CHENNAI: Every champion has one player who seems to reserve his best moments for the biggest stages. For Spain, that player was Ferran Torres.

He isn’t your prototypical No 9 who is a heavy aerial threat; he is most definitely not the one who racks up goals for fun; he certainly isn’t a winger who has the magic in him to dribble past the opponents, and most certainly, he isn’t the most reliable striker in front of goal.

What he possesses is something rare — an instinct for history.

The Barcelona forward has often been the subject of jokes for the chances he misses. Memes were claiming he could even miss his own birthday. During the club season, his 16 goals were accompanied by enough squandered opportunities to keep critics busy.

Yet when it comes to big moments, he’s present, silencing all the critics.

He rescued Barcelona in the Copa del Rey final with a dramatic late equaliser against Real Madrid. On Monday, he delivered again.

As Argentina and Spain battled through a tense final, Ferran found himself exactly where great match-winners always seem to be — at the right place at precisely the right time. Meeting the ball for the first time, he swept home a left-footed half-volley that ultimately decided the World Cup.

"I think at the end of the day, it was a goal scored by 47 million people," Torres said. "I feel very happy. I was heavily criticised during the World Cup, but I think it was written in destiny and things. But I always have that chance, that option to continue, and God gives it to those who believe it, who deserve it most."

Goalscorers score regularly, but the greatest match-winners score when history is waiting.