西班牙加泰隆尼亚的某个地方，一位荷兰人正在微笑。
他的名字叫约翰•克鲁伊夫 (Johan Cruyff)，从披头士(Beatles)还没有流行起来的时候开始，他就一直在代表一支进攻型足球队而战斗。这是一支以短传和迂回突破见长的有风格的 球队，给亿万球迷带来了快乐，但从未赢得一次世界冠军。
40年里，他在两支国家队身上施展了自己的抱负，一是在20世纪70年代给荷兰队 踢球的时候，一是1988年以来在西班牙担任教练的时候。1988年，他接过了巴塞罗那俱乐部(FC Barcelona)的帅印，开始向西班牙人和他们的国家队推销自己的足球风格。
荷兰队和西班牙队将于周日在世界杯决赛中相遇。这可以为 已经过气的克鲁伊夫正名。在欧洲和几乎世界各个角落，防守型足球风格占据上风已经接近20年，但在周日，不管是哪支球队举起奖杯，它都烙有克鲁伊夫进攻第 一的风格。
上世纪80年代的荷兰队球星古利特(Ruud Gullit)说，你看到的是一场攻势足球的胜利，这是人们愿意看到的。
这 在西班牙身上体现得特别明显。他们谨守克鲁伊夫式进攻策略，已经赢得了他们所征服的每一个对手的赞誉，当然也赢得了克鲁伊夫本人的赞誉。
德 国队教练勒夫(Joachim Low)在周三夜间输给红色西班牙之后说，他们是足球大师，每一个传球都看得出来。
橙色荷兰队就不那么忠 实于他们曾经的球星。虽然他们仍然是一支控球优先、快速传球的队伍，但已经背离了先知克鲁伊夫的教导，并因为踢出一种更加结构化、更少流畅性的风格而受到 他的批评。但他们照样取得了成功：现在是荷兰队自1978年以来第一次打进世界杯决赛。
这 场决赛成了对克鲁伊夫理念的一种检验：他的风格能以最纯粹的形式取胜吗？亦或必须跟随比赛的现代化而与时俱进？居住在加泰隆尼亚的克鲁伊夫拒绝接受采访。
在 过去30年里，荷兰队显得已经接受了他们在足球世界自然秩序中的位置。他们曾按自己的方式、亦即克鲁伊夫的方式踢球的纯粹主义者，并且会因为这种方式而被 淘汰，但总是能对自己说，打败他们的都是些不够有天赋、愿意为了成功而牺牲风格的球队。
荷兰队教练范马尔维克(Bert Van Marwijk)本周把克鲁伊夫叫做“史上最优秀的足球人”。但在世界杯期间的早些时候他也曾说，如果我们可以靠踢漂亮足球而取胜，那将再好不过，但当两 年前我当上教练时，我说你们必须能够赢得难看的比赛。
西班牙不惜一切地避免出现这种情况，体现出了真正的克鲁伊夫风格，尽管教练 博斯克(Vicente del Bosque)并没有把当前的成功与风格归功于荷兰人和克鲁伊夫。
博斯克在打败德国队之后说，我不知道 我们看起来像不像荷兰风格；中场球员的质量始终是基础；如果有章法，你可以展示出大量才能；我们拥有优秀的球员，良好的章法，这样一切都容易多了。
但 西班牙的中场三巨头哈维(Xavi)、伊涅斯塔(Andres Iniesta)和布斯克茨(Sergio Busquets)在巴塞罗那俱乐部踢出的风格，都让人不由得想起70年代的荷兰。他们警觉性之特别，思维之敏捷和传球之干脆，是西班牙队的灵魂。
西 班牙在半决赛中对阵德国时，最初11位上场球员中有六位都是来自巴塞罗那俱乐部。而该俱乐部现任经理瓜迪奥拉(Pep Guardiola)，曾在克鲁伊夫执教巴塞罗那期间长时间担任队长。
总之，这场决赛不是许多人预计的德国对阵荷兰，不是两支宿敌在球场 上解决昔日恩怨。西班牙和荷兰这两个国家中间间隔大约500英里，它们几十年来在欧洲足球中都处于顶尖位置，但却从来没有在大赛中为冠军而争夺过。
约 400年前，西班牙和荷兰是敌国，但17世纪的一系列休兵条约给这两个国家带来了和平。自1920年以来，两国之间是四胜四负一平，最近的相遇是在 2002年，荷兰队以1比0的比分赢得了比赛。
这是一支强大的荷兰队，南非世界杯期间的所有六场比赛它都打赢了。自1958年推出三轮小 组赛的赛制以来，共有三支进入世界杯决赛的球队一场未输，而这三支球队最后都摘得了桂冠。
Somewhere in Catalonia, a Dutchman is smiling.
