This story is part of our series looking back on the 2010 World Cup and its biggest moments and themes with a decade's worth of perspective. For more, read about the lasting legacy of the competition in South Africa, the long-tail impact of Frank Lampard's ghost goal vs. Germany and how France's debacle planted the seeds for its 2018 success.
It had been a game more notable for its tension and the sense of the history that might be about to be made than for its inherent merits.