AS THE SEMI-FINALS LOOM: Was THIS Krul moment the most shocking of a memorable World Cup?

Finders keepers; Cillessen makes way for Krul

IT will go down as the most memorable moment in an extraordinary World Cup. Seconds left in extra-time, Holland unable to break down Costa Rica – and suddenly goalkeeper Tim Krul comes on as a late, late substitute.

Look, we’d seen him warming up on the sideline as the penalty shoot-out loomed. I immediately flashed off messages to my Newcastle United supporting mates asking them if a man who went on loan to lowly Carlisle and Falkirk a few years ago was some sort of penalty stopping expert.

The word came back: He had saved 2 penalties in 20 at St James’ Park. And no evidence of any great resistance to spot kicks. WHAT WAS LOUIS VAN GAAL DOING?

But in dramatic moments that will go down in World Cup history, the unremarkable Krul became the global man of the moment, saving penalties to his left from Brian Ruiz and sub Michael Umana while Costa Rica’s Man of the Match Keylor Navas, one of the goalkeepers of the tournament, couldn’t get near a perfect four out of four from Holland.

While Robin Van Persie (who missed a glaring chance during extra-time), Arjen Robben (brilliant throughout), Wesley Sneijder (who hit the woodwork twice during the game) and veteran Dirk Kuyt confounded Navas, Krul was talking to the Costa Ricans constantly and never looked like he was going to be anything less than a hero.

Afterwards Krul told the BBC: "I psyched them out. You try to do everything you can without being too aggressive. I tried to get in their minds.

"It is something I have dreamed about since I was a little boy - to have that moment when you make the crucial save and then all the boys are running towards you."

And Dutch coach Louis van Gaal, who will decamp to Manchester United after the tournament, insisted: "We all thought Tim was the best keeper to stop penalties. He is taller and has a longer reach.

"It worked out. That was beautiful. I'm a bit proud of that."

Is it REALLY just about height? Krul is 6ft 4in (1.93m), Jasper Cillessen is 6ft 2in (1.87m). And poor old Cillessen had produced his only save of the night in the 118^th minute of a looooong goalless draw – Costa Rica’s only shot on target.

Shock tactic: Krul saves second penalty

So having made TWO touches all night, Krul heads to the semi against Argentina (dull 1-0 winners over Belgium in their quarter-final earlier on Saturday night) knowing he WILL NOT START in Sao Paulo tomorrow night.

Van Gaal confirmed: "There is no question about who will start the next game, it will be Cillessen, but we felt Krul was the better choice purely for penalties."

And this morning we had Cillessen admitting: "I had no idea I was being substituted. It was a complete surprise."

As we struggled to overcome the emotions of another dramatic night – Friday evening saw Germany crush the life out of France while Brazil crept past Colombia – we head to the last four breathless.

Tuesday’s semi between Germany and Brazil is dominated by two key absences for the hosts: top-scorer Neymar is out with a fractured vertebra (there will be no last-minute miracle cure, even if they reach the final) and captain Thiago Motta is banned for one game (pending a ridiculous appeal against his yellow card). Huge problems for Luis Scolari.

On Neymar, I had an interesting Facebook message from an old medical doctor friend in Cape Town who, having seen the widely-circulated x-ray of the damaged vertebra, insisted: "The CT scan looks like chronic spondylitis of the fifth lumbar vertebra. It looks like an old injury to me."

Wednesday night pits the only non-winner Holland – three-time losing finalists - against an Argentina who have yet to see their much-vaunted strike catch fire.

Form suggests the two European superpowers will surge on to the final. History says it will be an all-South American affair for the first time in history. No nation appears to have hit top form at this point.

I’m saying Brazil will win the final 2-1 against Argentina. But at THIS World Cup, anything is possible. Even the occasional Krul twist.

SOCCERBALLZ! my innovative football show on www.ballz.co.za with Mark Fish airs every Thursday from 9am-11am. See Ballz' channel for our growing library of fascinating football interviews with the big names. Ballz will also provide daily World Cup updates from next week.

You can also follow me on www.twitter.com/nealcol for all the latest sports news and read my “Neal and Pray” column every Tuesday in www.thenewage.co.za.

The collapse of an empire: sorry Spain the first major casualties of the 2014 World Cup

Spainful: Casillas concedes against Chile

THE reign of Spain falls mainly on the plane home. That incredible wave of Spanish conquest dating back to 2008 is OVER. Vicente del Bosque’s World Cup winners broke all records in their bid to return home rapidly from Brazil.

