Spain confident of negating threat posed by Sneijder

The Dutch playmaker has been one of the stars in South Africa so far, his five goals and attacking intent proving crucial to the Dutch reaching their third final.

But Busquets, who is an important part of the Spain midfield alongside the likes of Xabi Alonso, Xavi and Andres Iniesta, feels they can neutralise the threat of the Inter Milan player, as they have dealt with other players in the competition thus far.

"He is a very good player," the Barcelona midfielder said.

"He has showed that with every team he has played with, and also demonstrated this by winning the treble with Inter Milan.

"We have to stop him together as a team, by not giving him space or any time to think, just like we did with Mesut Ozil (of Germany in the semi-final).

"We know how dangerous he is and if we don't do these things, he can be very dangerous and set up the strikers of his team.

"But as I said, we've already stopped other major players in the tournament and hopefully with Sneijder it will be the same result."

The European champions have not yet hit top form at the World Cup, but have still managed to reach the final.

After winning Group H, they then edged out Portugal and Paraguay, before their renowned passing game seemed to return in the 1-0 semi-final triumph over Germany.

Busquets is pleased with his own showing in the tournament, saying: "I feel very well and I'm happy with how the tournament has gone so far.

"I am still very young and I feel everyday much better, that I am learning."

The 21-year-old, who only made his international debut in late 2008, also hailed the influence of his team-mates in helping him settle in after taking over the holding role from Marcos Senna.

He added: "It's a big responsibility to replace Senna, but I am sharing the team with very good players.

"I'm happy with what I am doing, but I must say that without them I wouldn't be doing such a good job.

"I hope the next game I will be even better and we can win the game."

Ten players have been shortlisted for FIFA's player of the tournament award, including three from Spain and two from fellow finalists Holland.

The player will be announced after tomorrow's final based on votes from journalists accredited for the World Cup.

The 2010 shortlist – which does not include a single goalkeeper – is:

Diego Forlan (Uruguay), Asamoah Gyan (Ghana), Andres Iniesta (Spain), Lionel Messi (Argentina), Mesut Ozil (Germany), Arjen Robben (Holland), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany), Wesley Sneijder (Holland), David Villa (Spain) and Xavi (Spain).

The Golden Ball award winner in the 2006 finals in Germany caused some embarrassment to the organisers when Zinedine Zidane was announced shortly after being sent off for head-butting Marco Materazzi during France's defeat to Italy.