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1.39pm: Germany's Thomas Muller - scandalously left off the shortlist for the Golden Ball - has admitted his disbelief at winning the Golden Boot (which, let's be honest, was decided in a typically cack-handed way by Fifa. Assists, I ask you? Why not just base it on something equally arbitrary and irrelevant like shoe size or mother's maiden name? Although we should be delighted that Sepp's latest brain malfunction has ended up favouring one of the tournament's more erudite young men, so well done Fifa, another sterling effort). Here's what he had to say:

"This is just incredible for a newcomer to the World Cup. If anyone had told me I'd end on eight scorer points, I'd have said they were kidding me. It's an honour of course, but at the end of the day, I'd rather have had the World Cup itself."

More here.

Maybe if they want to reward assists too they could create the Golden Gofer award.

1.28pm: More from the site of Sports Illustrated, and this time with "by Jonathan Wilson, 's written about Spain, the Dutch overcame the cynical fouling. Here' s some of them:

A fourth 1-0 win in a row doesn't tell the full story; Spain had none of the control it had possessed in the previous three rounds, as the Netherlands effectively kicked it out of its rhythm. An open extra time gave the game some credit, but this was a match ruined by Dutch brutality. Referee Howard Webb was booed by the crowd and will no doubt be harangued by pundits, but the greatest share of the blame belongs to the Netherlands and its negativity. The goodwill built up by years of attractive football was severely depleted by 120 sorry minutes. A more defensive approach is one thing; borderline anti-football is something else.

You can read the full article here.

1.24pm: Hi there! Jacob Steinberg here - I'm just filling in for Sean Ingle while he goes off in search of whatever it is he eats for lunch. So. The World Cup's over. Sad face.

1.15pm: Meanwhile Richard Whittall emails in with a view from across the pond:

Up here in North America ... as great as this World Cup was, the grossly cynical final will likely have set back American interest in soccer years, if not decades. All the negative football stereotypes were on display yesterdayâ€"long balls into touch, diving, manic fouls, low-scoring, a boring game littered with stoppages. Despite a fair amount of entertainment leading up to yesterday's game, most curious Americans will have only tuned in to watch the final, had their suspicions confirmed, and sworn off ever watching another soccer game again. I think we should all just abandon the idea that the World Cup will ever be as great as it was in 86. It's caught up with it's own mythos as the premier global sporting event, with too many teams and an in-grown fear of losing. To use an expression that's already jumped the shark, it's jumped the shark.

Anyone agree?

1.05pm: More from the ongoing Sepp Blatter post World Cup press confence, from Owen Gibson and David Smith:

Blatter claims that he "not 't hear the" boos as he walked towards the teams. Yeah, right. # World Cup

Blatter on Mandela: "He wanted to be there yesterday to see his dream come true. He is the greatest humanist in the world."

1pm: If you're desperate for some hair of the dog, why not relive the last 31 days with our day-by-day World Cup interactive?

12.50pm:BBC once again given its traditional ITV World Cup final beating estimates. Jason Deans reports: "More than 18 million viewers watched live coverage of the 2010 World Cup final last night, Sunday 11 July â€" with more than four out of five viewers choosing the BBC's advertising-free football over the ITV alternative ... the BBC's audience was 15.1 million (54%), compared with 3.3 million (12%) for ITV."

12:40 pm: Here 's Statement of sentence Sid Lowe' the victory of Spain ", from Sports Illustrated :

The emotion was overwhelming. It is hard to do justice to just how huge this success is for Spain. Two hundred thousand people had gathered in Madrid to see Spain become world champion for the first time ever. And it won the World Cup final much as it did all of its knockout games:

One-nil.

With nervous moments and strokes of luck.

But, ultimately, deservedly ...

Even Holland's muscular, at times plain brutal approach did not -- in the end -- prevent Spain from adding the world title to its European one. In virtually every game it was confronted not by sides that sought to play but to prevent Spain from playing. In every game, Spain has sought goals. Without haste, without anxiety and without urgency, perhaps. But it has sought them. Spain might not have been quite as dazzling as some hoped, not quite as creative, not quite as much of a fantasy soccer team as some demanded, but it has -- in its own way -- dominated this World Cup.

Before the final, Jesús Navas had delivered more balls into the box than any other player at the tournament despite playing only 118 minutes, while Xavi had provided 25 goal scoring chances -- eight more than anyone else. Spain led in attacks -- more than 20 clear of No. 2 Germany and No. 3 Brazil. The Spanish ranked first in shots, solo runs and passes (more than 1,500 more, in fact), and they had the best pass-completion rate. No side averaged as many passes as Spain in 16 years.

