The Front Row with John Leicester July 12, 2010

PARIS - Spain won the World Cup with the right kind of football. No one can argue that its tense 1-0 extra time victory over the Netherlands wasn't deserved.

Where some teams chose grim defense, Spain stuck to its attacking philosophy at this World Cup and, in the end, reaped the biggest reward there is. Where others hoofed balls up field and hoped, the Spanish passed, passed and passed until the goals came.

In becoming the first European nation to win the World Cup outside of Europe, Spain showed that beautiful football can be winning football, too.

That positive example can only be good for the global game. Spain plays football in the way that young boys dream of when they kick balls around on pitches and streets.

A new champion, how exciting. No offense to the seven other nations that jealously monopolized the trophy until now, but football needed a fresh face. Other nations - the Netherlands, of course, but with time, why not the United States, Ghana, Portugal and others - can take heart and dream that their day might come, too.

With their World Cup winners and their Wimbledon and French Open champion Rafael Nadal, who was in Soccer City for the final, Spain can brag of being the No.1 sporting nation of 2010. A real achievement. Spain's Alberto Contador also remains in the running to defend his Tour de France title, too.

For the first time in 80 years of World Cups, Italy, Brazil, Germany or Argentina did not play the final. That broadening of football's elite is good for its popularity and future.

The Netherlands, with just 16 million people and the sixth largest economy in Europe, came very close to becoming the little nation that could.

But, just this once, those who tooted for Spain can be forgiven. It was deserved.

John Leicester is an international sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at [email protected].