Spain

Essien secret is hard work and discipline

The secret to the glittering career of ex-Chelsea and Ghana legend Michael Essien has been revealed by one of his old teammates.

Derek Boateng who played alongside the powerhouse midfielder for their country at youth and senior levels he is not surprised by the fact the 34-year-old is still going strong playing in the Indonesian top flight side Persib Bandung.

WORLD CUP: SANCHEZ TO PLAY DESPITE INJURY

Despite a heavily bandaged knee, Arsenal's star player, Alexis Sanchez had been declared fit and available for Chile's World Cup qualifier to be played against Uruguay.


Sanchez, who was being closely watched, to ascertain his level of fitness, had trained with the National team on Monday despite sporting a heavily bandaged thigh.

SILVA INSISTS ON PLAYING

Spain International David Silva insists on playing for his national team despite the injury concerns ahead of the tournament billed for France.

The Manchester City playmaker suffered a hamstring injury in the first leg of his club's Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid last month and has not played since. When he joined the national team, he spoke on the injuries.

"I'm fine. I hope to play in the first game, I'm not sure but I feel good. I have 96 caps and I am excited about reaching 100, to reach that figure would be very nice," he said.

FINAL: Netherlands 0-1 Spain (aet)

Andres Iniesta struck a dramatic winner late in extra time to give Spain World Cup glory for the first time but condemned the Netherlands to their third defeat in a final.

Iniesta drilled his right-foot strike across goal - but the Dutch were incensed after referee Howard Webb had failed to award their side a corner moments earlier when a free-kick took a sizeable deflection off Cesc Fabregas.

Semi Final: Germany 0 - Spain 1

Spain reached the World Cup final for the first time after a second-half header from Carles Puyol secured a narrow victory over Germany after an intriguing match in Durban.

Vicente del Bosque's side won their third straight game 1-0 and will now play the Netherlands in Sunday's final at Soccer City.

Spain deserved their victory after controlling huge periods of the match, but once again it was far from a vintage performance.

Del Bosque's team improved on their scrappy performance against Paraguay in the previous round but still struggled to carve out clear openings.

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