Iniesta bangs home the winner for Spain
Not a very good World Cup Final, but great to see the team that tried to play football win. Spain edged out the Dutch by a goal to nil, providing me with my first ever correct prediction of a football match.
The Netherlands side did their best to ruin the match as a spectacle by kicking their way throughout. Tactically it may have worked for 116 minutes, until the fabulous Iniesta stepped up in the box to rifle home the winner. However, the legacy they left from this game has wiped out memories of the great Dutch team of 1974.
I was astonished how the Dutch players surrounded English referee Howard Webb at the final whistle, blaming him for the decisions that didn’t go their way. On balance they evened themselves out, in fact you could argue that Holland were fortunate not to be down to nine men by half time. Yet the Dutch went berserk when Robben was tugged back by Spanish defender Carles Puyol as as he tried to race clear. Robben stayed on his feet and tried to finish it off, thwarted only by keeper Iker Casilla. Webb quite rightly waved play on, giving the Dutch the advantage, however having missed the opportunity Robben chased after Webb demanding that Puyol be sent off.
For me there is nothing worse in football, than players remonstrating with referees, waving their hands indicating that a card should be shown to an opponent. It doesn’t matter if its a World Cup Final or the slightly less important Old Boys match against Brindabella, it is a stain on the game when players show such bad sportsmanship to each other.
Howard Webb seems to be getting a lot of stick for being too lenient throughout the World Cup Final, and also for dishing out 14 yellow cards, and one red, but what choice did he have? On the one hand, he tried to let the game flow as a spectacle, which is why the likes of Van Bommel and De Jong played for longer than 40 minutes. In hindsight they should both been sent off, but don’t blame referee Webb for that. Can you imagine the outcry if Holland had gone in at half-time with two star players in the bin? The World, including the the two-faced FIFA President Sepp Blatter would have hung him out to dry for spoiling the game. No Webb couldn’t win no matter what he did.
All said and done the blame has to lie with the players, particularly those from the Netherlands. Webb might have got one or two decisions wrong, but overall he did ok, and should be congratulated for his efforts in trying to control a game that was virtually impossible.
In summary the Spanish were the best team in the tournament, just ahead of Germany. They stayed true to their beliefs on how the game should be played, and their sublime passing game was rewarded. I wouldn’t be surprised if Spain and Germany go on to dominate the world game. Brazil 2014 will be very interesting.
