0:04 Some moments in football last forever.
0:07 Surely now Spain have won the World Cup.
0:10 They're bigger than trophies, stronger
0:12 than rivalries. In these moments, it
0:14 doesn't matter who you support or what
0:17 colors you wear. Everything fades into
0:19 respect. And perhaps no player embodies
0:23 this more than Andre's Iniesta.
0:24 But on one unforgettable night in
0:27 Johannesburg, he gave Spain something
0:30 they had never experienced before. A
0:33 quiet magician waiting patiently in the
0:36 shadows, ready to write his name in
0:39 history. This is the night Andresa
0:42 shined brighter than ever. The night he
0:51 You see, going into the 2010 World Cup,
0:53 Spain were one of those teams who had
0:55 never touched the trophy in their entire
0:57 history. But they were tipped to change
0:59 that in South Africa because they had a
1:02 really crazy team who had won the Euros
1:05 just 2 years prior. And most of whom had
1:08 just completed an unprecedented sexuple
1:11 with Barcelona the year before, making
1:14 them arguably the greatest club side in
1:16 football history.
1:19 Chavy, Iniesta, Busquettes. Together
1:22 they had reshaped football with their
1:25 precise passing style known worldwide as
1:28 Cheeky Taka. But after the opening round
1:31 of the tournament, most fans and pundits
1:34 turned their focus elsewhere. Despite
1:36 all the talent they had, Spain were
1:38 unable to score a single goal against
1:43 Switzerland and ended up losing 1 nil.
1:46 It was a huge shock and a horrible start
1:48 to the tournament for the Spaniards, but
1:50 they managed to get out of their group
1:52 by winning their other two games,
1:55 finishing first ahead of Chile only on
1:57 goal difference.
2:00 In the round of 16, Spain faced Portugal
2:03 and won by a single goal to nil. Then
2:05 they went on to the quarterfinals and
2:09 beat Paraguay, also by a lone goal. At
2:11 this point, people began to air their
2:14 doubts. This Spain team just wasn't
2:16 convincing. This was a team that scored
2:18 eight goals in the group stage alone at
2:20 Euro 2008. But going into the
2:22 semi-finals of the World Cup, they had
2:25 only managed to score six goals all
2:28 tournament. Ahead of their semifinal
2:30 game against Germany, many said they
2:33 would be exposed. Germany had just put
2:36 four past England and Lonel Messi's
2:38 Argentina in the round of 16 and
2:41 quarterfinals, respectively. So millions
2:43 of fans were saying that they were going
2:46 to decimate Spain. But well, that didn't
2:48 happen. Spain's defense won it for them
2:50 against the mighty Germany. They kept a
2:52 clean sheet and the winning goal was
2:55 scored by center back Carl's Puol to
2:57 send them to their first ever World Cup
2:58 final where they were to face the Netherlands.
3:00 Netherlands.
3:03 You see, the Dutch also had never won
3:05 the World Cup. So they were just as
3:07 hungry as Spain and they were also as
3:10 talented. Just like Spain, they had
3:12 Champions League and European treble
3:15 winners, a solid defense, and a
3:18 generally cohesive team. Everyone knew
3:20 it was going to be a really ky affair in
3:22 Soccer City Johannesburg that night, but
3:25 I don't think anyone anticipated what we
3:28 eventually saw from both those teams.
3:30 You could tell that both teams wanted it
3:34 so badly. both showed tremendous desire
3:36 and passion and it made for a super
3:38 entertaining watch despite being
3:41 goalless for the most part. There was so
3:43 much passion on show that day that we
3:47 saw 15 cards brandished. Now, you might
3:48 look at the score line and think both
3:50 teams were being cautious all through,
3:53 but that wasn't the case at all. Right
3:55 from the very first whistle, both Spain
3:58 and the Netherlands went for it. Lara
4:01 won a free kick in the opening 5 minutes
4:03 and Chavi's cross was met by Sergio
4:06 Ramos's head which forced to make a
4:08 save. Pika came close to doing something
4:10 from the rebound but the goalkeeper
4:13 eventually cleaned up. Just 2 minutes
4:15 after that quite attempted a long range
4:18 shot but it was too weak to beat
4:21 Casillas. Then a couple minutes later,
4:23 Ramos, who was Spain's right back at
4:25 that tournament, fired a shot at goal.