Meanwhile, only Germany and Uruguay covered a greater distance and, before Sunday's war, which Spain largely handled impressively, only Korea had collected fewer cards.

In every game, Spain had more shots on target and more possession than its opponents -- including the opening-game defeat that could be written off as a freak result, with an 8-to-3 advantage in shots on goal and 63 percent of the ball. Only Chile had as many shots overall against Spain -- 9 each, but with fewer on target -- in the competition. Spain had 19 (10 on target) to Portugal's 9 (3); 16 (9) to Paraguay's 9 (4); and 13 (5) to Germany's 5 (2). In the final, Spain had 56 percent of possession and 18 shots to Holland's 13 ...

12.34pm: More from David Smith:

Blatter on English referee Howard Webb and assistants productivity "in the World Cup final:" It was not easy. They do not help in solving this problem. "

12.30pm: Meanwhile our South Africa correspondent David Smith is tweeting from the World Cup wrap-up press conference. Here are a few choice quotes:

Blatter: "Africa has proven they can organise this World Cup, they organise a big competition. We trusted South Africa. With our trust, they got the confidence to organise the World Cup. They can be proud."

Irvin Khoza: "At opening game I saw Desmond Tutu dancing. He said to me his campaign for the transformation of this society was not in vain. World Cup has made a statement. Never in history have we seen South Africans so united. Today you get mothers talking about offside."

Danny Jordaan: "It's an incredible feeling, an incredible moment... I want to thank Sepp Blatter for making this dream come true."

12.20pm:This is from Opta:

66 - Spain scored fewer goals (8), had fewer shots on target (35) & a lower conversion rate (8.1%) than any #worldcup winner since '66. Lows

12.10pm: So what would do to stop players diving, fouling and feigning injury? A few posts and thoughts from below the line:

CruyffTurn - The waving of the now infamous imaginary yellow or red card in an attempt to get an opponent booked/sent off could be sorted easily. The referee goes in to each dressing room before the game and informs the players, wave a card and you get one. If then during a game the ref actually started booking the players for doing it, it would stop quickly I think. As for the diving, I think your suggestions of having a 5th match official using video evidence to notify the ref on the pitch is good - no doubt Blatter will say that we can't do that because all clubs at all levels could not afford the technology etc - which I think misses the point - if it can only be brought in at the top level for starters, then so be it. At the major tennis tournaments, Hawkeye is only used on the show courts.

Born2bBald - [Video evidence isn't a good idea] 20 ultra-slow-motion replays start to give an idea, but even then you cannot accurately say if a player dived. Very difficult to tell if momentum/balance has been affected by a tackle. No good method to stamp it out. The waving of yellow cards should be punished as mentioned, and is normally absolutely disgraceful. But last night i was jumping up and down waving yellow& red placards at Webb in the hope he would actually do something about the dutch.

Crisgod - Ideas for judges and FIFA / UEFA.

1. Asking for an opposition player to be booked. Yellow card, for all players who request the yellow. Implemented without compromise.
2. Introduce the concept of a team red card for rotational fouling. Captain of offending team to be red carded. Continued offending within game. Replacement captain to be red carded.
3. Remove yellow card offense for removing shirt when celebrating a goal.
4. Simulation. Yellow card offence if picked up contemporaneously by match official. 3 match ban if missed by match official. To be enforced by:
5. Citing, as in Rugby Union, for serious foul play and simulation. 3 match ban minimum if found guilty. No appeals allowed.

A few interesting suggestions. The problem I have with yellow cards is that they don't really work when a team decides to deliberately and systematically foul by rotation - and I'm not sure there's a way to stop that without something drastic like sinbins.

12 pm: This from Andrew Abrahams:

\\ "Is it contagious. Spanish commentator with the expert and former coach Jose Camacho will be ballistic with joy and relief when Iniesta ratings .

11.50am: Some more reaction from the Spanish press, this time from Reuters:

As reported that: "Holland weren't able to knock him (Iniesta) down with kicks or with a brutal pressing game. The battle was in the midfield... and it was obvious that the massive destruction of Spain was put together (by the Dutch) with malicious skill. Luckily Iniesta kept his feet and brought down Holland and their ugly intentions."

