Howard Webb must have been looking forward to the final. He probably didn’t expect the match to turn into a frenzied exhibition of thuggery.
It was not what we wanted from a World Cup Final. We knew it was going to be Spanish flair versus Dutch defence. But we wanted a clash of contrasting styles; a great sendoff to the first tournament on African soil. We didn’t want a bloodbath.
A great post from the Fiver on Monday (check out Nigel de Jong’s view of events..) The Fiver has it right: the media reaction has been to turn the game into a giant battle of Good and Evil – Spanish Saints versus Dutch Devils.
Excepting a very lucky Carles Puyol and the Spanish team’s tendency to enthusiastically embrace the global tradition of diving, the portrayal is broadly correct.
Nigel de Jong karate kicks Xabi Alonso
You have the hero: Iniesta – the wonderful artist, his gifted friend Xavi, top marksman Villa and a superb cameo from Fabregas. On the other side, Holland’s leading leading lights fail to shine: Sneijder plays a bit part; Robben is thwarted.
And then you have Nigel de Jong and Mark van Bommel, in full bloodlust… both queuing up to play the role of a supervillain.
Johann Cruyff has predictably muscled in. Always a sworn enemy of any vaguely defensive tactics, the Dutch master is appalled by his country’s “very dirty”, anti-football style.
“This ugly, vulgar, hard, hermetic, hardly eye-catching, hardly football style… If with this they got satisfaction, fine, but they lost,” Cruyff opined in Spanish newspaper, El Periodico (English reporting linked above).
Now the world agrees with Cruyff that his protégés have joined the Dark Side, to be defeated by his Barca saviours and Jedi Commander Iniesta.
In the middle all this drama you have English referee Howard Webb – seemingly the right choice – but in the end too afraid of upsetting people to make the right calls. He should have got rid of de Jong and van Bommel in the first half.
But growing up in a Premiership that has been populated by ‘combative midfielders’ like Roy Keane and Robbie Savage, Webb was probably all too aware of the received wisdom that a sending off spoils a game. He’d seen a rash of red cards given in the tournament – some inexplicable ones, as Cahill and Klose will attest. And he didn’t want to spoil the final.
It certainly wasn’t a dire performance. With an unsurprising tinge of patriotism, the British media have given Webb their support. But the international condemnation of the English official has been universal.
My favourite line of the day comes from the Italian daily La Republicca, who calls Howard Webb “A rabbit dressed as a referee.” This calls for a photoshop competition. I’m clueless with this, but some of you are very good. Send any entries to my Facebook page, or email me at nickbishop87@gmail.com. Entries featuring any key player welcome.
Incidentally, French catastrophe Raymond Domenech is always a good candidate for a photoshop. For inspiration, have a look at these pics from a French blog; check out the post called “The Missing Moustache of Raymond Domenech” And of course, there’s always Maradona.
As for the aftermath, Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina features prominently in two rather silly BBC videos I stumbled across. He’s singing on a plane with David Villa and Xavi and, more interestingly, forcing Cesc Fabregas into a Barca shirt. Reina pronounces him ‘the future of Barca and the future of Spain’. Poor old Fabregas looks a little embarrassed.
Filed under: Football, Sport Tagged: | 2010, de Jong, Domenech, Dutch, El Periodico, Fabregas, FIFA, Football, Holland, Howard Webb, Iniesta, Johann Cruyff, La Repubblica, Maradona, Pepe Reina, Robben, Sneijder, South Africa, Spain, sport, The Fiver, The Guardian, The Netherlands, van Bommel, Villa, world cup, World Cup Final, Xavi
