World Cup 2010

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.

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.

Semi Final: Uruguay 2-3 Netherlands

Two goals in three second-half minutes by Wesley Sneijder and Arjen Robben helped to see off a resolute Uruguay side and put the Netherlands into a World Cup final for the first time since 1978.

The Dutch looked short of ideas for long periods but still had the quality in front of goal when it mattered to set up an all-European final against Euro 2008 champions Spain or Germany in Johannesburg on Sunday.

After Giovanni van Bronckhorst's spectacular opener, Uruguay were gifted an equaliser when goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg failed to deal with Diego Forlan's long-range shot.

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