体坛英语新闻：Puyol heads dazzling Spain into its first-ever World Cup final

Germany sorely missed suspended winger Thomas Mueller, who had scored four goals so far and was often able to outsprint opponents.

Germany played more cautiously tonight than the Argentina game. Their defense was tough and made little mistakes. Otherwise, the score would not be 1-0.

Spain defender Sergio Ramos made a very ambitious shot in the 18th minute when he found himself isolated out on the right but the ball sailed high and wide.

Pedro attempted an acrobatic effort from an Iniesta cross in the 24th minute but the ball was a bit slow in arriving though and he had to make a hash of his volley.

The first shot from Germany came in the 31st minute when midfielder Piotr Trochowski's low drive was tipped behind by Spain skipper Iker Casillas.

Spain geared up after the interval, laying siege to the German goal.

The 48th minute saw an excellent play from Pedro who beat German defenders Jerome Boateng and Arne Friedrich on the right before pulling back to Xabi Alonso. Unfortunately, the Real Madrid midfielder dragged his shot a bit wide.

After one minute, Xavi's lay off found Alonso whose crisp shot went a bit wide again.