Spain 1 Netherlands 0 (aet)
2010 World Cup Final
Sunday 11 July 2010 | Soccer City Stadium | Johannesburg, South Africa
Spain joined 'the club' on Sunday, leaving the Dutch still longing for a smoking jacket and ascot.
From a combination of the European Championship in 2008 and now the 2010 World Cup, Spain exhaled all of their past failures in competitions past, forever erasing their moniker as the 'great underachieving nation.' On the other hand, Holland, who had many inhaling their myth as a footballing country standing for beautiful attacking football, put on a display just short of mixed martial arts. The result of it all was that the best team of this competition got the sweet smelling rose, but the viewer of Sunday's finale got a stinker.
A disappointing final it was because it will be rightfully remembered for its yellow cards sprouting like tulips on the Nederland landscape - total of 14 (including a second yellow resulting in a red) were handed out, a record for a World Cup final. Certainly nobody can dispute any of them; if anything, there should have been more. The Dutch bear the massive majority of the blame. One could presume they made a strategic decision that if Spain came out and played their passing-possession game, which they did in the first 15 minutes, then the gloves were going to come off.
Monday, in the aftermath of the crushed Oranje nation, the father-figure of Dutch football took off his gloves.
Johan Cruyff, the former Dutch footballing legend, Barcelona star, perhaps the greatest footballer that Europe has ever produced, and current coach of the Catalan national team, gave a scathing account of the Dutch tactics. His view was that "regrettably, sadly, [Holland] played very dirty. So much so that they should have been down to nine immediately, then they made two [such] ugly and hard tackles that even I felt the damage... Holland chose an ugly path to aim for the title... This ugly, vulgar, hard, hermetic, hardly eye-catching, hardly football style, yes it served the Dutch to unsettle Spain. If with this they got satisfaction, fine, but they ended up losing. They were playing anti-football."
To quote Batman's sidekick Robin, "Bam!"
Cruyff has always been outspoken and honest in his observations with deep convictions with regard to his philosophy of the game. He stuck to those convictions, announcing before the finals match that he would be pulling for Spain because he believed in their approach to the game. Then he hacked the losers to death in the wreckage of his birth-nation's embarrassing display of clattering studs.
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Spain had stuck to their guns throughout this tournament, no matter the circumstances, relying on the passing game to eventually wear down their opponents - by boredom or exhaustion, it didn't matter. They were able to persevere when adversity came their way (except when falling behind the Swiss in their very first game - they did not recover). After the first 15 minutes of Sunday's final, Holland's increasingly physical play, bordering on violent, tested the Spaniards' mettle like no previous encounter. They didn't wilt, but they weren't able to create an enjoyable game for the neutral.
It certainly was a poor game, and as a match to referee, it was as critiqued by Graham Poll "tough to handle and made more so by the approach of the players. Watching on TV, it was clear the unfair physical approach of the Dutch was allowed to stifle the Spanish flair. When the yellow car doesn't work, the red should be shown."
"The game from hell" would be more like what the English referee Howard Webb was likely thinking at halftime.
Webb played it safe, meaning that in the end, a down-and-dirty match would be acceptable to the watching world if Webb kept straight red cards in his pocket and let the players duke it out, even if that meant confusion with ice hockey. And Holland must have bet that this was indeed the English policeman's strategy because it only took 15 minutes for the swords to come out.
Media reports indicate that public opinion on Webb's performance is predictably split. What is somewhat odd is that both Spaniards and Hollanders are highly critical of the officiating. The Spanish are still hot over a play in the 28th minute when Xabi Alonso and Nigel de Jong went after a high ball with the Dutch midfielder burying his studs in Alonso's chest. De Jong got off with only a yellow card for his assault that on the street would have rendered 30 days. The Dutch are fuming over a no free kick/card being awarded when on 83', Spanish defender Carles Puyol tried to run down a long, high ball delivered in hope of finding Dutch forward Arjen Robben. It almost worked when Robben got to the ball, then evaded Puyol who did everything to disrupt Robben's run (including grabbing his waist). Casillas came out of his goal to make a save for the Spanish, but replays showed that Puyol probably should have been whistled for a foul, and perhaps for his second yellow card, but Howard Webb and his linesman kept silent.
There were certainly other debatable calls/non-calls as there are in any match, but overall, this was simply a bitch of an engagement for an official, and by playing it safe, Webb probably kept damage to the reputation of this championship match to a minimum rather than calling it strictly by the book and having perhaps an 11 vs 9 contest for the world's most important trophy.
