Referee - 20100712

Spain was crowned the World Cup. Their victory against Holland was well deserved, though not convincing.

The Dutch coach, van Marwijk, moaned at the standard of refereeing. Van Marwijk argued that the referee wasn't in control of the match. Anyway, it was just an convenient excuse for their loss.

Actually, Holland seemed to be a team more out of control than Mr Webb, the referee. As we have seen, football players in Holland were more like gangsters. Among the mob, Mark van Bommel was more like the god father of Mafia. Nigel de Jong, another defensive mid-fielder, even played Kung Fu against Xabi Alonso, by studding the chest of the later. Actually, Holland players' stiffness were beyond acceptable. They could not behave themselves even that many yellow cards have been fetched.

So, if Holland had defeated Spain, it would have been ridiculous. Though defensive football seems to have the upper hand in the prevailing time, thanks to Morinho's success, we should not mix up toughness with brute. Victory is the goal, means are subordinate. Still, to win the World Cup, you have to play football.

I didn't see much football from Holland. Their attack was scarce and monotonic, owing to the poor form of van Persie, as well as the individualism of other attack players. Sneijder had scored quite a number of goals, most of them were more of less with luck, except the one against Japan. Thus, a final place for Holland has already exceeded what they were worthy of.