In Madrid fans defy heat, early starts and the torpor of a slow game to cheer Spain to World Cup victory

With the temperature at 9pm close to 32C, Spanish fans filled bars, parks and arena’s to celebrate their team’s 1-0 win over Argentina Patience beats overreliance on Messi: how the final was won and lost Neither the approach of yet another enervating heatwave, nor the prospect of heading to work on Monday morning, was going to keep madrileños huddled indoors when the World Cup, and the stifling streets of the capital, were there for the taking. With the temperature at 9pm nudging 32C, people across the city and the wider region filled bars, parks, fairgrounds and bullrings to drink, to stripe the streets red-and-yellow with their rojigualda flags, and to test their lungs, their nerves, and, as it turned out, their boredom thresholds. In the capital itself, the faithful descended on a giant screen by the river Manzanares and trooped into the cavernous concrete confines of the 15,000-capacity Movistar arena. Most, however, appeared to have made for the Plaza de Colón to watch the game under the statue of Christopher Columbus, for whom the square is named. Overhead, sharp against a bright blue July sky, flew the largest flag in Spain: a vexillological behemoth that measures 21m by 14m