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Years into the future, all of this will likely be forgotten. Remaining will be the fact that Spain as a national side finally achieved greatness. It isn't only the World Cup win that has La Furia Roja being considered one of the great sides of recent memory. They have only lost twice since defeating England in February 2007 at Old Trafford. And during that time, they won a world-record 15 consecutive matches and tied Brazil's record of 35 consecutive undefeated games.
Their famous evening was punctuated with a poignant moment just after the final whistle Sunday night. The team changed their blue jerseys to the more familiar red for the post-match festivities, except than unlike the red tops they wore in the semi-finals against Germany, these had a single, gold star stitched just above the national team badge, a symbol of their crowning achievement.
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It was all Spain in the first 15 minutes as Holland seemed content to lay back and allow the Spaniards to completely control possession and allow them to get comfortable on the ball. David Villa made three probing runs looking for the perfect through-pass while the Dutch looked completely flummoxed and out of sorts, as exemplified by Dutch right-back Gregory van der Wiel controlling the ball with a nice first touch on the right flank and making a simple pass right to a Spanish defender.
Everything changed on 15' when this World Cup final was turned into a match that may well become famous for producing more cards than any World Cup final. Holland's striker Robin van Persie made a challenge on Joan Capdevila and was given a yellow card by the English referee Howard Webb. Less than two minutes later, Spanish defender Carles Puyol was carded for his challenge on Holland winger Arjen Robben. Another 'yellow card trade' was made on 22' and 23' when Dutch destroyer Mark van Bommel made a late tackle on Andres Iniesta, and the Spanish right back Sergio Ramos was booked for a foul.
Subsequently, the Dutch were swarming in midfield, disrupting Spain's game of possession passing. But Holland were not creating much in the way of chances - where were Sneijder and Robben? - they were simply serving as a disruptive force. The increasingly chippiness of this final was punctuated in the 28th minutes when Xabi Alonso and Nigel de Jong went after a high ball with the Dutch midfielder burying his studs in Alonso's chest, leaving at least the viewers of the replay wondering why Howard Webb's red card remained in his pocket.
Holland finally created a couple of very dangerous opportunities. On 37', a corner kick, obviously drawn up on the practice field, was delivered short and a cross-box pass was made by van Bommel to Joris Mathijsen about 8 yards out of goal on the left, but the Dutch center-back all but whiffed on the chance. And, just before the half whistle, the Netherlands created a dangerous opportunity from a free kick with a shot at the near right post.
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The first half left the world with more yellow cards than attempts on goal and a feeling that the flavor of the game was more Dutch orange than Spanish red, and that it was only going to get worse for Spain. How would it be for the neutral viewer? Would this be a forgettable final? How would Spain adapt when things are not going their way? Would Holland ever play beautiful football that they pledged they would in this final? Would Spain be permitted to play their beautiful football? Would either side get into any kind of rhythm? Would this match be settled by the dreaded penalty kicks?
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The second half didn't bring much in the way of beautiful, but it was more of a match with moments of drama that had both sides nearly scoring the glory goal.
For the first 15 minutes of the half, two more yellow cards handed out to the Dutch (van Bronckhorts on 54' and Heitinga on 56') served to turn up the amperage on the negative play that this match had become. Spain then brought on the diminutive winger Jesus Navas for Pedro on 60' to create some pace - Navas known for running down the right flank and delivering crosses into the box. But on 62', the Netherlands almost ruined this move. Robben found himself streaking for goal after receiving a pass from Wesley Sneijder in midfield. Spanish goalkeeper Iker Casillas came out to the penalty spot to cut off the angle and Robben's shot just deflected off the keeper's boot.
It was almost despair for Spain. But shortly thereafter, Spain started to get most of the play. In retrospect, it was almost the end of Holland as they seemed to slowly wear down from that moment.
On 69', after receiving a pass from midfield, Navas on the right flank delivered a deadly low, hard pass to David Villa who's opportunity in front of the left goalmouth is deflected high over the bar by Stekelenburg on a fine save. Spain now seemed able to step up their passing game more and more. And on 77', the Spanish nearly (and should have) took the lead when Sergio Ramos snuck in behind the crowd of players in the middle of the box on a corner kick and had a header on goal with no defender. It went flying over the bar, but you knew right then that Spain had somehow survived the adversity that Holland had thrown their way.
Spain have a significant Achilles' Heel: they are pretty slow afoot at the center of their defense. Carles Puyol is a rock, both for his club Barcelona and for his country, La Furia Roja. And on 83', just three minutes after Iniesta made a fine run into the Holland box but was foiled by a fine tackle by Sneijder, Puyol was exposed for his vulnerability that almost gave Holland the world championship they so badly desired.
