World media hails Spain's maiden World Cup conquest

“Spain’s exquisite movement proved too much for one-dimensional Holland,” Britain’s Daily Telegraph wrote. “(Mark) van Bommel and (Nigel) de Jong led a ferocious assault on Spain’s artistry. It wasn’t pretty; in fact, it bordered on the criminal.”

The Guardian went a step further, calling on the sport’s ruling body to take action against a team that ended the tournament with 22 yellow cards, 10 more than their nearest rivals.

“Holland were already being rebuked prior to the final but these events were on a wholly different scale and FIFA should take additional action considering the harm done to the culmination of a tournament that means so much around the globe,” the Guardian wrote.
“After a World Cup final of so toxic a nature, the stadium is in need of decontamination more than the regular clean-up,” it added.

The Irish Times also commented on the niggly aspects of the game: “The South African winter had a nasty nip in it last night, and Spain and the Netherlands caught the mood, snarling and hissing at each other through much of soccers showpiece final.”

German mass-circulation Bild called football’s showcase event ‘a kicking match’, blaming the Dutch for the rough play. Congratulating Spain on their 1-0 victory, the daily said, “That was an ugly final.”

Under the headline “The Real Galacticos,” the French daily L’Equipe wrote, “In the past two years, (the Spanish side) often played much better than last night, but we have the right to believe that everything it has done well for so long was finally rewarded.”

Dutch papers played down the unsporting aspect of the final, with the Telegraaf saying the Dutch team ‘fought like lions’. It also raised the question whether Spain’s goal should have been disallowed because of an offside infringement shortly beforehand.

Spanish sports dailies were in raptures, with Marca praising a ‘Golden Generation’ that ‘learned how to win in 2008 (winning the European Championship) and is now the best team in the world’.