New soccer World Cup champion will be crowned in South Africa

PanARMENIAN.Net - Carles Puyol’s leaping header guaranteed a new soccer World Cup champion will be crowned in South Africa, Bloomberg reports.

The Spain defender rose to score the only goal last night against Germany in Durban, sending his team to its first final at the championship against the Netherlands, a two-time runner-up in the 1970s.

Facing three-time winner Germany and two-time champion Uruguay in the final four, the Spanish and Dutch won to set up a final at Johannesburg’s Soccer City on July 11, when the victor will become the eighth nation to lift the trophy.

“There will be a new winner on Sunday, which is good for football itself,” Spain backup goalkeeper Pepe Reina told reporters after the game. “For us it will be motivation.”

Puyol’s 73rd-minute goal allowed Spain to repeat its 1-0 win over Germany in the European Championship final two years ago. That victory gave the Spaniards, whose best World Cup performance was fourth place 60 years ago, their first major trophy since 1964.