A very high ball was delivered from Holland's center of defense just in front of their own peanlty box. It came down and bounced very high - Puyol was going to run it down and deliver it back to his keeper - except that he had to outrun the speedy Arjen Robben, which he didn't. Robben got to the ball, evaded Puyol who did everything and then some to disrupt Robben's run, including grabbing his waist, and Casillas came out of his goal to make another critical save for the Spanish. Replays showed that Puyol probably should have been whistled for a foul, if not for his second yellow card, but Howard Webb and his linesman held their collective breath.
Now, Spain were able to maintain possession with their methodical passing game and looked comfortable to pass away the remaining minutes and send the match into extra time. The Dutch looked satisfied to allow that to happen.
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Extra time was a steady buildup to the game's climax near it's end, with Spain getting the vast majority of play. On 95' Iniesta gave a fabulous through-ball to Cesc Fabregas, who had come on for Alonso on 87', but the Arsenal captain's shot was foiled with a fine save by Dutch keeper Maarten Stekelenburg. Right away on 96', the Dutch created a dangerous opportunity for Mathijsen, but the Dutch center-back saw his header fly well over the cross bar. On 99', Fabregas returned the favor to Iniesta, but the great Barcelona midfielder chose not to shoot with his right foot, instead wasting precious moments trying to get control with his left. On 101', Navas shot wide right after receiving a fine pass from midfield. And on 104', Fabregas made a fine run with ball directly up the middle, but his shot went just wide right.
Spain were rolling. Holland looked fatigued to the point that they were probably collectively praying for penalty kicks. Shortly after the teams switched sides after the first 15 minutes of extra time, Heitinga was given his second yellow card by Howard Webb for bringing down Iniesta just outside of Holland's box as he was trying to run into the box for a pass from Xavi.
Now, the Dutch were down to ten men, but they only had about 12 or 13 minutes to somehow kill off and get to penalty kicks for what appeared to be their only reliable chance to win their first World Cup.
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A slight twist of fate and a bit of luck came Spain's way.
Holland are given a free kick, center of the pitch, about 30 yards from goal. Robben takes a crack and the ball just deflects off the Spanish wall - Fabregas' right shoulder as he was turning inward toward the center of the wall to protect himself. The ball bounds wide left of goal, but probably because the touch off of Fabregas is a slight graze, deceiving the officials, a corner kick is not given to the Dutch. Instead, the Spaniards have a goal kick, which Casillas delivers.
On 116', Fernando Torres, who had come on for David Villa on 105', controls the ball on the left wing and delivers a ball to the center that bounces off a Dutch defender. Fabregas retains possession and makes a nice pass wide to the right to Iniesta who is waiting in the box. The Spanish midfielder controls with his first touch an hammers a shot low on goal. Stekelenburg is protecting the near side but loses the faceoff as the shot is toward the far post and all the Dutch keeper can do is get part of his right paw on the shot before it rambles into the net.
Spain is euphoric. Holland is crushed. Iniesta is booked for taking off his jersey during the celebration. The Spanish keeper Casillas is already crying at the other end of the pitch, knowing that there are only a few moments left before his country will win the Cup. It's an emotional scene all around.
Moments later, Mathijsen is booked for slamming the ball down after having a heated exchange with the linesman. Then, Torres goes after a long ball down the left channel and pulls up lame with a hamstring injury, later crumpling in a heap on the pitch.
Webb blows the game over, Dutch players are screaming at the officials, but to no avail. Spain are champions of the world.
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PHOTOS:
Carles Puyol and Cesc Fabregas admire the World Cup Trophy (Matt Dunham/AP Images//Fox Soccer.com).
Howard Webb lays down his law (Luca Bruno/AP Images//Fox Soccer.com).
Spanish national team shirt badge (Wikipedia).
Howard Webb shows Mark van Bommel the yellow card (Bernat Armangue/AP Images//Fox Soccer.com).
Nigel de Jong delivers a boot to the chest of Xabi Alonso (Luca Bruno/AP Images//Fox Soccer.com).
Iker Casillas makes a key save against Arjen Robben (Matt Durham/AP Images//Fox Soccer.com).
David Villa misses a scoring chance (Hassan Ammar/AP Images//Fox Soccer.com).
John Heitinga's second yellow produces a red card from Howard Webb (Martin Meissner/AP Images//Fox Soccer.com).
Andres Iniesta scores the game winner past Maarten Stekelenburg (Daniel Ochoa de Olza/AP Images//Fox Soccer.com).
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