Walloped 5-1 by Hup Hup Holland in their opening Group B game and convincingly ousted 2-0 by a super hot Chile in their second, the football-speaking world had a field day with the kings of tika-taka, ignoring those 2008 and 2012 European Championships wins either side of their dour 2010 World Cup triumph.

It’s unfair. We all love to see the giants fall. But this was a Jack and the Beanstalk return to earth for a Spanish side which conceded just two goals in South Africa four years ago (and scored a record low of seven to conquer the world). In just thee halves of football – 135 minutes – they conceded SEVEN, Iker Casillas was exposed and without Carles Puyol, they seemed incapable of stopping the rot.

Seven-goal champs: Spain in 2010

Diego Costa, the Brazilian striker who opted for Spain after two friendlies for his homeland last year, turned out to be about as popular as Kingston Nkatha at Kaizer Chiefs, as effective as Ndumiso Mabena at Orlando Pirates. In short, a huge boo-boo.

Ironically, it was soon-to-depart South African head coach Gordon Igesund who said in Australia last month: “Spain have become too predictable” as he explained Bafana’s surprise 1-0 friendly win over Espana at Soccer City, venue of their greatest triumph.

Even more ironically, it would not surprise this writer if Del Bosque now becomes a target to succeed Igesund, given his CV. But there is a rarely-mentioned detail in the 63-year-old Spaniard’s career: he took over Spain in 2008 only after Luis Aragones had led them to their first European Championship success.

Ultimately Del Bosque was undone by his reluctance to change a winning set-up: he stuck with the old guard and it worked for the years – until their record-breaking demise in Brazil. No champions have ever lost their first two games in defending the World Cup.

It’s one thing to see World Cup winners fall at the first hurdle (as France and Italy did before them) it’s quite another to see such a great side, filled with Barcelona and Real Madrid all-conquering giants, slip out of the tournament without a fight.

Though they managed a couple of shots late on, it was Arsenal’s Santi Cazorla, on the periphery of the great Spanish successes, who produced most of the late urgency after coming on as a substitute.

I said before this tournament that South American sides would dominate, pointing out that Europeans have never won on the continent. I said too that Chile (and Colombia) could spring a surprise or two.

A crest-fallen Del Bosque, 63, said: "We were inferior to both Netherlands and Chile. It is a sad day for all of us. We are sorry we didn't succeed, now is too early to analyse where we go from here.

"The first goal really buoyed them and they really got into our faces. They got the goals and gave us a mountain to climb. We were too timid in the first half and did not react sufficiently in the second."

But as we glory in the fall of the giants, joined at the early exit door by brave Australia (beaten 3-2 in a cracker by the Netherlands) it’s worth remembering other big guns could soon join them – notably England, who cannot accept anything less than a win over Uruguay.

Ouch: last look at that Spanish defence

As the smoke clears, it would be hard to say that the South American big guns – Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay – are in scintillating form on their home continent. Holland and Germany look the form sides with Aarjen Robben, Robin van Persie and Thomas Muller leading the race for the Golden Boot with three goals each so far.

But I suspect Argentina will get stronger and stronger. Brazil, with Neymar isolated up front thanks to the incompetence of Fred, Hulk and Jo, have a lot of work to do after their 0-0 draw with Mexico.

But this World Cup remains a fascinating journey. Scoring at a rate of nearly four goals a game, this is a tournament marked by attacking exuberance and super substitutions. Long may it continue.

And I leave you with this thought: were Spain single-handedly responsible for lowering the tone of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa? Tika-taka may be great for the purists, but the lack of direct, exciting, thrusting football can be blamed on those pesky Spaniards four years ago. Germany were a far more attractive proposition and I said so at the time as they scored 21 goals and crashed out in the semi-finals.

Giants are not always attractive. They can even be mistaken for ogres. I for one am not sorry to see this particular Espana thrown in the works.

Disgrace: Assou-Ekotto and Moukanjo square up

Later last night, we had the unedifying spectacle of Cameroon crashing out and joining Spain and Australia in the queue at the Brazil exit door. Going down to Croatia 4-0 is one thing. But the unedifying spectacle of Benoit Assou-Ekotto and Benjamin Moukanjo squaring up to each other before the Spurs man (currently on loan at QPR) threw in a head-butt was too much.




