World Cup Final: The Preview Extravaganza | Thebigtip

How fitting is the 2010 FIFA World Cup Final? In a World Cup that has been filled with firsts, the finale continues to throw up more.

Here is a look at just some of the firsts so far in 2010:

·         France and Italy are the first finalists from a previous World Cup to fail to advance out of the group stage in the preceding World Cup.

·         South Africa becomes the first host nation to fail to advance beyond the group stage.

·         All five South American teams advanced to the knockout stage.

·         New Zealand’s Winston Reid scores the first ever World Cup goal for his country.

·         This is Serbia and Slovakia’s first World Cup since they have formed their own countries. FIFA does not see it that way but I bet the people of these two countries do.

·         Paraguay and Ghana reached the quarter-finals for the first time.

The firsts did not stop in the group stage or the knockout stage. They carried all the way to the finals.

This final will feature Spain against the Netherlands, here are some of the firsts the 2010 FIFA World Cup Final:

·         This will be the first final won by a European team not on European soil.

·         Whoever wins, Spain or the Netherlands, it will be their first World Cup title.

·         This is Spain’s first World Cup Final.

·         Also this is the first World Cup Final not to have Germany (in some form), Italy or Brazil.

·         For the first time ever, the two European powerhouses Spain and the Netherlands meet in the final of a major tournament.

·         If Spain wins, it will be the first time that a team has lost its opening game and went on to win the World Cup.

2010 World Cup Final, down to the wire.

In a wonderful side story, the top two scoring players will meet in this World Cup Final. Both David Villa of Spain and Wesley Sneijder of the Netherlands lead the tournament with five goals apiece.

Villa and Sneijder are in contention for the Golden Boot Award given to the player who scores the most goals. Both players will also be contenders for the Golden Ball Award given to the best player of the tournament.

Spanish goalkeeper Iker Casillas will be a top contender for Yashin Award, given to the top goalkeeper of the tournament. Casillas has kept a clean sheet in three straight games and four out of six games in the World Cup.

The amazing thing about Spain is the fact that besides Villa only two other players have scored for this team. Andrés Iniesta scored the game winner against Chile and Carles Puyol scored the only goal against Germany to send Spain into the final.

Spain since the knockout stage has controlled games keeping possession and playing tough defense. The Spanish have found the only goal they needed while playing keep away from the other team and defending.

The Red Fury is trying to win their second straight major tournament since winning Euro 2008. To do so they could possibly need some sort of production from injured star Fernando Torres.

Torres was relegated to a substitution role in Spain’s last game against Germany. A goal in the final from Torres in a Spanish win would forgive his disappointing play in the rest of the tournament.