A goal by David Villa in the 61st minute proved to be the game-winner as Spain won its first World Cup title, defeating Brazil in the final of the 2010 tournament in South Africa.

Before fans get caught up in any irrational exuberance hear this — the match was part of a blink-of-the-eye computer simulation using EA Sports’ 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa videogame, which went on sale on April 27, on an Xbox 360 system to play the entire 32-team, 64-game tournament that will not begin, for real, until next June 11 when the hosts face Mexico in Johannesburg. The 90-minute match took the computer game only 15 minutes to play. (Games can also be played online against far-flung opponents … you know, the world’s game.)

“The game is a real-world representation,” Matt Prior, EA Sports’ game producer, said in a telephone interview. “We have a massive group of data collectors in each area of the world and those guys, all fanatics, collect player attributes like speed, strength and tackling, over 40 attributes for each player and we feed all that data into the computer.”

The realistic simulation, which in addition to the 32 teams in South Africa includes data on 199 national teams, is a close cousin of the FIFA 10 (and the forthcoming FIFA 11) videogame franchise that saw more than two billion games played online last year around the world. Both are available for Xbox, Wii and Sony PlayStation consoles.

Some tournament “highlights”: South Africa became the only World Cup host not to advance past the first round; the United States lost to England, 2-1, in its first match, but then beat Slovenia and Algeria to advance to the knockout round (where it lost to Germany in a penalty kick shootout); only African two teams advanced past the first round, but both were eliminated, Cameroon by Italy, 2-1, and Nigeria by France, 2-1; England beat Australia, 3-1, in the Round of 16, defeated France, 2-1, in the quarterfinals, but was ousted by Brazil in the semifinals in, what else, a shootout.

Prior said the game’s developers have fine-tuned the program and added several features that make the game more realistic.

The game now take account of games played at altitude, which effects players’ stamina and the physics of the ball. Using a feature called Dynamic DNA, players during the real World Cup will benefit from tournament statistics that can be downloaded and incorporated into games. Players can even go back to qualifying matches and, for example, jump to the point in the France-Ireland playoff match when Thierry Henry was about to handle the ball and change the result, not to mention history.

“We constantly get calls from real players who play the game to suss out the opposition,” Prior said. “In England, all the big stars play it and they want tips and often criticize the way they are portrayed in the game.”

In the “final,” Brazil takes a 1-0 lead in the 30th minute on a goal by Felipe Melo. Twelve minutes later, Spain’s David Villa, the tournament’s leading scorer with seven goals, tied the match, and then tallied the eventual game winner in the 61st minute from a cross by Andrés Iniesta. Cesc Fàbregas added an insurance goal in the 88th minute for Spain.

EA SPORTS 2010 FIFA World Cup™ Results:

First Round

Group A

France 7

Mexico 6

Uruguay 3

South Africa 0

South Africa 0 Mexico 2

Uruguay 1 France 1

South Africa 0 Uruguay2

France 1 Mexico 0

Mexico 2 Uruguay1

South Africa 1 France 3

Group B

Argentina 9

Nigeria 6

South Korea1

Greece 1

Argentina 3Nigeria 2

South Korea 1 Greece 1

Greece 0 Nigeria 2

Argentina 3South Korea 0

Nigeria 2 South Korea1

Greece 0 Argentina 2

Group C

England9

U.S. 6

Slovenia3

Algeria0

England 2 U.S. 1

Algeria 1 Slovenia 2

Slovenia 0 U.S. 2

England 3 Algeria 0

U.S. 2, Algeria 1

Slovenia 0 England 3

Group D

Germany5

Australia5

Ghana2

Serbia2

Germany 2 Australia 2

Serbia 1 Ghana 1

Germany 2 Serbia1

Ghana 1 Australia2

Australia 1 Serbia1

Ghana 2 Germany2

Group E

Netherlands 7

Cameroon 7

Denmark 1

Japan 1

Netherlands 3 Denmark1

Japan0 Cameroon 2

Netherlands 2 Japan 0

Cameroon 2 Denmark 1

Denmark 1Japan 1

Cameroon 3 Netherlands 3

Group F

Italy 9

Slovakia 4

Paraguay 4

New Zealand0

Italy 2 Paraguay 1

New Zealand 0 Slovakia 2

Slovakia 2 Paraguay 2

Italy 3 New Zealand 0

Paraguay 2New Zealand 1

Slovakia 1 Italy 3

Group G

Brazil 7

Portugal 5

Ivory Coast 4

North Korea 0

Ivory Coast2 Portugal 2

Brazil3 North Korea 0

Brazil2 Ivory Coast 1

Portugal 3 North Korea 0

North Korea 0 Ivory Coast 2

Portugal 1 Brazil 1

Group H

Spain 9

Chile 4

Switzerland4

Honduras0

Honduras 1 Chile 3

Spain3 Switzerland 0

Chile1 Switzerland 1

Spain4 Honduras 1

Switzerland2 Honduras1

Chile 0 Spain 2

Second Round

France 2 Nigeria 1

England 3 Australia 1

U.S. 2 Germany 2 (1-3, penalty kicks)

Argentina 2 Mexico 1

Netherlands2 Slovakia 0

Brazil3 Chile 1

Italy 2 Cameroon1

Spain3 Portugal 1

Quarterfinals

Brazil3 Netherlands 2

England 2 France1

Germany 1 Argentina 3

Italy 1 Spain 1 (4-5, penalty kicks)

Semifinals

England 2 Brazil 2 (4-5, penalty kicks)

Spain2 Argentina1

Third Place

England 2 Argentina 1

Final

Brazil1 Spain 3