Durban: When it came to stopping one Barcelona man in Lionel Messi, Germany did it rather well against Argentina. Problem was, on Wednesday night, there were just too many of them.

Spain, who made a mockery of the German might during their historic entry into the World Cup final here, had seven players from the Catalan giants in the starting line up while one more — goalkeeper Victor Valdes — was waiting for his opportunity on the bench. Of the seven, striker David Villa, has lately moved to Nou Camp from Valencia.

So much so, a Spanish newspaper has commented that though the Spanish team is called “La Roja”, the soul of Vicente del Bosque’s squad is actually the “Blagurana”, the blue and red colours of Barcelona.

With Germany having seven players from Bayern Munich in their squad, it almost turned out to be a Barcelona versus Bayern Munich match for the club loyalists.

The Barcelona supporters are particularly happy that three players from their club played key roles in scoring the only goal of the match. While Andres Iniesta earned the corner kick, Xavi whipped it in from the left and it was met by a rampaging Carles Puyol to head in the dramatic match winner in the 73rd minute.

Despite all the rivalry between Barcelona and Real Madrid in club football, that has often harmed the national team’s interest in the past, Spain looked a hugely united side against Germany. The warm hug that Carles Puyol, the Barcelona captain and the only goal scorer of the match, received from goalkeeper Iker Casillas moments after the final whistle is a clear testimony of the harmony within the team.

“I am really happy for him (Puyol),” said Casillas, the Spain captain, later. “He is a huge player and has played some great football for Spain over the years. Today (Wednesday), he was the man, who helped us create history,” said Casillas, who played a stellar role in guiding the team to victory.

Puyol, the longhaired central defender, who has been a mainstay of the Spanish defence for a decade now scored his third international goal in 89 appearances. Prior to Wednesday’s match, the greatest moment in Puyol’s career came in 2006 when Barcelona won the Champions League beating Arsenal in the final.

Before the semi-final, Toni Nadal, former Barcelona star and uncle of Spanish Wimbledon champion Rafael Nadal said that Puyol’s maturity and his pride for the job along with positional play will be of great help for Spain against Germany. Puyol surely did not disappoint his fans.

“This has been the most complete game we’ve played in the World Cup, with chances, with more punch,” Puyol said later. “We had already made history, but this is really making history, this is incredible. It’s hard to get here but Spain deserve it. We have worked very hard since the European Championships. We want to be champions,” added the Spanish hero.

Among the Barcelona players in the Spanish team, Xavi has played the longest, having made more than 90 appearances for the national team. Puyol has donned the national jersey 89 times. Both players have played more than 300 matches for their club. Other than these two, Barcelona’s Iniesta, Gerard Pique, Sergio Busquets, Pedro and David Villa are also important members of the Spanish team.

“They are masters of the game,” Germany coach Joachim Loew said after the match. “You can see it in every pass. Take how Barcelona play. They can hardly be beaten. They are extremely confident and very calm in the way they circulate the ball.”

Teams

Spain: Iker Casillas; Sergio Ramos, Gerard Pique, Carles Puyol, Joan Capdevila; Xabi Alonso (Carlos Marchena 90+3), Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Sergio Busquets; Pedro (David Silva 86), David Villa (Fernando Torres 81).

Germany: Manuel Neuer; Philipp Lahm, Arne Friedrich, Per Mertesacker, Jerome Boateng (Marcell Jansen 52), Piotr Trochowski (Toni Kroos 62), Sami Khedira (Mario Gomez 81), Bastian Schweinsteiger, Lukas Podolski, Mesut Oezil, Miroslav Klose.

Referee: Viktor Kassai (Hungary)