Del Bosque hails Spain heroes

Vicente del Bosque said it is "a night of joy for all of Spain" after guiding his team to their first FIFA World Cup crown with a 1-0 victory against the Netherlands. Andrés Iniesta, who scored the only goal in Johannesburg four minutes before the end of extra time, was lost for words, while beaten coach Bert van Marwijk reflected on the big chances passed up by Arjen Robben "which could have meant victory for us".

Vicente del Bosque, Spain coach
I owe all of this to these magnificent players. They really know how to appreciate this triumph, which is all the more valuable knowing we have achieved it as a group and playing with the best values and principles. I am remembering a lot of people at this moment. This is unbelievable; it's a night of joy for all of Spain. I think our effort and our flair is never-ending. This World Cup draws from what we did in 2008 and it is the continuity and continuation of a very good legacy.

Everyone in the dressing room is ecstatic. This was a reward for beautiful football. I should congratulate our opponents – they made it very difficult for us to play comfortably and they had some good chances. To try and match the Netherlands when they are playing at that pace is very difficult but we did it and, for the most part, I think we dominated the match. Cesc Fàbregas came on and we began to dominate. We had greater ball possession and depth in our game. We created chances for Cesc and David Villa which we could have converted.

Andrés Iniesta, Spain midfielder
It's truly incredible what it takes to win a World Cup. We've put in so much work to achieve this, including in some very difficult moments. There really aren't words to describe how I feel. Now we have to go out and enjoy what we've accomplished. I can't quite believe this yet. I had the opportunity to score that goal that was so important for my team, and it's incredible.

Xabi Alonso, Spain midfielder
This is huge, something so incredible it's difficult to describe. It's happiness, euphoria, and I'll tell you what: Andrés Iniesta deserves the Ballon d'Or for what he did out there.

Bert van Marwijk, Netherlands coach
No one expected us to be here in the final. We even came very close to a penalty shoot-out. We could even have scored through Arjen Robben. Whether we would have deserved that I don't know but it's very disappointing. You want to win it, and we might have done. We performed really, really well to get this far. The team that scored the first goal was going to win that match. Those chances for Robben could have meant victory for us but, unfortunately, we weren't so lucky.

It was still our intention to play beautiful football, but we were facing very good opponents. Spain have been the best footballing country for the past few years, so we needed to have a top day to beat them. We did a good job tactically on them and we got into good positions at times. Both sides committed fouls – that may be regrettable for a final. It's not our style, but you play a match to win. It's a World Cup final, and there's a lot of emotion out there. You saw that with both teams. I'd loved to have won that match, even with not so beautiful football.