Highlights - Germany 0-1 Spain Spain boss Vicente del Bosque urged his players to go on and win the World Cup final after their 1-0 semi-final victory against Germany. Carles Puyol's second-half header put Spain in the final for the first time and Del Bosque is already focused on beating Netherlands on Sunday. He said: "Our players carried out their job in a magnificent way. "But let's think about the game in front of us. We're in good shape physically - let's try to win." Puyol's 73rd-minute winner, when he powered home an unstoppable header from Xavi's pin-point corner, made the result a repeat of the Euro 2008 final between the two sides.  | WORLD CUP PHOTO ALBUM |
And it means that a new name will adorn the World Cup trophy come Sunday, as the Dutch were beaten finalists in both 1974 and 1978. The victory for Spain , who have never faced the Netherlands in a major tournament, was just reward for arguably their best performance of the tournament so far, one which saw them control possession for large periods and restrict Germany - who had been prolific in attack in the lead up to the last-four clash - to only a handful of half-chances. In the end, Spain had 13 attempts to Germany's five, and Del Bosque said: "From defence through to attack I think we played a great game." Spanish striker David Villa , who is joint top scorer in South Africa with five goals, said the team wanted to make the most of their opportunity in the final, having grabbed their first semi-final appearance with both hands. Spain 'grew up' after Swiss loss - Pique "We've shown that in the big moments we can grow even more," Villa said. "We should have scored more goals, but one from Puyol has put us in the final. "The group deserves this but we want more. We are happy to be in the final, that was our objective, but now we want to be champions." Puyol's strike against Germany was in fact the first of La Furia Roja's seven goals that Villa did not either score or create. But even though the margin of victory was a slender one German coach Jochim Loew backed Spain to triumph in the final and he paid full respect to their possession-based approach. "They've been the best team for a few years. They circulate the ball well and you just can't keep up with them," stated Loew. Spain midfielder Xavi also said that they would not change their methods for the match at Soccer City in Johannesburg. | 606: DEBATE |
"Let's enjoy the final," he said. "We dedicate this victory to Spain. If we play on Sunday like we did today, we will have a great chance." The Barcelona playmaker added: "We will have to impose our personality and football on them." Meanwhile, Spanish defender Gerard Pique admitted that the team had grown up since their opening game defeat by Switzerland . And he also said the team had a tendency to play too much. The Barcelona centre-back produced a fine performance alongside Puyol to keep Germany at bay in Durban, but asked if his team should be worried about the Netherlands in the final, he told BBC Sport: "Yes, a lot. "The Netherlands have a lot of good players - [Arjen] Robben , [Robin] Van Persie , [Wesley] Sneijder . We have to try to stop them but at the same time we need to play our game, to keep the ball and score goals. "Sometimes we play too much. We try to play a lot and we don't shoot as many times as we want, but I think at the moment we are on a great run and if the opposition do not score, one goal is enough to win games."
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