FOOTBALL 1 HOLLAND 0

No one would have spotted the ball in the old days with this one...

WORLD CUP FINAL

SPAIN 1

HOLLAND 0

http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/matches/round=249721/match=300061509/index.html

As Bill Woodfull once said during the bodyline series "There's 2 teams and only one's playing cricket." The Dutch may have set out to negate the Spanish team via its midfield and maybe the tension of the moment gave the Oranje a collective case of white line fever, but the overt aggression that sucked in even the classy Wesley Sneijder bordered on lunacy. While we have seen aggressive Dutch displays before (1994 with Koeman, Wouters et al, and the infamous Kaartenfestival of 2006 v Portugal), this one was in a world cup final. The Dutch effectively waved the white flag with one hand and brandished the switchblade with the other.

Spain persisted with their 3 P's; possession, passing and patience, and the Dutch their 3 N's; negative, nasty and nonsensical. The only Englishman to feature in a final since 1966, referee Howard Webb, must have felt like he was marshalling his 3 kids at home with some of the niggling, whingeing and general bad blood on his plate. It was all Webb could do not to send off the Steven Baker of football, Mark van Bommel. Had he done so, the game would have been ruined as a spectacle, but he chose correctly. All a referee can do in this circumstance is book and book until a double up occurs and players hopefully get the hint.

Tough night for Webb

The sole Dutch opportunities were on the break or from set pieces, usually involving Arjen Robben. He did have a valid claim for a foul when being held by Chewbacca, but Webb allowed advantage, and quite rightly too, as he managed to get shot away. Man of the match Iker Casillas showed great resolve and judgement on 2 occasions to keep Spain in the match.

Eventually, karma won the day with a hard working if not impressive Iniesta burying the goal after Van Der Wiel kept him onside. Again more whingeing from the Dutch and game over.

While the right team won, it is staggering to think that a team like Holland would go in with such deplorable tactics, especially with artists such as Sneijder and Robben. It is simply beyond comprehension.

Spain's win has its genesis in a rich home grown pool of talent that plays with few exceptions only in La Liga, nurtured not only by its own way of playing, but by the influences of Dutch coaching. Add the quality of foreign players that have played in Spain and the mix is a heady one of possessive dominance. The Dutch have been prided themselves on clever exploitation of space, pass and move theology that tonight has defeated them, but not without some help from within.

Deserved winners.

GP