![World Cup: Spain Wins in Extra Time [update]](https://progresspond.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/pattern-1-1280x640.jpg)
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SPAIN IS THE RIGHTFUL WINNER OF THE WORLD CUP …
Iniesta scored in the 116th minute. The Dutch squad picked up way too many yellow cards and played in extra time with just 10 men. The Dutch fought like lions, but couldn’t match the individual quality of the squad from Spain. They earned the golden trophy, for the first time they played in a final. Congratulations to Spain.
The Catalans of Barcelona consider all teams and players from Madrid state fascists. You won’t see the national red-yellow flag flying in Catalonia. No supporter of Real Madrid will ever watch a European Cup match played by FC Barcelona. This season there were some awkward moments: Spanish cup final between Sevilla and Athletico Madrid played in Camp Nou stadium of Barcelona. With the presence of Kingand Queen, the national anthem must have played in Barcelona. No television viewer witnessed this happening, due to a “technical defect” the screens went black the moment of the pre-match recording.
BARCELONA, Catalonia (AFP) July 10, 2010 – More than a million people on Saturday marched in northeastern Spain in support of the Catalan region’s statute of autonomy, after it was challenged by a constitutional court.
The statute, which was earlier approved by the Spanish parliament and endorsed by Catalan voters in a 2006 referendum, gave the regional parliament enhanced powers in taxation and judicial matters as well as more control over airports, ports and immigration.
Police put the number of demonstrators at 1.1 million. A vast column of protesters was preceded by a huge Catalan flag with the slogan “we are a nation, we decide ourselves” while thousands of red and yellow Catalan banners were visible among the huge crowd.
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Ruling: Catalan language should not take precedence over Castilian Spanish. (BBC News)
“This demonstration is the start of independence that we want for our country (Catalonia)” one student told AFP.
The protest was staged hours after the confirmation by Spain’s Constitutional Court of the June 28 ruling which removed important parts of the new statute of autonomy.
The ruling, published on Friday, stated that the term “nation” defining Catalonia in the statute had no legal value because “the constitution only knows one nation, Spain.”
On a balmy evening in the Catalan capital, the match kicked off after enthusiastic singing along to the wordless Spanish national anthem, in contrast to last year’s final between Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao when it was roundly booed.
In the festive atmosphere, many Sevilla fans were sporting sombreros in homage to club president Jose Maria del Nido and vast swathes of the giant arena were decorated in the red and white of Atletico.
The party mood in the crowd failed to rub off on the teams and the match boiled over with around 20 minutes left when a crunching tackle by Luis Perea on Capel prompted pushing and shoving between players and staff next to the technical areas. Atletico coach Quique Sanchez Flores and Alvarez had a heated exchange before match officials restored calm.
Atletico pressed forward desperately as the clock ticked down, leaving holes at the back that Navas was able to exploit to kill the game off.
The last time Barca’s Nou Camp stadium hosted a cup final was in 1970, during the Francisco Franco dictatorship when the competition was called the “Copa del Generalisimo“. Real Madrid beat Valencia 3-1 to win the trophy and Franco was in the stadium to present the cup to Real captain Gento.
Video screen in Barcelona to meet demand by foreign tourists
(Daily Mail) – The Netherlands go into the final on the back of six wins, and if they are victorious on Sunday, they will become only the fifth side to register a 100% record in WC finals so far, joining Uruguay in 1930, Italy in 1938, and Brazil in 1970 and 2002.
The Dutch also had a 100% record in qualification for South Africa and will become only the second nation ever to win all their qualifiers and finals games, after Brazil achieved this feat in 1970.
This will be the Netherlands’ third World Cup final but the first where they haven’t had to play the hosts. Only four other sides have appeared in more World Cup finals than the Dutch (including 2010) – Germany, Brazil, Argentina and Italy.
FIFA expects global TV audience of 700 million for World Cup final
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Orange and red armies besiege Soccer City, Johannesburg
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."