4:27 But Hitinga was at the right place to
4:30 make a block and give Spain a corner.
4:32 When the cross from that corner came in,
4:34 David Via was able to connect with it
4:36 and make the net ripple with his volley,
4:38 but it turned out to only be the side
4:41 netting. 15 minutes into the match, the
4:44 yellow cards began to fly. Robin van
4:47 Percy got the first one of the night for
4:50 a bad tackle on Capilla and then Puol
4:52 joined the striker in the books two
4:54 minutes later for a crunching tackle on
4:57 Robin. The foul happened 25 yd away from
5:00 goal but Snder still attempted a shot
5:02 from that distance but as you would
5:04 expect it was all too easy for Casillas
5:08 to handle. By the 25th minute Van Boml
5:10 and Ramos had also picked up yellow
5:13 cards. But one of the most controversial
5:15 moments of the entire World Cup final
5:18 came in the 28th minute when a flying
5:20 Nigel Deong sent his stud straight into
5:23 Chav Alonso's chest, but only received a
5:27 yellow card. Howard Webb had a very
5:29 clear view of the incident, so it was
5:31 strange that the card wasn't read. The
5:34 image of that very nasty foul continues
5:37 to spread all around the internet 15
5:40 years after the incident. Anyway, the
5:42 game went on and something very
5:45 interesting happened in the 33rd minute.
5:47 A collision between Casillas and Pu left
5:50 the defender in pain and that forced
5:52 Spain to put the ball out of play so he
5:54 could get some attention. After all that
5:56 was done, the Netherlands tried to
5:59 return the ball to Spain, but instead
6:01 they nearly ended up scoring from it and
6:03 Casillas was forced to push the ball out
6:06 for a corner. Anyway, in the spirit of
6:08 fair play, the Netherlands returned the
6:10 ball to Casillas from the corner, but
6:12 they then went on to make a mess of what
6:14 could have been a brilliant corner kick
6:17 routine in the 37th minute. And just
6:20 moments after, it was Pedro running at
6:22 the Dutch defense and attempting a weak
6:24 foot shot from outside the box. It went
6:27 wide. In additional time of the first
6:30 half, Robin attempted a shot from just
6:32 outside the box, but Casillas was alive
6:35 to it. Anyway, that was how the first
6:39 half ended. 45 minutes gone and still
6:42 nothing separated the teams. At the
6:44 beginning of the second half, Puel came
6:46 close to recreating the goal that
6:48 brought Spain to the final also from a
6:51 chavy corner, but he was unable to find
6:53 the target and Cap Deilla just wasn't
6:56 able to properly connect with the ball.
6:59 In the 50th minute, Spain thought they
7:01 should have been awarded a penalty, but
7:04 they weren't. Anyway, the game continued
7:07 to be very KY, but it nearly broke open
7:10 in the 62nd minute when Snyder found
7:13 Robin with a defensplitting pass. Robin
7:16 raced onto the ball. Time seemed to slow
7:19 down. Casillas, rooted to the spot
7:22 initially, now charged out bravely.
7:24 Robin's shot looked destined for goal,
7:27 but somehow Casillas managed to stretch
7:30 his foot out, sending the ball inches
7:33 wide of the post. Robin sank to his
7:36 knees in disbelief, knowing how close
7:38 he'd come to glory.
7:41 In the 77th minute, a close-range effort
7:43 from Via was blocked and it led to a
7:46 Spain corner. Zevio Ramos came close to
7:48 scoring from the corner, but he put the
7:50 ball over the crossbar despite being
7:53 totally unmarked in the box. A few
7:56 minutes later, Robin found himself in a
7:59 oneon-one situation again after he
8:01 outmuscled Puol, but he didn't even get
8:03 his shot away because Casillas came off
8:05 his line early enough and wrapped his
8:08 body around the ball. After the ball had
8:10 gone, Robin could be seen yelling in
8:12 Web's ear as he felt he should have been
8:15 given a free kick and Puol should have
8:17 been sent off for what he thought was a
8:20 foul. for his protests. The ringer was
8:24 shown a yellow card. Anyway, after that
8:26 chance went begging, it became obvious
8:28 that we wouldn't see any goals in that
8:30 half. And indeed, that was what
8:33 happened. It was nil nil after 90
8:35 minutes. So, the game went to extra time.
