¡campeones! – the game

Cesc and Xavi look like they’re going for a classic movie kiss, don’t they?

There’s not much I can write about the game to do it justice, so here are just a few moments that I remember.

Spain certainly made us suffer, didn’t they?  By the overtime, I had no voice left, and everyone on the field – and off – were exhausted.  I was hoping the game wouldn’t go into penalties – I never like having a championship game, much less the final of the World Cup end that way – but I wasn’t too worried, because I knew we had San Iker.  But then Andrés Ineista showed up and saved the day.

Game notes:

– the overtime period was watched by 15.6 million people in Spain, or about 85.9% of households, a new record.

– that karate kick to the chest of Xabi Alonso was brutal, wasn’t it?

– and Iker crying.  I remember him crying at the end of the game when Real Madrid won the 2000 Champions League, when he was only 19 years old.  Ten years later, it’s nice to know that he has not changed one bit.  It also reminded me of the 2002 Champions League final, because Iker was also wearing green in that game and ended up crying on the field.

And he had a fantastic game, didn’t he?  I guess it’s good that he used to go up against Arjen Robben in Madrid’s training sessions!

– by my count, every single player flew to Andrés Iniesta after he scored, with the exception of the crying Iker, Sergio Busquets who stayed behind to comfort Iker, and Carlos Marchena, who was heading towards Iniesta and then went for Iker.

– I loved, loved, loved Iniesta’s tribute to Dani Jarque.  Upon scoring, Andrés ripped off his jersey to reveal a tank top with the words “Dani Jarque, siempre con nosotros” (Dani Jarque, always with us) as a tribute to his good friend and Espanyol player, who died about a year ago at the age of 26 from a heart attack.  Espanyol’s fans are already planning to give Ineista a rousing ovation the next time Barcelona visits the Estadi Cornellà-El Prat.

Once again, it just shows how much heart and character every single player has on this team.

I wonder how many babies are going to be born nine months from now?

– and did you see how, while the entire Spanish team was celebrating, Vicente del Bosque just kind of did a fist clench, and that was the extent of his celebration?

– poor Fernando Torres, getting injured in the last 10 seconds of the game!

– and as a madridista, the images of Sergio and Iker consoling Snejider and Robben were very touching.

Oh, and watch the Lego reenactment of the final here!  I love the attention to detail:  the bald heads of several of the Dutch players, the long hair of Puyol, the kick to the chest of Xabi Alonso.  But the best part is the Lego version of the Andrés Iniesta shirt removal.