Earlier former Arsenal man Alex Song, now at Barcelona, had been sent off for a ridiculous off-the-ball swing which left Cameroon coach Volker Finke summing up his night thus: "It's clear we have to find the reasons what's going on because such behaviour is really disgusting, it won't do, it's impossible. There will be repercussions."


All this of course, happening on television screens around the world to Cameroon, the nation which gave us the infamous son-of-a-sultan Issa Hayatou, who has run CAF, the African Football Federation, since 1987. Little wonder Africa is going backwards internationally if the dictator can't even keep his own nation in order. The current CAF situation in Brazil: Played 6, Won 1, Drawn 1, Lost 4. That's relegation form.

SOCCERBALLZ! my innovative football show on www.ballz.co.za with Mark Fish airs every Thursday from 9am-11am. See Ballz' channel for our growing library of fascinating football interviews with the big names. Ballz will also provide daily World Cup updates from next week.

You can also follow me on www.twitter.com/nealcol for all the latest sports news and read my “Neal and Pray” column every Tuesday in www.thenewage.co.za.

The World Cup that refuses to conform: an enthralling first round leaves a football-speaking globe breathless

SUPER SUB: Belgium's Marouane Fellaini scored against Algeria

There’s something wrong with this World Cup. We’re supposed to be in the tentative early stages of the greatest footballing show on earth – and nobody’s paying ANY attention to history.

Traditionally, even in the old days of 16 teams in the finals, the first game of the group phase is a cautious event. Neither side wants to lose for fear of being ruled out of contention after 90 minutes. The first round ended with Russia v South Korea the 16^th and final game – and we are confounded.

This has been a World Cup of supersubs coming on to save their nation, come-from-behind triumphs and attack-at-all-costs. It’s NORMAL for side who have gone behind to be content with a point when they snatch an equaliser.

But not in Brazil this time.  Those awful 0-0 draws are few and far between. The 1-0 stale-mate has become a fascinating temptation for the chasing team. The stand-out examples of this exciting footballing revolution were the shocking triumphs registered by the Netherlands and Costa Rica – and even Africa's top-ranked Algeria against fashionable Belgium.

A dodgy penalty saw the Dutch go behind against World Cup holders Spain… and when Robin van Persie produced a stunning lobbed dive-header over Iker Casillas to equalise, you might have thought that was that when we got to half-time at 1-1.

Goal of the tournament? Van Persie's header v Spain

But not this time. The Netherlands, beaten 1-0 by Spain’s tika-taka troops in the 2010 final in Soccer City four years ago, were having none of that “what we have we hold” nonsense.

Van Persie and Aarjen Robben simply continued to torment the Spainful champions. A team that had conceded just three goals in winning their last two major tournaments found themselves 2-1 down. Then three, four, five… and it might have been six.

Casillas took a lot of the blame, he blundered on one cross for the third, came out too early on the fourth. But to blame one man – a goalkeeper accustomed to the bench at Real Madrid too often over the last two seasons – would be churlish.

We had barely got over the shock of that epic 5-1 defeat at Costa Rica were at it. Ranked lower than Bafana Bafana just a year ago, we knew they weren’t a pushover for Uruguay, who required a play-off against Jordan to reach the finals.

But when the former two-time World Cup winners, playing on their own continent, went ahead, everyone assumed Uruguay would be at of the Latin American Samba to the knock-out stages.

But no. With Arsenal’s loan ranger Joel Campbell scoring one and making another, Costa Rica levelled and then stuck it to their highly-rated rivals, seventh in the FIFA world rankings before the tournament.

Their 3-1 win was nearly as surprising as Holland’s triumph over Spain. And it blew the toughest group of the tournament wide open. Italy went on to beat England 2-1 with a typical Mario Balotelli winner – but who is to say who will qualify from Group D?

It’s been breathless. It’s been far too exciting. Far too many goals, especially compared to Spain’s seven-goal bore war in South Africa four years ago.

To add to the drama, Africa’s great hopefuls the Ivory Coast came back from a goal down to beat Japan in the wee hours of Saturday morning.

Since then, we’re seen African champions Nigeria held to a disappointing 0-0 draw by Iran (the first of the tournament) while Germany crushed Portugal 4-0 to leave Ghana, beaten 2-1 thanks to a lapse of concentration against the USA, in a very tight spot. It could be worse. Both Nigeria and Iran have a point more than England, beaten 2-1 by Italian Mario Balotelli's towering header.

