Spain's ball worship delivers World Cup glory and a nation's shared embrace

EAST RUTHERFORD, New Jersey, July 19 : Spain went all the way round the footballing wheel on Sunday, from silk to sludge, from purity to persistence, and still ended up exactly where they wanted to be - World Cup champions, with the ball at their feet and belief in their bones.

Their 1-0 victory over Argentina was not a wild departure from their identity but a muddy reaffirmation of it. Spain passed, probed, protected and pampered the ball as if it were national treasure, refusing to panic as Argentina dug in and the clock ticked towards the end of extra time.

In the end, fittingly for a side built on the idea that no player is bigger than the whole, the winner came from the bench. It was set up and scored by substitutes Nico Williams and Ferran Torres, the third time in the knockout rounds that a replacement had struck the decisive blow for Spain.

That, more than any glossy tactical diagram, said plenty about Luis de la Fuente's side. This is not a team of soloists demanding the spotlight. It is an orchestra in which even the late arrivals know the tune by heart.

Spain finished with more than 65 per cent possession, 12 shots on target and over twice as many completed passes as Argentina, who produced their first effort - off target - near the end of extra time.

It was domination, but not destruction. Spain still had to sweat for it. Their familiar weakness, the absence of a classic centre forward, was exposed by the number of chances they created but failed to finish.

Yet if the lack of a ruthless striker remains their Achilles' heel, it is about the only exposed part of a team otherwise wrapped in collective certainty.

Spain swept the individual tournament awards, with Pau Cubarsi named Best Young Player, Unai Simon Best