The best team won.
When you stop and think about it, we've all seen great defenses in our sports watching over the years. I know we look at (those of us of a certain age) NFL teams in Minnesota and Chicago — nicknames like the "Purple People Eaters" and the "Monsters of the Midway" won't let us forget.
I know that there's always that great lockdown defensive back that no quarterback wants to throw at to keep a drive going late or getting a key first down. Doesn't matter how talented your wide receiver is. You're looking the other way to keep the chains moving.
The pass rush makes you think about changing your game plan. But because the linebackers can cover anyone coming out of the backfield, you're stuck. You can't run the ball because all the holes are closed after the initial snap. So, you try to have your pass-and-catch spread the field out.
That doesn't work, either. And, at the end of the day, your defense can go on emotion, experience, and talent but THAT moment is coming. It's inevitable.
I use those paragraphs of a super-long analogy on purpose: Spain was inevitable.
Think about what they were able to do over a full 90 minutes. Argentina was the first team not to register a shot on goal over that time in a World Cup final. First time ever. The defense gave up one goal in the tournament total.
ONE.
In the knockout rounds, in five matches, Spain gave up that goal, but allowed only 32 shots TOTAL. And only allowed seven shots on target TOTAL. They handcuffed Kylian Mbappe and all France's firepower in the semifinal. They did the same to Lionel Messi and Argentina on Sunday.
For some reason, some of us folks that get to vote and rank the teams around the planet had Spain at No. 2 in the world.
They were an inevitability and a masterclass in forcing their will on you and telling you no matter how hard you tried, it was going to be an uncomfortable winding of the clock.
Flat out, they deserved everything they worked for in the World Cup to handle the trophy held in the Louis Vuitton travel case.
Because Argentina was working on talent, emotion and experience, a 10-man squad stayed even for a while — underestimate Argentina goalkeeper Emi Martinez at your own peril — so it was north of 90 minutes on the clock when Spain finally scored.
Here's how, thanks to our friends at Telemundo:
Spain deserves every bit of the respect earned under head coach Luis de la Fuente. He has been a coach through their system over the past decade-plus. He coached the under-19, the under-21 and the National team. He's won a silver medal in the Olympics with younger players, a Nations League title, the EUROS, and now a World Cup trophy.
He has known, as he says, 90% of the roster since they were 11 or 12 years old. That kind of experience is invaluable.
If the U.S. can keep head coach Mauricio Pochettino, the same could be experienced over time if we stick with it.
I'll tip my hat to the champs — and that's an easy one.
Before we wrap, I wanted to give a shout out and a tip of the cap to everyone at GPB that has fixed my typos, found the videos, and helped tell the story in far more technically proficient ways than I ever could.
You're all-stars in my book!
As are all of you, Dear Readers, and I ask one thing going forward: Tell your soccer stories, share your love of the beautiful game, and help it grow in your own way. Trust me, it'll work and don't think your effort isn't ever big enough.
If we all are a part of the rising tide, all boats are lifted to succeed.
Play it safe everyone, I'll talk to you soon. The Women's World Cup is less than a year away in Brazil...!