Photos of De Yong 's feet to call in the breasts Xabi Alonso' were held in most studies, sports daily Marca said: "It was a rough game, tolerated incompetent judges. Webb is almost completely destroyed."

El Mundo, under the headline '23 hearts, one soul', wrote: "The coach managed to achieve the objective he set himself - the main protagonist was the team." El Periodico spread the net wider and said the side had earned a place alongside Formula One driver Fernando Alonso, cyclist Alberto Contador, tennis great Rafa Nadal and basketball player Pau Gasol in "The Golden Age of Spanish Sport."

11.40am: According to Barlovento, last night's final was the most viewed broadcast in Spanish TV history, with 15.6m watching the game when it went to extra time.

11.30am: Several of you have emailed in Iker Casillas kissing his girlfriend, presenter Sara Carbonero, live on TV after last night's game.

11.20am: The Spanish press hailed Spain's World Cup victory as "poetic justice" for its style of passing football against the negative tactics of the Dutch.

Holland's physical approach â€" which saw the team receive nine yellow cards and have one player sent off â€" was heavily criticised by the Spanish press. Marca attacked "Netherlands' intimidating plan". "The violence restricted Spain's usual play but not enough to negate its superiority," the paper continued.

"It was poetic justice because football won and football, that marvellous universal folklore, is Iniesta," El Mundo said. "The little wizard had to be the one who in minute 116 put the nail in the coffin of the 11 most quarrelsome Dutchmen in history."

Pro-Barcelona daily Mundo Deportivo pointed out that "yesterday there were eight privileged ones who joined the select group that can presume to have achieved the greatest honour a sportsman can manage: to be the best on the planet."

Some reports saw the national team as an example to follow for a country that has severe economic problems. "The Spanish team is a metaphor for what Spain can aspire to be, as long as we are prepared to apply the same criteria that have been the basis for the successes of the national team," ABC said. "It would be good if the collective enthusiasm for the team became a stimulus for Spanish society in the face of the current problems and even that it became the motive to demand that our country should resemble and work like this group of young men."

11.10am: A few more comments from below the line:

\\ "This one was nice, after a cagey start. As I mentioned on these blogs or three weeks ago, the world championships are, as Bond movies. They re" all pleasant, even the shit out of them "- Catunstein.

"How ironic that a nation goes on to accept Cruyff and his philosophies, and wins the World Cup against his nation who have veered so far from his philosophy that it's a travesty. This Dutch team is so far from the true spirit of Dutch football that it's not funny. It would have been an enormous shame had this pathetic excuse for a football team had won the World Cups that Holland had deserved in 1974, 1978 and even 1998. I hope they'll take this loss the right way and get back to their roots, get thugs like van Bommel out of the system and concentrate of the sorts of technically brilliant and tactically proficient players the country has brought us in the last 40 years" - Jugg.

11am: Thanks for all your teams of the tournament - for what it's worth here is Opta's, which is probably based on 11,012 different statistical variables:

Opta Team of the #WorldCup Eduardo, Sergio Ramos, Capdevila, Juan, Piqué, Schweinsteiger, Xavi, Iniesta, Müller, Suárez, Messi.

10.50am: Among the headlines in Dutch newspapers today: "Not Again", the Algemeen Dagblad's "Orange tears" and De Telegraaf's "Fought like lions".

10.40am: It's good to know footballing cliches are universal. After Iker Casillas had lifted the World Cup trophy last night he told reporters: "I am over the moon." Casillas, who was awarded the Golden Glove prize for best goalkeeper in South Africa, added: "We have achieved what every child dreams about, what until now we could only experience in video games, and it's a very special moment for us."

10.30am: Some more posts below the line about Spanish diving:

CruyffTurn writes: "Sean, of course any sane person wants more skill in the game - the game can still have a good physical element to it, as most fans I reckon want, without being like the stuff Wimbledon played back in the day. If we are going down the route where all the physical play is being taken out of the game, then I think it is only fair, that the powers that be, finally clamp down on all the diving. I think this world cup has been the worst ever for it and the Spanish are as guilty as anyone."

Totally agree on the levels of the game in the game. Too many players, and the flop dive and cheat. The question is what to do about it. There are two obvious solutions:
1) The use of retrospective video evidence - so that if a player dives they could face penalties in the game. However, that wouldn t 'players stopped falling last night.
2) The use of video evidence, the fifth judge said the judge on the football field when a player clearly dives. I know many people against this, but I think what to do huge difference. Why dive in the first place if you knew you'd be getting a caution the next time there was a break in play? The threat would be stronger than the execution.

