Only 12 kilometres separate Spain from Africa at their closest point and they were united in celebration at the finish of a 19th FIFA World Cup™ that sent a fault line of happiness stretching all the way from Bloemfontein to Barcelona.
This was Africa's first FIFA World Cup and it will live in the memory as much for the spirit and smiles of the host nation as for the success of a Spain team who achieved their own first when Andres Iniesta's 116th-minute winner against the Netherlands put them into the record books as the eighth country to capture football's most prized crown.
Spain's concluding triumph in the magnificent 'calabash' of Soccer City brought the curtain down on 31 days of football: 64 games at nine venues featuring 599 players from 32 teams who between them scored 145 goals. At the end of it all Vicente del Bosque's men held the trophy but South Africa's success was the other defining story, the Rainbow Nation putting on a show of pride and purpose that gave a message of hope to an entire continent. The fact South Africa's footballers became the first hosts to fall in the first round did nothing to damage the enthusiasm or dim the ubiquitous hum of the vuvuzelas.
South Africa 2010 was a tournament not short on surprises but European title-holders Spain overcame theirs – an opening loss to Switzerland – to win their remaining six matches, the last four all by a 1-0 scoreline. No side has won the FIFA World Cup with fewer goals than Spain's eight but their football still caught the eye – not least the contributions of pass masters Xavi Hernandez and Iniesta, leading scorer David Villa, and Iker Casillas, beaten just twice and whose two one-on-one saves from Arjen Robben in the Final underlined why he fully merited the adidas Golden Glove for best goalkeeper.
For the Netherlands, the memories of South Africa will be mixed after they completed a hat-trick of Final heartbreaks, adding to the defeats in 1974 and '78. Bert van Marwijk's Dutchmen won all six games en route to the Final and if this was a more pragmatic Netherlands than some of their forebears, their attacking players still shone in the 4-2-3-1 formation that was the vogue at these finals, Wesley Sneijder helping himself to five goals along the way.
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