His name is Johan Cruyff, and since before the Beatles broke up he has been fighting on behalf of an attack-intensive brand of soccer, a stylish game of short passes and zig-zag dashes that brought pleasure to tens of millions of fans but never produced a world champion.
Over 40 years, he imposed his vision on two national teams, as a player for the Netherlands in the 1970s and as a coach in Spain since 1988, the year he took over FC Barcelona and began selling his style of soccer to the Spanish and their national team.
On Sunday, the Netherlands and Spain will meet in a World Cup final that is a vindication for the thoroughly unfashionable Mr. Cruyff. In Europe and nearly everywhere else, defensive soccer has been ascendant for nearly two decades. But whichever team hoists the trophy Sunday will bear the offense-first imprint of Mr. Cruyff.
'What you are seeing is a victory for attacking football,' said Ruud Gullit, a star of the Dutch teams of the 1980s. 'It's what people like to see.'
This is particularly true of the Spanish. Their devotion to Cruyff-style offensive strategies has earned accolades from each opponent they vanquished, and of course from Mr. Cruyff.
'They are the masters of the game,' German coach Joachim Low said after falling to La Furia Roja on Wednesday night. 'You can see it with every pass.'
The Oranje of the Netherlands are less loyal to their former star. While they remain a possession-oriented, quick-passing team, they have shifted away from the teachings of the prophet Mr. Cruyff, garnering a tongue-lashing from him for playing a more structured, less free-flowing style. Yet it has succeeded: The Dutch are playing in World Cup final for the first time since 1978.
The final becomes a test of Mr. Cruyff's philosophy: Can his style win in its purest form, or must it be adapted to the modern game? Mr. Cruyff, who lives in Catalonia, declined to be interviewed.
Over the past three decades, the Dutch appeared to come to terms with their place in soccer's natural order. They were the purists who would play the game their way -- Mr. Cruyff's way. They would suffer for their art by being knocked out of tournaments but could always tell themselves that they were beaten by less talented teams, or teams that were willing to sacrifice style for success.
Dutch coach Bert Van Marwijk this week called Mr. Cruyff 'the best footballer ever.' But earlier in the tournament he also said, 'If we can win playing beautiful football that's great, but two years ago when I became coach, I said you have to be able to win ugly games.'
In true Cruyff style, Spain tries to avoid that at all costs, even if coach Vicente del Bosque stopped short of crediting the Dutch and Mr. Cruyff for his team's current success and style.
'I don't know if it looks like the Dutch style,' he said after defeating Germany. 'It is always based on quality of the people in the midfield. If you have order, you can showcase a lot of talent. We have great players, good order and that makes everything much easier.'
But Spain's key midfield trio of Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Sergio Busquets all play for Barcelona in a style that evokes the Dutch of the 1970s. Their special awareness, speed of thought and crisp passing are the backbone of the Spanish team.
Mr. Cruyff's captain during much of his time at Barcelona was Pep Guardiola, the current manager of Barcelona, who provided six of Spain's starting 11 against Germany in the semi-final.
As a result, unlike the much-anticipated clash between Germany and the Netherlands, this final won't be about two historic rivals settling old scores on the field. For two countries separated by roughly 500 miles that have been among the best in European soccer for half a generation, Spain and the Netherlands have never played a game with a major title on the line.
Some 400 years ago, Spain and the Netherlands were rivals. But a series of 17th century peace treaties brought peace between the two countries. The two sides are 4-4-1 since 1920, their most recent meeting a 1-0 win for the Netherlands in 2002.
This Dutch team is formidable, having won all six of its World Cup games in South Africa. Since 1958, when the three-match group-play format was instituted, three teams have entered the World Cup final having won all their matches, and all three won the championship.