2010 World Cup Final: Netherlands-Spain

[Renew Deal]

This is a compilation of most of the good stuff about the final that I can find on the internet. Enjoy the game!!!



http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/matches/round=249721/match=300061509/index.html">Official FIFA Preview and "Matchcast"

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/preview?id=264123&cc=5901&ver=us">ESPN Preview

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/world_cup_2010/matches/match_64/default.stm">BBC Live News and Preview

http://g.sports.yahoo.com/soccer/world-cup/blog/dirty-tackle/post/The-World-Cup-Final-a-game-of-firsts?urn=sow,254382">Game of Firsts

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/world-cup/columns/story/_/id/5363855/ce/us/final-preview-spain-vs-netherlands?cc=5901&ver=us">ESPN: What to Expect

http://g.sports.yahoo.com/soccer/world-cup/blog/dirty-tackle/post/Howard-Webb-stretches-millions-watch?urn=sow,255151">Howard Webb stretches, millions watch (With Video)

[n2doc]

1. no need to watch

The Octopus has already told us who will win-Spain!

[n2doc]

6. Octo was right again

And it was painful to watch.

[Upton]

2. Spain should win this rather easily..

way too experienced. Heck, the Spain side is basically Barca with a dose of Real Madrid.

Unfortunately, the Spanish style, controlling possession and patiently looking for an opening, while effective, often lends itself to a dull match. The Dutch need an early goal or at least a lead by HT. That should force Spain to pickup the tempo and press forward, hopefully leaving openings at the back that the Dutch can then exploit.

Hope I'm wrong though.. as I'm going to be rooting for the Netherlands..

[Renew Deal]

3. I don't think they've won a single game easily.

Against lesser opponents. Spain deserves to be the favorite, but they haven't been blowing people away.

[Upton]

4. When I say easily..

I'm thinking maybe 2-0. Against Germany, a team I consider equal to or superior to the Dutch side, it was only 1-0, but I'd say that was an easy win for the Spanish.

It's tough to look threatening when the other side is controlling nearly 60% of the possession.

[Condem]

5. I'm going with the upset...

Holland 2-1, with the diving Robbin getting the game winner.

[Onceuponalife]

7. What a surprise, it was a boring match.

One really only needed to watch the last 5 min. The rest was the usual tedious assortment of unnecessary dives, bad shots, selfish play and basically playing keep-away.

Thank goodness for the slo-mo replay cam. Those goofy looks frozen on the faces of the players as they faked injury were priceless! At least we weren't subjected to a shootout.

Thank goodness real football starts in 2 months!:toast:

[many a good man]

8. The "Fouling Dutchmen" ruin finale with thuggish play

Knowing they were no match for Spain's finesse and artistry, the Orange brutes turned to fouling and physical attacks. De Jong should have been kicked out of the game in 28th minute for this appalling kung fu kick to Spanish midfielder Xabi Alonso:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTFsl8WEw1U

The ref handed out a yellow instead of the much deserved red because he thought it would have been bad for the game for Holland to play one man short for an hour. It probably would have led to 10-0 victory for La Roja, satisfying American fans!

It's unfortunate for Spain that its greatest victory was marred by such poor sportsmanship by their opponents on the world's biggest stage.

Congratulations, Spain!

[Upton]

9. BS..the diving Spanish were rewarded

for their play acting. Seems to me all Barca, er, Spain does is dive, dive, dive. Sure Robben and RVP do that crap too, but the Spanish are artists at it..and they constantly whine if they don't get their way.

It's a shame Webb saw fit to reward such a disgraceful exhibition. Spain's victory, and the way they achieved it, not only gives the sport a bad name but it affords more ammunition to the football haters.

Edit: though you have a point about De Jong, Iniesta shouldn't have even been on the pitch to score the winning goal. He should have been sent off for retaliation..

[Renew Deal]

10. The only thing that will ultimately matter is winning.

And in the end, the only thing remembered is Spain. Hopefully when history remembers the yellow cards they will remember that they were almost completely one sided.

Do you remember what happened in the last World Cup game Holland lost? Almost the same thing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKXq7xcnkis

[many a good man]

11. Dutch tactics upset Johan Cruyff

Thanks for the perspective!

One last item and I'll never bring it up again. From the BBC:

Dutch tactics upset Johan Cruyff

Dutch football legend Johan Cruyff has launched a scathing attack on Netherlands' display in the World Cup final, deriding it as "anti-football".

The Dutch received nine yellow cards, and a red card for Johnny Heitinga, as they lost 1-0 to Spain in South Africa.

"Sadly, they played very dirty," Cruyff told Spanish newspaper El Periodico.

"This ugly, vulgar, hard, hermetic, hardly eye-catching, hardly football style... If with this they got satisfaction, fine, but they lost."

Cruyff was the symbol of 'Total Football', which earned the Dutch successive World Cup final appearances in 1974 and 1978.

...

"It hurts me that Holland chose an ugly path to aim for the title."

Cruyff brought his footballing philosophy to Barcelona in an eight-year spell as manager, and he is widely credited with the one-touch passing style still employed by the Catalan club, who provided the backbone of Spain's World Cup-winning squad.

However, in the Champions League semi-final last season, Pep Guardiola's side were upset by a defence-minded Inter Milan, coached by Jose Mourinho - a fact not lost on Cruyff.

"On Thursday they asked me from Holland 'Can we play like Inter? Can we stop Spain in the same way Mourinho eliminated Barca?'

"I said no, no way at all. I said no, not because I hate this style, I said no because I thought that my country wouldn't dare to and would never renounce their style. I said no because, without having great players like those of the past, the team has its own style.

"I was wrong. Of course I'm not hanging all 11 of them by the same rope, but almost. They didn't want the ball."

more at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/world_cup_2010/8812484.stm

[HuckleB]

12. Cruyff is spot on.

[paparush]

13. Ding! Cruyff's indictment is spot on.

Did Spain dive some? yep.
Did Holland dive some? yep.

The Dutch should have been down to 10 men in the first half and the game would have been over around the 60th minute.