Thoughts?

10:20 am: Meanwhile the 101 great goals website has English post-match interviews with Fabregas, Alonso, Van der Vaart, Robben, and another video of Puyol and Fabregas knocking back the beers after last night's match.

10.10am: Here's a Guardian video of South Africa celebrating Spain's victory, that's well worth a look.

10 am: Two very contrasting posts below the line:

Olching - As I've said elsewhere, I'm sick of people expressing an almost homoerotic adulation for a Spain team that won its matches 1-0 after some very questionable refereeing decisions. I'm also sick of complaints about the 'dirty' Dutch. What has happened? Is physicality no longer allowed in football? I guess pundits, Fifa and others won't be happy until every physical contact is deemed a booking and every way of gaining an unfair advantage is rewarded with a medal. Iniesta is praised as 'skilled' (he dived about 362 times last night), Suarez as 'clever', but naughty van Bommel (for being physical!) as detrimental to football. It's a topsy-turvy world.

I can see where you're coming from Olching, but surely the balance has to be in favour of skill over physicality? Otherwise everyone would play like Wimbledon circa 1986, the most skilful players would be ended up being kicked, hacked, tripped, studded and barged, and football would be a poorer game for it. What was striking last night was that, for all the yellow cards for fouls and the admonishments for diving, it still carried on. There was nothing Howard Webb could do to stop it. As I mentioned on Twitter last night, it would have been interesting if Webb had recourse to sinbins - if he was able to tell the Dutch that the next yellow card offence would have earned 15m on the sidelines, it might have made a difference. Or am I talking poppycock?

9.50am: Were Holland's tactics last night really a grand betrayal of their heritage? Perhaps not, according to this tweet from OptaJoe:

4 - Holland have comitted the most fouls in four of the last seven #worldcups in which they have competed (inc. 2010). Physical. #ned

9:40 am: There's still time, incidentally, for you to send us your Photoshopped pictures of the tournament for our Gallery section by emailing: gallery@guardian.co.uk.

9.30am: Here's what the other British papers made of last night's final. As you might expect, they're scathing about the Dutch:

"In the end, justice, a deserved victory for team that wanted to win the World Cup by playing football ... the ugly truth was that this was a Dutch side that besmirched the memories of Johan Cruyff, Johan Neeskens and the rest of Rinus Michels' 1970s team" - Martin Lipton, the Mirror.

"They were the finalists who died of shame. The finalists who disgraced both a tournament and European football. The finalists who made the made the world fall out of love with Dutch football. It is almost beyond belief it all came to this" - Steven Howard, the Sun.

"No wonder Johan Cruyff chose to support Spain" - Matt Lawton, Daily Mail.

"Never mind the quality, feel the justice" - Henry Winter.

9.20am: Certainly in today's Guardianour chief sports writer Richard Williams damning about today 's games:

No more all-European finals, thank you very much. The one four years ago that ended with Zinedine Zidane's head-butt and a penalty shoot-out was bad enough. But no one seriously expected a classic in Berlin that day. Last night's match was supposed to be a fascinating contest of stylistic nuances, a collision of rival philosophies featuring some of the finest attacking talents in the modern game. But as we had to wait until deep in extra time for Andrés Iniesta's goal, 84,000 people in the stadium and a reputed 700 million television spectators were left wondering when the football was going to start.

Didn't someone tell the players that Nelson Mandela was in the house, never mind Shakira, Charlize Theron and 16 heads of state? Football is about 22 men in search of a result, nothing more and nothing less, but a little entertainment never goes amiss ...

Oh, for anything half as exciting to warm the spectators on a winter's night in a spectacular arena set amid the ziggurats of the disused coal mines on the high plain between Johannesburg and Soweto. A tournament that began with the sizzle of Siphiwe Tshabalala's goal for Bafana Bafana against Mexico seemed to have had the vivacity drained out of it by a surfeit of Old World tactical sophistication.

9.15am: So, a few obvious questions for today:

1) How do you rate this World Cup compared to the others you've seen?
2) Who would be in your team of the tournament?
3) What was your goal of the tournament?
4) Your favourite game?
5) And, if you're not tired of discussing it elsewhere, what did you make of last night's final?

Good morning and welcome to the final day of the guardian.co.uk's live World Cup blog, wherever you are in the world ... So, after 64 games in 31 days, another tournament is over and we're left with that strange so-what-do-I-with-my-life-now feeling. Or at least I am.