Not this time: Italy overcame
England 2-1 in Manaus

Barring miracles, Africa could find themselves with only Cote D'Ivoire of the Big Five surviving to the knock-out stages. But there’s still a long way to go, with Brazil and Mexico the only sides to have played twice so far – their 0-0 draw means Cameroon could go out of the tournament if they lose their second game to Croatia.

Gripping stuff. But we cannot ignore the opening game. On the face of it, Brazil 3, Croatia 1 looks like another example of the revolutionary gender: a come-from-behind win which saw Filipe Scolari refusing to accept a point, gunning for all three after the equaliser.

But of course it wasn’t. With protests and stun grenades in the streets, there was a feeling a poor opening result would spark further trouble for FIFA and the host nation. Marcelo’s own goal had given Croatia the lead, Neymar’s low shot levelled just before the break.

But as I had predicted on twitter several times in the build-up, it needed a dodgy Neymar penalty to win it. Fred, who touched the ball just five times on the night, did what he was told. He fell over when he felt a hand on his should. The lightest brush of contact. Dive, dive, dive.

The feckless Japanese referee blew without hesitation. Neymar penalty. 2-1. Croatia went for the equaliser and got it, only for their goal to be disallowed for a questionable foul on Julio Cesar in the Brazilian goal. Okay, the impressive Oscar added a third, but by then the damage was done. And a sour taste was left in the mouth.

I leave it to Croatia coach Niko Kovac to sum it up: "If that's how we start the World Cup, we'd better give it up now and go home. We talk about respect, that wasn't respect, Croatia didn't get any. If that's a penalty, we don't need to play football anymore. Let's play basketball instead, it's a shame."

There was an opportunity for a repeat of that in the late stages of the 0-0 draw against Mexico, fortunately the spot kick wasn’t given. But a point means Brazil will probably not to stumble out early. That would make things far too exciting.

SOCCERBALLZ! my innovative football show on www.ballz.co.za with Mark Fish airs every Thursday from 9am-11am. See Ballz' channel for our growing library of fascinating football interviews with the big names. Ballz will also provide daily World Cup updates from next week.

You can also follow me on www.twitter.com/nealcol for all the latest sports news and read my “Neal and Pray” column every Tuesday in www.thenewage.co.za.

My second round Kick Off Predictor selections: 

