Holland Football Formation

Lineup (4-2-3-1)

Maarten Stekelenburg · Joris Mathijsen · John Heitinga · Giovanni van Bronckhorst (c) · Gregory van der Wiel · Nigel de Jong · Mark van Bommel · Dirk Kuyt · Arjen Robben · Wesley Sneijder · Robin van Persie

Netherlands "Runners-Up XI" (2010)

This was without doubt the dirtiest World Cup final till date, with 14 cards in total (including 1 red card) between Spain and Netherlands. And the match was left into a battle of attrition. The dutch side missed several easy chances, with two of the easiest one-on-one chances being missed by Arjen Robben. In the end, Spain won the World Cup final 1-0 with a goal in the extra-time by Andrés Iniesta.

Just before the goal was scored by Spain, the Dutch team had a free kick that hit the wall (apparently taking a deflection off Fàbregas) before going out. Despite the deflection, which should have given possession and a corner kick to the Dutch, a goal kick was given to Spain, starting the play that led to the goal. Joris Mathijsen was yellow-carded for his strong protests to the referee after the goal, and other Dutch players criticised referee Howard Webb for this decision after the match.

Spain won the 2010 World Cup by scoring only 8 goals in total (while conceding 2 goals), from their 7 games. Thus, Spain became the World Cup winner while scoring the lowest number of goals for any winner so far. The Footabll fans were divided by Spain's style of play - some hailed their intelligent midfield play, while others lambasted their lacklustre performance in the attacking third and called them unworthy champions.

Arjen Robben had a fantastic tournament, as did Wesley Sneijder, most notably against Brazil. Robben ended his tournament good form, when he missed some of the easiest of the scoring chances. Thus, Oranjes will need to wait even more for absolute glory, after their third World Cup final loss.

Coach/Manager : Bert van Marwijk

Reserves include : Eljero Elia, Rafael van der Vaart and Edson Braafheid.