The name of Andrés INIESTA will be remembered forever in red and yellow hearts, as his 116th minute goal secured Spain’s first world title as they defeated the Netherlands 1-0 in the final of the 2010 Men’s World Cup in extra time at Soccer City in Johannesburg. The match was hotly contested throughout; the old record of six yellow cards in the 1986 final was shattered as referee Howard WEBB issued fourteen bookings, including a second to the Netherlands’ Johnny HEITINGA in the 109th minute. With the resulting man advantage, substitute Cesc FÀBREGAS found Iniesta in the middle of the area, who powered his famous shot past goalkeeper Maarten STEKELENBURG. Spain are now the eighth nation to have won the Men’s World Cup, and the Netherlands have now lost all three of their appearances in the final match.

According to a media vote, Diego FORLÁN of Uruguay has won the Golden Ball as the top player of the 2010 Men’s World Cup in South Africa. His five goals and one assist propelled la Celeste to a shock fourth place. Two participants in the final, Wesley SNEIJDER of the Netherlands and David VILLA of Spain, won the Silver and Bronze Balls respectively. At the age of 20, Thomas MÜLLER of Germany was the runaway winner of the Best Young Player award, not least because his five goals and three assists at the tournament also earned him the Golden Boot. Villa and Sneijder, also with five goals and an assist, edged Forlán for the Silver and Bronze Boots respectively owing to their fewer minutes played. Spain claimed two more awards as Iker CASILLAS won the Golden Glove Award as the best goalkeeper, and the Spanish side as a whole earned the Fair Play award with only eight bookings, fewest amongst teams that advanced to the elimination phase.

Sami KHEDRA scored the winner in a back and forth encounter in Port Elizabeth in which Germany secured third place at the 2010 Men’s World Cup with a 3-2 win over Uruguay. Both teams did well to reach the semifinals, but it was Germany who ended up with bronze medals after taking an early lead from Thomas MÜLLER. Edinson CAVANI then equalised, and six minutes into the second half, a stunner of a goal from Diego FORLÁN put la Celeste in front. Marcell JANSEN pulled Germany level again with a header five minutes later. Finally, in the 82nd minute, Khedra’s header secured third place, but Forlán nearly sent the match to extra time with a thunderous free kick off the bar seconds before the final whistle. Germany finish in third place for the second tournament in a row as Müller, with five goals and three assists, moves atop the Golden Boot table.

The Golden Boot award at the 2010 Men’s World Cup will be decided on the last day, as the joint leaders after the semifinals, Spain’s David VILLA and the Netherlands’ Wesley SNEIJDER, are expected to compete in the final match. Both have scored five goals and have one assist, but Villa is the current leader, having reached his mark in just 529 minutes played compared with Sneijder’s 532. Nonetheless, the possibility exists of another player passing both, as Germany’s Thomas MÜLLER and Miroslav KLOSE and Uruguay’s Diego FORLÁN and Luis SUÁREZ are all expected to play in the third place match. Suárez has scored three goals, whilst Müller, Klose, and Forlán have each scored four. Müller has also recorded three assists, Klose and Suárez one. In case of a tie in goals scored, preference is given to the player with more assists, and then to the player who recorded fewer minutes. [Sneijder’s total includes both goals in the Netherlands’ 2-1 quarterfinal win over Brazil; his first goal was initially ruled an own goal.]

The champion of the 2010 Men’s World Cup will be a first time winner after the Netherlands and Spain won their respective semifinals. The Netherlands continued their perfect record at South Africa 2010 by defeating Uruguay 3-2 in Cape Town, whilst Spain won 1-0 against Germany to reach the final and potentially become the first Men’s World Cup champion that lost its first match of the tournament. For the Dutch, it will be their third appearance in the final match, whilst the Spanish have never previously reached this plateau. more...

The draw for the final tournament of the 2010 Men’s World Cup was kind to the defending finalists, but not the losing semifinalists. 2006 champions Italy face Paraguay, New Zealand, and first time qualifiers Slovakia in Group F, whilst France, who fell to the Azzurri in the 2006 final, were drawn against hosts South Africa, Mexico, and Uruguay in Group A. The Group of Death is widely considered to be Group G, which contains Brazil, Korea DPR, Côte d’Ivoire, and Portugal. The tournament’s opening match will be South Africa-Mexico at Johannesburg’s new Soccer City stadium on FRI 11 JUN 2010. more...

FIFA have settled on the pots, seedings, and draw procedure for the 2010 Men’s World Cup final tournament. The top seeds include hosts South Africa and the top seven teams in the FIFA world rankings of OCT 2009, who occupy Pot 1. Pot 2 contains the teams from the AFC, CONCACAF, and the OFC. Pot 3 holds the remaining teams from CAF and CONMEBOL, whilst Pot 4 contains the remaining UEFA teams. Each group will receive one team from each pot, and no group may contain more than two UEFA teams or more than one team from any other confederation. The draw begins at 17:00 UTC on FRI 04 DEC 2009 at the Cape Town International Convention Centre. more...

Germany goalkeeper Robert ENKE, widely considered one of the frontrunners to start for his national side at the 2010 Men’s World Cup, died on TUE 10 NOV 2009 at the age of 32. Lower Saxony police confirmed Enke’s death in an apparent suicide at a train crossing near Hannover, where he played for Hannover 96 and won Bundesliga goalkeeper of the year honours for the 2008-9 season. Enke is survived by his wife, Teresa, and his adopted daughter, Leila; their biological daughter, Lara, died at the age of two in 2006 of a rare heart condition.

Zakumi, a green haired leopard, was introduced to the world on MON 22 SEP 2008 as the mascot for the 2010 Men’s World Cup. Zakumi performed a dance number and kicked about with former South Africa player Mark Fish on a live South African football programme. Designed by Cape Town’s Andries Odendaal, his name is comprised of “za”, South Africa’s top level domain name, and “kumi”, meaning ten in a number of African languages.