Spain close to greatness

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Spain took the next step towards footballing immortality as they booked a place in their first World Cup final following a 1-0 semi-final victory over Germany in Durban.


Flair, culture and aesthetics have underlined the rise to prominence of the European champions and the irony at the Moses Mabhida Stadium was therefore palpable as a no-nonsense Carles Puyol header settled the contest in the second half.

For Joachim Low's Germany it marked the end of a memorable campaign, but the emergence of a young, exciting side will no doubt signals a force to be reckoned with in years to come.

But it cannot be argued that the much-praised generation of Spanish players, who were playing in their country's maiden World Cup semi-final, did not deserve to book a date with Holland on Sunday and the chance to seal their name as icons.

Vicente del Bosque's pre-tournament favourites dominated possession and managed to quell the threat of Germany, surely making the group-stage defeat to Switzerland feel like a lifetime ago for those at home in Europe.

As expected, Fernando Torres' struggle to find form in South Africa cost the Liverpool striker his place in Spain's starting line-up, but the surprise was that Pedro Rodriguez was selected to partner soon-to-be Barcelona team-mate David Villa.

Germany coach Joachim Low picked Piotr Trochowski to replace suspended winger Thomas Muller, while forward Miroslav Klose started with eyes on the one goal he required to draw level with former Brazil striker Ronaldo's record of 15 at World Cup finals.

Klose has established himself as a goalscoring great at World Cup finals, but 2010 will be remembered for the cautious and restrained approach of teams and, with the stakes increased, this semi-final was not embarrassed to follow suit in the opening exchanges

that was a nice win great w0rk team Spain