Speaker by Various Artists

I watched the '78 final again recently - it is incredible how dirty the game was back then. The final is full of off-the-ball incidents and in one of the most cynical fouls ever seen on a football field, Pasarella - the Argentenian captain - elbows Neeskens in the jaw as he runs past him, well after the ball has gone.

I just hope since that in the finals of '74 and '78 when the best team lost, that the best team will also lose in the 2010 final, and the Dutch will take home the trophy.

Both great imperial world powers in their day, you know.

May soccer be the winner on the day, as long as the Dutch are too.

Half time, and here I was expecting a game of kicking the ball, rather than the man, and such. At least the All Whites only use their elbows, most of the time. 8]

Spain should be 2=0 after 5 minutes of extra time! Fabregas just butchered a golden opportunity.

Bravo Spain, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0. Way to own the knockouts.

Poor Dutch ran out of men with a yellow card to spare, which spoiled their tactics somewhat. Looked pretty good when they got on with it, but not as good as the Spanish.

So I am right in saying we retired from the World Cup as the only undefeated team?

This is important for boasting reasons at work tomorrow

They said it couldn't happen, Spain would never win because the antipathy between the Catalans and the Madridistas ran too deep. But this team of Barcelona players, captained by a guy who is the heart and soul of Real Madrid has proven all those theories wrong in the last 3 years. Well done Spain, it's a great story, so many of their games have been won so sweetly, so much class right across the park, a really gifted national team. Not too pretty today but a gorgeous goal to settle it.

So hard for the Netherlands, 3rd finals disappointment, they'll be carrying some baggage over this now for sure but they played cynically and too defensively for much of the game.

It may not go down as a classic but positivity won and Iniesta's goal was worthy of a World Cup Final.

Cheers South Africa!

And NZ emerges as the only team from FIFA 2010 not to have lost a single match.

The old cliché is that sport and politics should not mix, the truth is that they should always mix, and they always do mix. If it weren't for the political, social and cultural backdrop to any sporting engagement, why else would we watch it?

It really is a strange statement, given that most of our most pivotal, memorable, engaged sporting moments involve national teams playing each other. If sporting nationalism isn't political....

And it wasn't political reasons for Cryuff not going

I was going for the Dutch, but boy what a negative game. They did deserve to lose really.

It's been a great month of highs and lows and the powers of two.

First round - firstly I am NZedder 100%, so much pride in the unbeaten record against the 3 of the 32 in our group.

Round of 16 - My 16 great-great-grandparents were 12 of them English and 4 German, ancestry 3 : 1 English : German. Could the English finally do it for me? Perhaps not. But wait, it's Germany 3 - 1 England, with a little illegitimacy on the side - perfect symmetry! Whoops, 3 minutes later it's 4-1, symmetry ruined. Still, there are satisfactions.

Quarter-finals – I am quarter German, yes Germany stuns Argentina and me both, 4 - 0! I am German, Deutschland uber alles! Whoops, sorry, Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit.

Semi-finals – I half believe at least half the statements 'I am German' and 'Germany will get their quota of 4 goals'. Alas no, Germany 0 - 1 Spain, shed a tear. But wait, one of those English great-great grandfathers had a Spanish great-grandfather - I am 1/128th Spanish, fully 0.78125%.

Final - finally 100% for Spain for I am Spanish, ole, ole, ole! And we win, with 1 late goal, a perfect finish to the month.