After subbing on in the 87th minute, Cesc Fabregas set up Andres Iniesta’s game willing goal. Fabregas looked lively when he subbed on–he had a few beautiful passes, and a great shot on goal.
Robin Van Persie started and played the whole game for the Dutch, and he was lucky not to be sent off in the first ten minutes after two late challenges on Spanish players. He earned a yellow for the second terrible, late takedown. Van Persie seemed to struggle the whole tournament, and hopefully he’ll rebound and have a stellar Premier League campaign.
Evidentially, English referee Howard Webb [can't control his own children](http://www.dailystar.co.uk/posts/view/143755/World-Cup-Final-Referee-Howard-Webb-can-t-control-his-own-), but he did dish out a record 12 yellow cards (7 to the Dutch, 5 to the Spanish). It’s been a big year for Webb, as he refereed the Champions League final as well as the World Cup final. It’s the silver lining to the English National’s team floundering World Cup appearance.
[According to Goal.com](http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2890/world-cup-2010/2010/07/11/2020977/breaking-news-world-cup-2010-diego-forlan-wins-golden-ball), Diego Forlan of Uruguay won the Golden Ball, while Thomas Mueller (Germany) won both the Golden Boot and Young Player Award. Its slightly fitting–the third place game was a better spectacle than the World Cup final, and Forlan’s Jimmy-Bullard-like play was inspirational.

Arsenal have officially announced that they’ve signed Lorient centre-back Laurent Koscielny. According to Arsene Wenger, ["We identified Koscielny as a very, very strong centre half . . .He can be an outstanding addition to our team. But it is not over, we are still open to buy. . . We are still on the market for another defensive player because we have the need for one more." ](http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/wenger-we-re-still-on-market-for-a-defender)
Fingers crossed that Koscielny replicates Thomas Vermaelen’s amazingly fast transition to premiere league football . . . and evidently we needed another French center half to replace the outgoing William Gallas.
In May, Arsenal signed Marouane Chamakh on a free transfer. The Moroccan striker played for Bordeaux last year, and has joined Arsenal’s [first team in training](http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/chamakh-s-first-training-session-pictures).

Robin Van Persie started and played the whole game in the Netherland’s 3-2 win over Uruguay. Van Persie has gotten some positive press in the Guardian about fulfilling his [Dutch dreams](http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/jul/07/world-cup-2010-robin-van-persie).
Cesc Fabregas rode the pine in Spain’s 1-0 win over Germany. No word on whether or not the [injury sustained in training](http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2890/world-cup-2010/2010/07/06/2012216/world-cup-2010-arsenal-skipper-cesc-fabregas-injury-doubt) caused his omission, or if he just wasn’t part of Coach Vicente del Bosque’s game plan. ESPN was clearly so overwhelmed by this win that they waxed romantically poetic over Carles Puyol’s match winning header and wrote, ["he headed it with such power that his long curls whipped across his face."](http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report?id=264121&cc=5901&ver=us)
Neither Spain nor Netherlands have ever won the World Cup, so Sunday’s game will be a [first on many levels](http://g.sports.yahoo.com/soccer/world-cup/blog/dirty-tackle/post/The-World-Cup-Final-a-game-of-firsts?urn=sow,254382#remaining-content).

Robin Van Persie started and played 85 minutes in Netherland’s 2-1 win over Brazil thanks to his [best bud's](http://soccernet.espn.go.com/world-cup/story/_/id/804507/ce/uk/?cc=5901&ver=us) Sneijder’s two goals. As fitting with his ‘made of glass’ reputation, after the [Van Persie had x-rays on his arm](http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/jul/03/robin-van-persie-injury-scare) after hurting it when injuring himself when sliding after a ball . . . that was out of bounds.
Cesc Fabregas subbed on for Francisco Torres in the second half of Spain’s 1-0 defeat of Paraguay. Fabregas has a legitimate claim at a penalty turned down immediately in the aftermath of [Xabi Alonso's retaken PK attempt.](http://www.sbnation.com/2010/7/3/1551161/world-cup-2010-spain-vs-paraguay-xabi-alonso)
Since Spain face Germany in the semifinals, and the Netherlands face Uruguay, its possible that we could see a Cesc versus RVP match-up in the World Cup final. Regardless, both Arsenal men have two more games each, so watch this space for the semi-final and final/third place game write-ups.

Spain it through to the quarterfinals; however, Cesc Fabregas watched from the bench–he never made it into the game, even though Spain used all three subs.
Robin Van Persie started in the Netherlands 2-1 win over Slovakia, and he, in a sign of maturity and professionalism, [threw a hissy fit when he was subbed out](http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/worldcup2010/2010/07/02/2010-07-02_netherlands_robin_van_persie_world_cup_substitution_dutch_brazil.html) instead of Wesley Sneijder.
Joe Cole subbed on for Milner in England’s 4-1 loss to Germany. [Still waiting on official word](http://www.metro.co.uk/sport/829508-joe-coles-arsenal-transfer-a-done-deal) that Cole is an Arsenal player.
Carlos Vela didn’t play in Mexico’s 4-1 loss to Argentina, presumably because of his hamstring injury picked up in the group stages. He was on-hand to comfort Giovani Dos Santos after the loss.