8:36 time.
8:38 Now, you would notice that we haven't
8:41 really mentioned Andress in's name in
8:42 this game. Well, that's because he
8:45 waited until extra time to come alive.
8:48 In the opening 5 minutes of extra time,
8:51 Iniesta sent a defensing pass through to
8:53 Ces Fàregas, who had come on for Jabby
8:58 Alonso in the 87th minute. Fabregas, who
9:00 was one-on-one with the keeper, had a
9:02 chance to pass or shoot. He chose to
9:06 shoot, but Steelenberg saved. The next
9:09 moment, Matyson came close to scoring
9:10 for the Netherlands from the corner, but
9:12 he wasn't able to keep his header down.
9:16 Then in the 101st minute, Dutch hearts
9:18 were in their mouths when Jesus Nava
9:21 shot at goal. It would have been an easy
9:24 save, but the shot was deflected off Van
9:25 Bronhorst and it wrong-footed the
9:28 goalkeeper. Thankfully though, it only
9:30 hit the side netting. That was a mighty relief.
9:32 relief.
9:34 Moments before the end of the first half
9:37 of extra time, Fabregas danced through
9:39 the Netherlands defense, but he was
9:42 unable to find the target. So halfway
9:44 through extra time, there was still no
9:46 goal on the board for either team. But
9:48 everything was bound to change in the
9:50 second period as the second half of
9:53 extra time was off to a flying start. In
9:55 the opening 5 minutes, Chai found
9:58 Iniesta with a lovely pass and he was
9:59 through on goal, but he was pulled down
10:02 by John Heightinka just outside the box.
10:05 So, he was shown a second yellow. Inesta
10:07 was almost certainly going to score from
10:09 that chance. So, it made sense that
10:12 Hitinger was sent off. But it turned out
10:14 to be a worthy sacrifice from the Dutch
10:16 defender at that moment because Javi was
10:19 unable to even find the target from the
10:22 resulting free kick. Then in the 115th
10:24 minute, the Netherlands got their own
10:27 free kick. It was miles away, but Snyder
10:30 attempted a shot on goal. The ball took
10:33 a deflection and Casayas had to get a
10:35 fingertip on it to stop it from going
10:39 in. Then came the 116th minute. Torres
10:42 crossed. A Dutch defender blocked it,
10:45 but the ball fell kindly to Fabregas.
10:48 One quick pass and Iniesta, like a ghost
10:51 between defenders, stood waiting. One
10:54 touch to control, one strike to make
10:58 history. The net rippled. For a split
11:02 second there was silence, then eruption.
11:05 And in that moment, Undress Iniesta gave
11:07 his country a memory that would last
11:10 forever. Iniesta took off his shirt,
11:12 racing toward the corner flag.
11:15 Overwhelmed by emotion, he was instantly
11:17 surrounded by teammates, coaches, and
11:19 substitutes flooding onto the pitch.
11:21 Cameras captured emotional fans
11:24 celebrating wildly. The joy in that
11:26 moment wasn't just felt on the pitch,
11:29 but by millions across Spain and beyond.
11:31 The writing on his shirt read, "Danny
11:34 Harker, always with us." A heartfelt
11:36 tribute to his late friend and former
11:38 teammate who had died just a year
11:41 earlier. Of course, Iniesta was booked
11:43 for taking off his shirt, but he
11:45 definitely didn't care a tiny bit. He
11:47 had just scored the greatest goal in
11:49 Spanish football history, and that
11:51 instantly turned him into a legend in
11:54 his home country. to show you how much
11:57 this game elevated his status in Spain.
12:01 5 years after, Iniesta became the first
12:03 Spanish player to receive a standing
12:06 ovation from the Santiago Bernabu home
12:08 crowd while playing a game for Barcelona
12:10 against Real Madrid.
12:13 You see, because of that one goal
12:15 against the Netherlands in the 2010
12:17 World Cup final, even the deadliest of
12:19 rivalries are put aside to pay respect
12:22 to the magician Andres Iniesta and what
12:25 he gave to the entire nation of Spain.
12:27 But while Inesta brought a nation to
12:31 tears of joy in 2010, over a decade
12:33 later, another man brought a nation to
12:36 its knees. Click here to witness how
12:39 Killian Mbappé turned the World Cup
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