Spain grasped their place in a World Cup final with Holland on Sunday by proving that they can stop being their elaborate selves when different methods are essential. A disappointed Germany will be stunned that they should have conceded a goal at a set piece, when Carles Puyol headed home after 73 minutes.
His side were more at ease thereafter and Pedro squandered an opportunity to extend the lead. This, even so, is an emerging Germany line-up that will be more formidable still in the next few years. Spain took care and their own team selection was altered as they avoided acting out of mere habit. One of their best attackers enjoyed just an eventual cameo.
A night that poses a challenge such as this can question every assumption. Vicente del Bosque, for instance, had previously been determined to nurse Fernando Torres into form and fitness following the knee surgery in the spring, but the Liverpool forward had not made his mark in the earlier knockout matches at this tournament. In Durban he returned to the substitutes' bench for Spain.
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