Belgium 2

vs

Algeria 0

Brazil 2

vs

Mexico 1

Russia 2

vs

Korea Republic 0

Australia 0

vs

Netherlands 2

Spain 2

vs

Chile 1

Cameroon 0

vs

Croatia 2

Colombia 1

vs

Ivory Coast 1

Uruguay 0

vs

England 1

Japan 1

vs

Greece 1

Italy 2

vs

Costa Rica 0

Switzerland 1

vs

France 2

Honduras 0

vs

Ecuador 1

Argentina 4

vs

Iran 0

Germany 3

vs

Ghana 1

Nigeria 0

vs

Bosnia and Herzegovina 1

Why the missus didn't get a look-in this weekend... and there's more to come

Court case to come: John Terry and Anton Ferdinand

SOME weekend for sports fans. Maria Sharapova wore a nice strappy frock and won the French Open. The television ratings always rise for the Russian beauty, along with many male members.
The much-hyped mens final between Novak Djokovic and Rafa Nadal will resume tomorrow afternoon due to rain with Djokovic attempting a comeback after losing the first two sets 6-4 6-3 2-6 1-2.
On the rugby pitch, England were clearly robbed 22-17 by Heyneke Meyer's uncertain Springbulls in Durban, where Kiwi referee Steve Walsh is due to be replaced by South African public enemy number one, Bryce Lawrence for the rest of the series (he said hopefully), New Zealand trounced Ireland, Australia were too much for Wales. Same old, same old.
The Canadian Grand Prix saw a SEVENTH different winner in as many F1 races this season as Lewis Hamilton used his fresh tyres to slip past double champions Sebastien Vettel and Fernando Alonso.
In Las Vegas early on Sunday morning, Manny Pacquiao lost his WBO welterweight title to Timothy Bradley after a highly controversial split points decision. There will doubtless be a rematch, otherwise somebody is going to have to take on Floyd Mayweather when he comes out of jail.
But all this is mere window-dressing on a weekend of footballing humdingers.
In Gaborone, South Africa's new caretaker coach Steve Komphela came in, changed nothing and, unsurprisingly, produced Bafana Bafana's 1,356th successive draw. Apparently this has to do with muti and unpaid songomas rather than Komphela's bizarre decision to stick with the men who curtailed Pitso Mosimane's international coaching career when they drew with Ethiopia. Phokeng hell. And that was just the headline.
With Gordon Igesund leading the hastily assemble SAFA shortlist ahead of Gavin Hunt, Neil Tovey, people's choice Shakes Mashaba and the now-unpopular Komphela, perhaps I should offer this: for many nations, two draws in two World Cup qualifiers is considered something of a coup. In Africa, where coups are common, we should consider a group containing the Central African Republic, Botswana and Ethiopia - who beat CAR 2-0 yesterday to top the group - a free air-ticket to Brazil in 2014.
One unkind Botswanan suggested South Africa, home of AFCON 2013 after Libya shot their president and pulled out, are adopting the "if you can't beat them, host them" philosophy.
This is unfair. South Africa, providing they don't panic and appoint a Serbian to lead the nation, will top their group. After that, with play-offs to decide the meagre five-strong African contingent in Brazil, it's a lottery.
And so to the European Racism Championship. Poland and the Ukraine have done their best to present their fascist face to the world, and when Holland's black players were subjected to racist chanting in their first public appearance, we suddenly realised Sol Campbell's Panorama investigation was more than a hatchet job.
Still, the shows goes on. After two nights of action, no games have been called off, no players have stormed off. Missiles were thrown during Portugal v Germany, but hey, they were hardly intercontinental or ballistic. This is, after all, the battle for Europe, not the world.
At SuperSport headquarters, or more precisely in the roofed garden behind Studio 6 in their Oak Avenue complex, I spent yesterday with the great and the good in the first of our weekly EuroZone series (every Saturday at 4pm, don't miss it, next week it won't start just as Botswana equalise).
The grand old man of football Terry Paine was there. He's been commentating on South African football since Sepp Blatter was a lad. Get him talking about Southampton's promotion to the English Premier League this season, and he's a laugh a minute. In great shape for a man of 73, he brightens visibly when talking about his 50-year-old column in the Southampton Evening Echo. Apparently Southampton - where he still holds the record for club appearances - invited him over to hand out the trophies after their epic rags-to-riches promotion season.
Then there's John Barnes, also part of the SuperSport crew for this Euro2012. He turned up two days late after being told halfway to Johannesburg that he needed a new passport. Barnesie is a great character. He may have missed the 12-minute Opening Ceremony in Warsaw flying backwards and forwards but he told me this joke: "Breaking news: There were incidents of monkey chanting during England's training sesson at Euro2012 yesterday, John Terry has been warned if he doesn't stop, he'll be on the next flight home."
On the more serious allegation that Rio Ferdinand has been omitted from Roy Hodgson's squad because of John Terry's impending court case over racially abusing Rio's brother Anton at QPR, Barnes says: "You have to respect Roy Hodgson's decision. When I said that in England, everyone accused me of supporting Terry. But I wasn't. I just said respect the coach. Personally, I think Rio is England's best centre-back. He should be there."
Terry Paine insists: "The FA have got involved here. They've told Hodgson not to pick Rio. Simple as that."
Also present? Bradley Carnell, who spent 12 years as a professional in Germany, lovely bloke, tells a good tale. The mad Italian Stefano Vigoriti, the knowedgeable Spaniard Ricard Fernandez and of course the beautiful presenters, Carol Tshabalala and Thomas Mlambo.
We get an hour on SuperSport3 every Saturday at 4pm. Might be worth watching.
The football certainly is. Plenty of incident in the opener, where hosts Poland were held 1-1 by Greece with two red cards and a sub-standard Spanish referee. Then the Russians, tipped by both yours truly and Ruud Krol (I had a quick chat with the former Orlando Pirates treble-winner before make-up) crushed the Czech Republic 4-1.
Krol was ushered out in a state of some distress after Holland's shock 1-0 defeat against unfancied Denmark tonight but I can console him with the news that Robin van Persie's boots have been found in Fernando Torres's blue-and-red kit bag.
After that, Cristiano Ronaldo and 10 other blokes in red tried to Germanate Joachim Loew's tournament favourites. Sadly, Mario Gomes scored after 70 minutes and CR7 had no reply. While all that was going on, Lionel Messi scored a hat-trick in Argentina's 4-3 win over rivals Brazil (fielding their Olympic squad in New Jersey, USA) to help us remember Euro2012 is NOT the World Cup. Many described it as the game of the year.
Today World and European Champions Spain were expected to crush an Italian side floored by match-fixing investigations. It ended 1-1. Mario Balotelli didn't wear his Ghanaian surname Barwuah on his shirt, Fernando Torres missed a couple. Habitual scorer Di Natale came on for Balotelli and scored with his first touch for Italy. Cesc Fabregas, the former Gunner now with Barcelona, replied within three minutes for a Spanish side which started without a striker. Spain held 1-1? They lost to Switzerland 2-1 in their WC2010 opener and went on to win it.
Croatia then crushed the Republic of Ireland, much to the chagrin of my late Irish bastard great-grand-dad Collins with Luka Modric writing his CV for that move to Manchester United.
Monday sees England take a pounding from Laurent Blanc's rebuilt France, unbeaten in 21 games, while Sweden versus the Ukraine is anybody's guess. I've got eNews at 8.15am in the morning, my New Age column to write, then my debut on Ballz Radio at 3pm.
The action just doesn't stop. But consider this. South Africa's cricketers go to England next week. There are two more rugby Tests between the nations to come. And then the Olympics in London. Stay tuned. And warn the wife.

