If you overslept this morning, missing, let’s say, the first hour of the third place match in South Africa this morning, which aired at the churchly hour of 9 am for many (and the ungodly hour of 6 am for some,) allow me to assure you that you didn’t miss much. So feel no guilt about those extra zzz’s.

However, if you missed the last hour of the game — and yes, it was an hour as it went to overtime — then you have no one to blame but yourself for missing perhaps the most compelling 3rd place final in recent memory. The result was a 3-2 win for Spain, but the excitement of the last ten minutes will make the highlight reels for years to come as the teams traded sublime and unpredictable goals before Liverpool’s Xabi Alonso finally nicked the win with a remarkable long-range effort.

In fact, as I type this, I am sure some enterprising fellows in Madrid and Rustenberg are assembling clips on You Tube, and Daniel Guiza’s cross**** pinball-shot in the 88th is likely to lead off the bunch. Remarkably, it was Guiza’s second goal in about a minute, coming amdist a back-and-forth tussle that saw the lead change twice and two substitutes take charge of a match that until that point, had been more athletic than entertaining.

So let’s start from the top: South Africa met a Spanish side that really, really didn’t look too keen to be there. All the excuses served up by their media after that bitter loss to the USA? Well, even the most acrid comments can have a ring of truth. This team, while certainly eager to redeem themselves, was a tired bunch with one eye on the beach. When you consider that their roster is stocked by men from clubs like Real, Liverpool, Arsenal and Barcelona, it’s hard not to cut guys who have already played 60 games this year a little slack.

Still, South Africa managed to put on the same show they displayed against Brazil, challenging every ball and repeatedly outworking a somewhat standoffish Spanish defense. Iker Casillas was tested more than he would have liked, but to little effect. And the truth is, that the Bafana Bafana never really looked able to score despite creating chances.

That is, until the introduction of sub Katlego Mphela. Mphela, who had played just one minute, total, in the competition up to this point, entered the game in the 64th minute — and scored nine minutes later. Belgium-based Elrio van Heerden got Siphiwe Tshabalala racing behind Alvaro Arbeloa, and his ball in was first controlled by Mphela, who bounced it into the turf with his knee, and then volleyed past a frustrated Casillas. The stadium erupted into a hornet’s nest of vuvuzelas, and it seemed the boys had their hands on the bronze.

  But Guiza, who came on the pitch just after Mphela, had other ideas. He leveled the game with three remaining on the clock with a superb strike off Santi Cazorla that silenced the crowd. And then, that floater: It looked like a cross… until it just ducked inside Itumeleng Khune’s net. That one had the fans heading for the stands.

Fortunately, they have a lax enter-exit policy, because those same fans were rushing back the other way when Mphela — with no time left on the clock — sent a wicked free-kick swerving into the top-left corner from almost 40 yards out. The Bafana Bafana were back in it, and added time was up.

In a just world, both sides would have shook hands and both would have gotten nice medals. But, this is FIFA, which continues to stage third place games for reasons that honestly remain unclear. And so, after a gripping first 15 minutes, that saw Mphela test Casillas twice, a foolish foul by Matthew Booth at the edge of the box on Fernando Llorente allowed Alonso to score the winner.

There was no more left in the tank for South Africa.

For Spain, it was bittersweet: They thought they would be in the final. But they will have other games. For South Africa, this was the final competitive match they will play before next summer. Having not qualified for the African Cup of Nations, the Bafana Bafana will be forced to make preparations for the Cup with a series of friendlies.

They certainly can take heart in today’s performance as they displayed a resilience many thought was absent. But it is clear coach Joel Santana has a lot of work to do as well.