JOHANNESBURG – Spain’s artists meet the artisans of the Netherlands today in a World Cup final that will end with one team taking the title for the first time.European champions Spain have steadily improved with each game in South Africa until the point where they controlled this week’s semi-final against Germany with a measured performance that denied a previously impressive team any space or opportunity to counterattack.The Dutch gladly embrace the win-at-all-costs mentality that was anathema to the Total Football generation that reached the 1974 and 1978 finals. But those sides, which included the likes of Johan Cruyff, Johnny Rep and Johan Neeskens, only attained the status of the best team never to win the World Cup.Glorious failure is not on the agenda this time.“I’d rather play an extremely ugly game and win, instead of a beautiful one and lose,” Netherlands winger Arjen Robben said.Neutrals may have baulked at the destructive pair of Mark van Bommel and Nigel de Jong at the heart of the Netherlands’ midfield, but the Dutch have scored five more goals than Spain at the monthlong tournament.And playmaker Wesley Sneijder shares the tournament scoring lead with Spain’s David Villa on five goals.But the Netherlands still suffer in comparison with their 1970s counterparts, the 1988 European champions of Ruud Gullit and Marco van Basten, and even the 1998 World Cup semi-final team that included Dennis Bergkamp and the De Boer twins.Spain’s organisation and control is such that the players seem so confident in their ability to deny opponents possession and chances that they do not feel the need to create chance after chance.That has led to the incongruity of what is arguably world football’s most attractive team scoring just seven goals to reach the final.Lost oneSpain lost the only game in which they trailed – 0-1 to Switzerland in their opening match – so it would be intriguing to see the Netherlands score first for the sixth time in seven tournament appearances.Having ranked his team’s dismantling of Germany as one of Spain’s best-ever performances, coach Vicente del Bosque is expecting a more equal contest against a Dutch side boasting the attacking powers of Robben, Sneijder and Robin van Persie.“They’re very similar to us, players of great technical ability in midfield,” Del Bosque said. “Players of great quality and very fast that don’t improvise as much as we do, but play a more dangerous direct game. A very dangerous team.”
(AP)