World Cup 2010: Minute-by-minute guide to how Spain broke Dutch hearts at Soccer City

Sepp Blatter and Jacob Zuma hand over the World Cup. Spain are World Champions at last.

One Andres Iniesta goal in extra-time was enough. Not a great final, but a grand tournament in South Africa.

It ended with fireworks at Sun City... but we didn't have many crackers on the field. But hey, the football during this tournament has sometimes been peripheral to the main event. An nation emerging on the world stage.

Forget Spain 1 Netherlands 0, think South Africa won.

Oh, and Diego Forlan too. He walked away with the Player of the Tournament award for trying to lift Uruguay to glory single-handed. He also claims the Golden Boot... he tied on five goals with Miroslav Klose, Wesley Sneijder and David Villa, but he had more assists... three.

Vincente del Bosch nearly smiled there. The Spanish players are bouncing him. Dutch still struggling to come to terms with another World Cup final defeat. Now for the cup-lifting moment.

No wonder Arjen Robben's so angry. He had two one-on-ones to win it. Tears all over the pitch. Sneijder still my man of the tournament. But Spain did what I said they'd do. Crushed the life out of the Oranjes with possession. Did the same to Germany. Did the same all tournament. Apart from losing to Swiss in opening game. But credit to them... Navas livened things up, Iniesta man of the match before the goal.

FULL-TIME: Spain 1, Netherland 0. Iniesta gives the Spanish their first ever World Cup... and they hold the European Championship too. First side to do that since 1974 (Germany). Van Bommel complaining, Robben furious with referee Webb.

120 mins: Two extra minutes to play, another yellow card...I make that 14, five for Spain... and Holland must accept a third World Cup final defeat after 1974 and 1978. Torres, who played a part in the goal, pulls up injured.

116 mins: GOAL. SPAIN WIN THE WORLD CUP. Andres Iniesta scores, short range effort, well struck, Mathieson booked. Only Sneijder, Kuyt and the goalkeeper remain uncautioned. Iniesta booked too.

114 minutes: Sneijder, the free-kick specialist with five goals in the tournament, sees a deflected goal-kick go just wide. The World Cup, the golden boot, everything rested on that.

110 mins: Yellow for Van der Viel. Eleven yellows, eight for the Oranjes if you count Heintinga's double. A total of 40 shown in previous 11 World Cup finals.

108 mins: And finally, after nine yellow cards, it's a red for Dutchman John Heitinga, he gets the Zinedane Zidane treatment in a World Cup final with Spaniards waving their invisible cards again.

105 mins: Fernando Torres, apparently struggling with his knee, on for five-goal David Villa. Golden Boot will probably be shared unless Sneijder scores.

HALF-TIME IN EXTRA-TIME: and still we wait. Nice run from Fabregas but it comes to nothing. He and Robben have had the clear chances. Holland bring on Edson Braafheid of Celtic for his World Cup finals debut.

99 mins: Rafael van der Vaart to offer a second wind for Holland, De Jong off.

