World Cup

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, July 9 (UPI) -- The Netherlands and Spain meet Sunday in South Africa in the championship match of the 2010 World Cup.

Both are looking for their first World Cup titles.

Spain, FIFA's No. 2-ranked team and the winner of the European championship two years ago, is riding a five-match winning streak. The Spanish lost their first group game but haven't lost or been tied since.

Spain has allowed just one goal since the 1-0 loss to Switzerland June 16 and won all three of its elimination games by 1-0 scores. That includes a tense semifinal victory over Germany in which Carles Puyol scored in the 73rd minute.

The Netherlands is ranked No. 4 by FIFA and is 6-0-0 in the World Cup, with each game -- other than a tournament-opening 2-0 decision over Denmark -- being decided by one goal. The Dutch defeated Uruguay 3-2 in their semifinal and have scored more than one goal in all of its games except a 1-0 win over Japan.

The prognosticator of choice for the World Cup has been Paul the octopus, which is an attraction at the Oberhausen Sea Life Center in Germany. Food containers bearing the flags of the competing countries are placed in Paul's tank with the octopus's pick for the game determined by which container it opens. Paul predicted the outcome of all six of Germany's World Cup games correctly so his choice of Spain in Sunday's final is seen as a good omen for the Spanish.