Carles Puyol and Co put a smile on the face of Vicente del Bosque

July 9, 2010

Carles Puyol may have been the goal hero, but Vicente del Bosque hailed all of his ‘extraordinary’ players after an historic night in South Africa.

Puyol’s bullet header, after he’d missed a similar chance in the first half, was enough to see off Germany and book Spain’s place in the World Cup Final for the first time.

Del Bosque said: “Our players carried out their job in a magnificent way. All of our players were extraordinary - but we still have a match to play. We know Dutch football and it will be very tough in the final.

“So let’s think about the game in front of us. We’re in good shape physically - let’s try to win.”

Del Bosque added: “From defence through to attack I think we played a great game. We’vegot another game in front of us, let’s see if we are able to control the ball, and the game – and win.”

Spanish defender Gerard Pique admitted that the team had a tendency to ‘overplay’ and believed they would face a tough match against the Dutch.

Asked if his team should be worried about Holland in the final, the former Manchester United defender said: “Yes, of course.

“The Netherlands have a lot of good players - [Arjen] Robben, [Robin] Van Persie, [Wesley] Sneijder - and we have to try to stop them.

“But at the same time we need to play our game, to pass the ball around like we know we can, and create chances.

“Sometimes we can overplay it, and we don’t shoot on goal enough. But I think that at the moment we are on a great run and if the opposition do not score, one goal is enough to win the game.”

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