95 mins: GREAT CHANCE: Iniesta superb ball for Fabregas, Stekelen gets his left leg to it. Just like Casillas denying Robben earlier. Then Dutch go close from corner... it's got to come.

93 mins: Appeals for penalty as dozens of Spaniards fall in the box. Webb's right. It's a corner. And it comes to nothing.

FULL TIME: And for the second time since the tournament began, it's a goalless World Cup final after 90 minutes. Here comes extra-time. Now who was it told you Spain beating Germany in the semi-final was a dreadful result for this tournament? I know Holland have been little better, but history will show the Spanish in this tournament were stultifying. Even if they snatch it. And they probably will.

88 mins: Spain have 56 percent of the possession. But that's what they do. Keep it. Sideways, backwards. Only Navas and Iniesta forge forward.

86 mins: Arsenal's Cesc Fabregas on for Xabi Alonso. Please Cesc, show us some magic.

83 mins: Just as Spain look like they're going to squeeze the life out of the Oranjes, Robben breaks with pure pace but Casillas takes it off his toes. Robben booking No9 for complaining about Puyol's efforts to slow him down.

77 mins: MISS OF THE MATCH: Ramos, free header, no pressure... puts it over the bar from perfect corner. Needs to cut his hair. Or is it the headband? Spain look the more likely.

69 mins: Oh Jesus! Navas cross, Villa denied by Stekelenburg. Great chance. Navas looks lively. Holland take off Dirk Kuyt for Eljero Elia.

66 mins: Capdevila the eighth yellow, Spain 3, Netherlands 5. What a load of rubbish. Not ref Webb's fault... Spain induce niggle, it's the way they win.

61 mins: CHANCE OF THE MATCH: Sneijder sends Robben away, in the clear, but Casillas gets a trailing leg to the finish. Great save from the Spanish captain.

59 mins: Jesus Navas on for Pedro. Torres was warming up though.

58 mins: 84,490 people have spent a lot of money getting here. 700 million around the world are bored. This is terrible... Spain have ruined this World Cup, with a little help from the Netherlands.

55 mins: David Villa goes down, judging by his reaction he may have lost a leg. But Heitinga becomes the fifth Dutch caution, seventh of the night. Amazingly, Villa seems okay now.

53 mins: Dutch captain Gio van Bronkchorst gets a caution in his final game before retirement. That's six, lots of Spaniards waving imaginary yellow cards. It's awful.

48 mins: Spain start fast again, register their second corner. No subs at half-time.

HALF-TIME: Apart from the early Ramos chance, Spain have rarely threatened. Holland managed a late Robben effort. Two saves, a bizarre moment when Dutch nearly scored inadvertently... and five yellow cards. Even worse than I predicted. Spain have this knack of ruining any game with their pedantic build-up and frantic flopping at every challenge. Mind you, as I said at the time, De Jong should have gone for his karate kick into the chest of Xabi Alonso.

46 mins: Aarjen Robben finally draws a proper save from Spain's Casillas in first half injury time.

42 mins: Wesley Sneijder catches Busquets. Both go down. Webb has a long chat but no sixth yellow card.

38 mins: It's become a bore war in South Africa. Spain hold the ball well but their build-up is so painfully slow. Neither side look likely to score. If only Germany had beaten the Spanish, we'd have had a game.

33 mins: Bizarre. Carles Puyol hurt. Dutch try to give the ball back to Iker Casillas... and Van Der Wiel's hoof bounces over his head, gets a touch, nearly goes in. Then Van Persie gives corner back to Casillas. Biggest thrill of a very ordinary first half-hour.

28 mins: Now Manchester City's Nigel De Jong gets the fifth yellow card. Boot in the chest of Xabi Alonso. Nasty. Referee Webb making his mark for England but he's struggling to keep things civil. This is not a great World Cup final.

25 mins: Van Bommel booked for foul on Andres Iniesta. Then Ramos ups the niggle with a card of his own. Four from Webb so far. Reach for record books.

23 mins:But in the tournament so far, Spain have picked up just four yellow cards, Netherlands 16. Robben weaving his way through. Orange corner. Needs a first half goal.

16 mins: Now that's a proper yellow. Carles Puyol, who practices yoga, clumps Arjen Robben. 1-1 on bookings.

14 mins: Robin van Persie is Webb's first booking. Second mis-timed tackle. But Capdevila goes down like he's been shot. Sure he'll be okay.

