By Kelvin Goh Wong

The 2010 World Cup finals was a battle of many firsts. Holland has never won a World Cup despite coming close in the seventies. Even though the Spaniards have won the Euro 2008, they have never made it to the finals of the World Cup let alone win it.

So either way there was history to be made.

Both Spain and Holland started the match in a way that would epitomise the entire tournament; with caution. The 2010 World Cup has seen team after team come into a match playing cautious, boring football and this match was no different.

The ball went back and forth between the sides as both the Dutch and the Spanish failed to find the mark, even when there was only the keeper left to beat.

The match also saw a record 14 yellow cards brandished by English referee Howard Webb who probably did more to interfere than to officiate the game.

Even then, one could not fully blame the officiating for a spectacle that does not befit a World Cup Final. It was a rough and sloppy display of football which had its share of kung-fu kicks, late tackles and superb play-acting on both sides which made it true travesty to football world wide.

What made it worst was the lack of goals in the match. It may have been better had the score line read 3-3 as the match went into extra time.  

Instead it took an entire 116 minutes and the sending off of Dutch defender John Heitiga for Spain to finally put the ball in the net, the single goal courtesy of a late strike by Andreas Iniesta on the counterattack.

With the win, Spain claim their first World Cup title and Holland are left as the 'Nearly men' once again, falling short of claiming the ultimate glory.

This may be the World Cup in which the match for third place was a far more memorable match than the final game. In fact, both the winner of the Golden Ball (The Best Player of the Tournament) and the Golden Boot (Best Goal Scorer) featured in the third placing match.

Both Diego Forlan of Uruguay and Thomas Mueller of Germany put on a show more befitting of a final than Spain and Holland.

Forlan was awarded the Golden Ball Award as he led his country to strive for World Cup glory. Forlan was also part of a four way for the Golden boot along with Wesley Sneijder of Holland, David Villa of Spain and Mueller who ultimately won the award thanks to a tie-break system that awarded him for assists as well.

Mueller also won the Best Young Player Award while the Golden Glove Award went to Spanish goalkeeper, Iker Casillas to add to his winner's medal.