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Netherlands - Spain
Sunday 11 July 2010 - 20h30 CET
Soccer City, Johannesburg
Referee: Howard Webb (England)

18h38 - Welcome

18h38 - It's the final!

18h39 - A final Holland will win...!

18h39 - Right?

18h42 - Will Robin van Persie explode tonight?

18h42 - Will Sneijder do it again? Or Dirk Kuyt?

18h43 - Will Capdevilla keep Robben quiet, or will the Genius be on fire tonight?

18h46 - How will Holland pick up Xavi and Iniesta?

18h47 - Van Bommel and De Jong playing very tight to them?

1848 - Or will Sneijder and the forwards cut the passing line from defense to Xavi and Iniesta?

18h49 - Our favorite tactic is to give them a massive scare in the first 25 minutes and take a 2-0 lead

18h50 - How do you scare Spain? By taking the game to them from the first minute. Blow them away with their game and look for an early goal.

18h51 - Even though Chile used that tactic with some success it doesn't seem very likely that Van Marwijk will change his plan

18h52 - That will mean Spain will be on a 70-30% ball possession in the first 25 minutes, after that Holland will either succumb to that pressure or not. If they do it will be a game with a large number (3 or 4) of goals. If they don't score in those first 25 then Holland will be equal from that moment on, and we get a real tough game.

18h54 - Survive the first 25 minutes, might be the biggest mission

19h05 - I hope these elephants at the closing ceremony behave! I wouldn't want to be in the first row of the stands with these giants in an excited state...

19h06 - The Dutch players were very impressed with singer Shakira, who they met in the catacombs of the stadium. I bet they were...

19h10 - The Dutch lineup (surprise) has been confirmed. There were some mild doubts about Stekelenburg

19h17- What a moment that must have been for Nelson Mandela!!

19h20 - ... for those who didn't get that: Mandela was caddied into the stadium and cheered by 90,000 people... for what he has done for the nation and for that World Cup...

19h21 - The town (Amsterdam) is going mad at the moment. There's public viewings all over town - smaller ones in pubs, gardens and even on roofs. And bigger ones on the squares in the city

19h30 - Van Marwijk looked a bit more tense than he did in previous games

19h33 - How can he be? It's only the final of World Cup

19h34 - Sneijder says this game "is no different than any other game". Well he's won a Champions League final. He should know...

19h35 - How do you prepare for a World Cup final?

19h36 - Of course the physical and logistical aspects will be similar to any game

19h37 - But the mental part is key in this game.

19h38 - 100,000 or more people are expected on Museum Plein, for the biggest public viewing

19h38 - There is a screen of 88 M²...

19h39 - Wherever you looked or went today, it was orange, people orange clad , houses, streets, bars, cars and bicycles

19h41 - On Spanish TV we saw the same images: people in red and yellow, so confident, so ready to see it all happen!

19h44 - The players are out on the pitch

19h46 - Dutch commentator Jack van Gelder is already losing it on Dutch TV

19h48 - What a moment it is for the Spanish and the Dutch. Some of us here are old enough to remember the 1974 and '78 finals. But back then the tension wasn't so all consuming

19h49 - There was a bigger distance to the team and the players - probably because of the TV coverage, which was a lot less extensive then

19h51 - Spain are the favorites for all but Louis van Gaal!

19h52 - Van Gaal agrees with our analyses that we have to take the game to Spain

19h53 - Van Gaal says to keep them far from the Dutch goal and make them go the long way to our goal. "Look at their size," says Van Gaal. "They are not the team to keep going figty, sixty yards throughout the game."

19h59 - Of course Van Gaal is right bout that. But if they play Torres you don't too much space between your center backs and the 20-yard line

20h05 - The Spanish lineup below looks a bit weird, but it's how they play. The left is very much left open

20h06 - But you will see all four up front and Capdevilla pop up there

20h07 - That's where Holland can hurt Spain (on the right)

20h08 - Van der Wiel comes forward a lot, which means that Alonso will be drawn out wide a lot to assist Capdevilla

20h09 - WIth Robben also in that zone, it's where Holland have big chances

20h15 - Okay, fifteen minutes to go.... We're starting to feel a bit excited here, but we're confident!

20h16 - There's no new really

20h16 - We received many good wishes by email from all over the world. Thank you all!

20h17 - The discussion in the office here is also about Robben and Capdevilla

20h18 - Cannevaro is putting up the Cup. Hopefully Holland can take Italy's achievement as an example. Italy were underdogs against France - and 'won' (on penalties)

20h20 - Holland thinks back to the late Rinus Michels and the late Ernst Happel, the coaches in '74 and '78

20h22 - Ha ha , someone tried to knick the Cup

20h25 - Okay, I'm going to secure a place in the room next door. Back at half time!

Go Holland go!!!

21h30 - So Spain are bit stronger, but Holland are hanging in there. Some bad fouls. Sneijder will have to get more balls and do better. Van der Vaart for Kuyt seems plausible... spaces are tiny...

23h02 - We've lost - we're very sad, and we'll be telling you all about it tomorrow.....

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Coach: Bert van Marwijk