10 mins: Ramos again. Making things hairy from right back. Narrow angle, cleared for a corner. Then into the side netting from David Villa. It's all Spain.

5 mins: Maarten Stekelenburg makes first big save of the final. Sergei Ramos must have thought his header was on the way in. Spain on top.

3 mins: Pedro, from the Canary Islands, looking lively. Must know Spain have scored just 7 goals here. Nobody has ever won the World Cup with less than 11 (England in 66, Brazil 84). Holland already have 12.

Dutch kick-off. Pennants exchanged, president Jacob Zuma shakes all hands available. Hope he doesn't come across the pitch invader in the tunnel. Could be trouble. Two sides, no previous victories. It's going to be special whatever happens.

Security have removed the pitch invader who tried to grab the World Cup. Just as well really. Wouldn't be the same without a trophy! Anthems. Moving moments. No vuvuzelas.

My old pal Neil Ashton on the News of the World says English referee Howard Webb checked up Iker Casillas's shorts while the teams were in the tunnel. Guess he's got to be thorough in the land of Caster Semanya!

Dutch captain Gio van Bronckhorst's last game. Mark van Bommel's biggest challenge. Signs that Robin van Persie was starting to find his form in the semi-final. But Spain have the best midfield you'll ever see... no room for Cesc Fabregas. Says it all.

CONFIRMED: Liverpool's Fernando Torres didn't even take part in the warm-up. Rumours that he spent the last three days largely in an oxygen chamber at the Spanish base in Potchefstroom appear to be true. The knee had surgery on in April is clearly still a problem.

Mysteriously, Nelson Mandela's appearance only gets the briefest of shows on SuperSport and SABC, South Africa's two live World Cup channels. He looked fine next to his wife, Graça Machel on the back of a golf buggy thing. Is it a political thing? This was the big moment of the World Cup... very strange.

Anyway, back to the football: Gregory van der Wiel and Nigel de Jong return from suspension to replace Khalid Boulahrouz and Demy De Zeeuw in the Dutch team, Spain unchanged from their semi, Pedro in for Torres. Erm... even after his refusal to pass to his out-of-form team-mate in the semi-final against Germany? Word here is that Torres has spent most of the week in an oxygen chamber at Spain's Potchefstroom base... his knee's not right.

Teams arriving. In Amsterdam, they've told fans not to come to the city. Too many supporters gathering at Museumplein.

Question is, after all this, a glittering opening ceremony and Nelson Mandela's long-awaited appearance, how does the final ever match what we've just seen?

Netherlands: 1-Maarten Stekelenburg; 2-Gregory van der Wiel, 3-John Heitinga, 4-Joris Mathijsen, 5-Giovanni van Bronckhorst; 7-Dirk Kuyt, 6-Mark van Bommel, 10-Wesley Sneijder, 8-Nigel de Jong, 11-Arjen Robben; 9-Robin van Persie.

Spain: 1-Iker Casillas; 15-Sergio Ramos, 3-Gerard Pique, 5-Carles Puyol, 11-Joan Capdevila; 14-Xabi Alonso, 8-Xavi, 6-Andres Iniesta, 16-Sergio Busquets; 18-Pedro, 7-David Villa.

Referee: Howard Webb (England)

Breaking news: Fernando Torres left out of the final. Pedro will start for Spain. Nelson Mandela is just emerging on to the pitch on a caddy cart. Brilliant.

And so it begins. The beginning of the end. The closing ceremony of the 2010 World Cup. Quite breathtaking. And I don't just mean Shakira, the adopted Colombian, belting out Waka Waka, the World Cup anthem.

Stunning FX being played out on the pitch at Soccer City, the only stadium I've only known to get a spontanteous arrival when you arrive and see it from the Rea Vaya coaches bussing us in.

Now Ladysmith Black Mbazo (Mbazo means axe), the male choir made famous by Paul Simon's Gracelands album in 1987.

This is going to be some night for a nation, a continent, some said would never be able to host a World Cup...

Nelson Mandela, too frail to attend the opening ceremony after the tragic death of his grand-daughter on June 11, is rumoured to be on his way. He will "greet the fans" for 15 minutes then go home to watch the final between Spain and the Netherlands.

The graphics continue to stun.... but how about this from South African president Jacob Zuma? "When we won the rights to host the World Cup, we knew that working together we would be able to succeed. But what has happened has exceeded our expectations. That is because of the role played by our people, the South Africans. They are the stars and champions of this tournament."