The Barcelona midfielder scored the winning goal in extra time of an aggressive, bad-tempered game in which seven Holland  players were booked and John Heitinga was sent off. “I had the opportunity to score the goal that was so important for my team, and it’s incredible,” he said. I’ve made a small contribution in a very tough game, a very rough game - there were all sorts of things happening on the pitch - but Spain  deserved to win this World Cup.

"It’s something we have to remember and enjoy, and should feel very proud of everyone in this squad.” Iniesta was himself booked for taking off his shirt in celebrating his goal, revealing a t-shirt with “Dani Jarque - always with us” written on it. Jarque, an Espanyol player, died of a heart attack during pre-season training in Italy last year, aged 26.

“I wanted to carry Dani Jarque with me and with my other team-mates,” he said. “We wanted to feel his strength. We wanted to pay tribute to him in the world of football, and this was the best opportunity to do so.” Iniesta was coy about the possibility of Spain defending the trophy in Brazil in four years time, even though most of this squad will still be around.

“There’s a long way to go to 2014,” he said. “Now’s the time to enjoy this World Cup. We’ll see what happens four years down the line.”

There were raucous celebrations from the Spanish players in the aftermath of the game. Carles Puyol and Cesc Fabregas burst into the main press conference in full song, while captain Iker Casillas kissed his television presenter girlfriend, Sarah Carbonero, live on Spanish tv.