DURBAN SOUTH AFRICA - JULY 07: Carles Puyol of Spain scores his side's first goal from a header from a corner kick during the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa Semi Final match between Germany and Spain at Durban Stadium on July 7 2010 in Durban South Africa. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)
More analysis later - I wanted to get the passing table up as quickly as possible. This table is from Spain's perspective - they controlled 64% of passing and 70% of territory when the game was tied:
| Score | Minutes | Pass F |
Weighted | Pass A |
Weighted | % Passes | % Weighted |
| 0-0 | 73.6 | 653 | 150 | 367 | 65 | 64 | 69.9 |
| 1-0 | 20.8 | 199 | 48 | 494 | 106 | 28.7 | 31.2 |
Spain continued doing what it has done all along: dominate ball possession. We wanted to like the Germans because they scored so quickly, but in the long-run, scoring is a function of owning the ball, and the Germans did not do that to the same extent as the Spaniards. In the short-run, you can get some "lucky" bounces (Uruguay) or ridiculous shots (Uruguay, again), or just take more advantage of your opportunities than your opponent does (Germany).
In case you were wondering, you can see how often corner kicks result in a goal.
Other links of interest: More on Spain's passing prowess. Passing stats from the World Cup final. How Inter beat Barca despite not controlling the ball. The theoretical underpinnings of "Weighted Passing" and how predictive it is relative to other stats.
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