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The celebration ...
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Spain goalkeeper Iker Casillas holds up the World Cup trophy after the World Cup final soccer match between the Netherlands and Spain at Soccer City in Johannesburg, South Africa, Sunday, July 11, 2010. Spain won 1-0.[Xinhua] |
Spain becomes the second team winning the European Cup and World Cup in succession after Germany. It is the first European team to win the World Cup outside of Europe. The world's top-ranked team is also the first squad which was able to win the championship after losing its opening game in World Cup history. Spain had never even reached a World Cup final before. Until this year, the best it had managed was the quarterfinals.
Spain, ichscored eight goals in seven games, set a World Cup record as the lowest-scoring winner. It scored three less than the previous record low of 11 - shared by Italy in 1938 (four games), England in 1966 (six games) and Brazil in 1994 (seven games). The eight goals came from 121 shots (46 on target), the most among the 32 participants.
It also conceeded the least goals during the tournament. Team captain Iker Casillas allowed only two goals, a performance that won him the best goalkeeper award.
Andres Iniesta, who scored Spain's championship-winning goal, is the player who suffered most fouls, 26 times, while Spain had the most fouls suffered by a team, 134 times. The team also boasted the most passes (3,803) by a squad, the most passes by an individual (Xavi, 669) and the best ball procession, 66.4 percent.
Spain's coach, Vicente del Bosque, is undoubtedly the most successful coach for a national side in history. Since he came into the post in 2008, the coach boasts a stunning 32-2 win-loss record. With the World Cup success, he follows Marcello Lippi in being a European Cup and World Cup-winning coach, the only man to have masterminded two European Cups and a World Cup success.
The World Cup victory has brought a sliver of happiness to a country where about 20 percent of the population is jobless, the highest rate in the 16-nation eurozone.
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