On this day: 2010 - Andres Iniesta puts Spain on top of the world

Sport360 staff 10:48 11/07/2015
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Mail
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • WhatsApp
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Champions of the world: Spain.

    They were champions of Europe and then they became champions of the world. Spain captured football’s Holy Grail for the first time with a 1-0 victory over the Netherlands thanks to Andres Iniesta’s 116th-minute strike at Soccer City.

    The solitary goal came – five years to this day – with penalties looming as substitute Cesc Fabregas played in Iniesta and the little midfielder drove emphatically across Maarten Stekelenburg and into the far corner.

    With this victory – their fourth successive single-goal win in South Africa – Spain became the eighth name on the World Cup Trophy and also the first European team to have triumphed on a different continent.

    Other memorable events to happen on this day…

    1924: Eric Liddell won the gold medal in 400m at the 1924 Paris Olympics, after refusing to run in the heats for 100m, his favoured distance.

    1930: Australian cricketer Donald Bradman scores a world record 309 runs in one day, on his way to the highest individual Test innings of 334 against England.

    1987: Baltimore Orioles’ Cal Ripken becomes the first to manage two sons, as Billy joins Cal Jr.

    2012: Steve Nash is traded by the Phoenix Suns to the LA Lakers.

    Recommended