Iker Casillas lifts the World Cup trophy (Reuters/Juan Medina)

I never thought that I would find myself saying those words.   To see a team that was enveloped in failure after generations of hype and discord finally came to an end in Johannesburg on Sunday night.

Generations of players labeled as chokers and underachievers saw a golden generation take that monkey off their backs with a win for the ages against a tough Dutch side.   These players were able to etch their names into football history as the greatest group of players that Spain has ever assembled and, for many, their careers are set as they have truly won every trophy available with the exception of the Confederations Cup.

I was as neutral as can be as I did not play in any pools and did not make any bets.  Who would ask me to do such a thing as my prowess at both of them is part of the reason Paul the Octopus has become such a media darling.

I am more of the type that likes to remain even keel and be honest with myself whether the fan side of me likes it or not. 

In the end, we have to be honest, the best team won the World Cup.  That is quite a refreshing feeling as we've seen teams that dampened the game become protagonists for all the wrong reasons.   When attacking football has been replaced by apprehensive play and catenaccio, La Furia does give the fan looking for spectacle some hope that creative football is on the comeback trail. 

Despite losing their opener against Switzerland, Spain remained loyal to their style of play.  The believed, regardless if it was Vicente del Bosque or Luis Aragones on the bench, they would stick to the guns that got them to the big dance.   If their style of play was a woman- it would have been Larissa Riquelme.  It was the sexiest of all.  It was delightful to the beholder and was able to capture the imagination of football fans old and new.  At least they were the ones that kept the flicker of hope alive for good football in a world where mucking and grinding were not just hockey terms anymore.

Spain matches seemed to go faster and just move smoothly.  Yes, they lacked that one selfish player to take the ball and shoot it on goal, sometimes it was to their detriment.  They touched you to death despite the Martin Tyler as well as many English pundits mocked the Spaniards style of play as "death by a thousand touches",  the Spaniards showed much more than the Three Lions in the end and have something to show for as well. 

What made this team so exemplary was the humility that they had.  To many outsiders, it was something very un-Spanish compared to the typical stereotype that we held that culture to justly or unjustly.  It says a great deal to see a player in his greatest moment careerwise remember a player from a rival team.  That was Andrés Iniesta when he dedicated his goal to fallen Espanyol captain Dani Jarque.   It says a great deal when Sergio Ramos first thought of late Sevilla defender Antonio Puerta.

The team had stars on the roster, but none of them were greater than the sum of the parts.  Although we start to mention players like David Villa, Xavi, etc. and look at them as "cracks".  They would have been nothing without the players around them and they realized it.

You can call it Barcelona values, you can call it Spanish Leadership.  I would just call it good human beings working for the greater good.   Those are all factors of a good human side getting together to play for each other and believe in each other. 

When listening to Spanish radio on the way to work I heard a tone I had never heard in the Spaniards ever.  They were talking about being united.  They left all of their differences aside to be able to do something great for a country mired in division and identified by its fractured state of autonomy.   Just 24 hours before well over a million Catalans went to the streets to demand for their independence only to see fans of Spain take to the streets of Barcelona to celebrate La Furia's historic feat.   For one moment, people thought of how beautiful things could be and what great things could be done in that country if they just united and did everything in their power to move in the same direction.

Call them idealists, but they do have a point.  Just shows you the magic that this game has over a country.  

Marca editor Eduardo Inda mentioned on Monday that these players were "normal people".  "You could put a bag over their shoulder and you'd think they were just college boys going to school,"said Inda.  He brought to notice how down to earth the players were and what they looked at as far as the team is concerned.

In the end, Spain's World Cup victory is not the cherry on the proverbial cake.  Winning the Jules Rimet trophy is part of what the legacy of this team has developed ever since its nucleus won the U-20 World Cup back in 2001. 

Next up for the reigning World Cup is a friendly match against Mexico at the Estadio Azteca to commemorate the Mexican bicentennial.