong after they both missed the semi final against Uruguay because of suspension. Demy de Zeeuw who received a nasty kick to the jaw in the last match did not in fact break his jaw but his teeth were damaged and it is not known if he will play.

The Spanish coach Vicente del Bosque must decide whether he wants to include Fernando Torres in the starting line or stick with Pedro. It is thought that Cesc Fabregas has overcome his right leg injury but still did not take part in the semi final against Germany.

MATCH PREVIEW

Neither of the teams has ever won the World Cup and it is expected to be a fiercely fought game.

The best Spain has ever managed in the World Cup was fourth place in 1950, however, the team now has the chance to win another major title after winning Euro 2008. They have won 50 of their last 54 games showing amazing passing skills, which exhausts their opponents with one-touch football.

The Netherlands have reached the final twice before in 1974 and 1978 playing their version of the game, Total Football, whilst this may not have taken off, Bert Van Marwijk’s latest side have found their own winning formula. They have not lost a match now for 25 games, and are hoping to copy Brazil’s team of 1970 by being the only team to have a 100% record in both qualifying and the tournament.

Sunday’s final gives Sneijder, Arjen Robben, Klass-Jan Huntelaar and Rafael van der Vaart a great chance to show Spain just how talented they are. The first three of this list were pronounced unnecessary at Real Madrid and the Van der Vaart’s future is under question. On a different note, Sneijder will go against Villa for the Golden Boot as both players are on five goals.

This is Spains 13th World Cup and the Netherlands 9th, however, they have never come face to face in a major tournament. They biggest match was in Antwerp at the 1920 Olympics.

MATCH FACTS
Head-to-head

The two teams have never met at the World Cup or the European Championships before. In over 90 years they have only met nine times, they have won four games each and drawn one. This is the first World Cup final that doesn’t include Brazil, Argentina, Italy or Germany. The last time they met was in Rotterdam in 2002 where the Dutch won 1 – 0.

Netherlands

This is the Netherlands third World Cup final, they lost in both 1974 and 1978 to West Germany and then Argentina. They are hoping to become only the second team to have a 100% success rate through qualifying and the tournament, the first was Brazil in 1970.

This is the first time that the Netherlands have won six World Cup matches in one tournament. This beats their best of five in 1974 where they lost in the final. At the moment the team are on a 25 match unbeaten run, the last time they lost was in September 2008 to Australia in Eindhoven.

So far they have scored 12 goals in South Africa; only Germany has scored more – 13.

Spain

Spain has only lost two of their last 54 matches (one to the USA and one to Switzerland. The defeat to the Swiss could be seen as bad luck; no team has ever lost their opening game and then gone on to win the World Cup.

This is the first time that Spain has reached the World Cup final. They made the final four in 1950 when the competition was in a different format and the remaining teams played a group stage. However, Spain finished last behind the winners Uruguay, Brazil and Sweden.

If David Villa manages to score again then he will equal Raul’s record of 44 goals for Spain. So far by scoring five goals he has equalled the Spanish record for the most scored at one World Cup which was set by Emilio Butragueno in 1986.

So far in the competition Spain has passed the ball 3,387 times, more than any other team. The Netherlands have made 2,434 and Spain also have the tournament’s top four passers: Xavi (464), Busquets (420), Alonso (399) and Pique (378).