Netherlands 0 – 1 Spain (a.e.t)
That’s it, justice is done and the best team have won. Spain triumphed in what ended up as a straightforward battle between good and evil that rivalled anything from Middle Earth.
The first half of the showpiece occasion was one of the worst forty-five minutes of football in the tournament and, indeed, one of the worst I can remember. Spain were seemingly the only team there in the first fifteen but failed to capitalise and eventually the Netherlands came back into it. Their game plan quite quickly turned out to be to press Spain hard high up the pitch – but what that ended up translating into was a campaign of cynical fouling that prevented any outbreak, God forbid, of a game of football. It must surely have been the most difficult game that Howard Webb has ever had to referee in his life, and though he got plenty of decisions right, there were some he got wrong, mostly when it came to letting players off lightly. In the first half alone, Mark van Bommel should have picked up three yellow cards (only one was shown), Wesley Sneijder should have seen yellow for a poor studs-up challenge across the thigh of Sergio Busquets, and Nigel de Jong should clearly have been given a straight red for his reprehensible kick to the chest of Xabi Alonso. That challenge could have broken a rib. How he got away with just yellow is an absolute mystery.
There were one or two goalmouth incidents in that first half but not much. The best chances actually went to the Dutch, when from a cleverly pulled back corner van Bommel miskicked laughably from the edge of the area only for it to reach Joris Mathijsen from a great angle, who produced a centre-back’s shot, swiping at the air.
Half-time could not come soon enough, though the second half gradually improved. Spain, again, started dominantly but couldn’t find a way through, again really struggling without a Fernando Torres through the middle for Villa, Pedro, Xavi and Iniesta to swarm around. Pedro was replaced after an hour by Jesus Navas – it seemed a strange substitution for me at first in that tactically nothing really changed and Pedro had done OK, but Navas justified it by adding a little more directness in terms of running at Giovanni van Bronckhorst, playing his final professional game, and also in passing into the box, but just didn’t have anyone to aim for.
The first really good chance fell to the Netherlands, though, and Arjen Robben, comfortably the most dangerous player for his team. He broke through the defense picking up a great through ball from Wesley Sneijder, otherwise quiet, and was one-on-one with Iker Casillas, who produced a stunning save with his leg to deny Robben. Arguably Robben could have done better with that chance but you cannot deny the brilliance of Casillas to keep Spain level. John Heitinga then managed a similarly great stop to deny David Villa, having slipped badly to allow the striker to pick up posession at all, but managed to whirl around on the floor and stick a leg up to block the shot away.
The next golden chance that went begging, though, was all about the miss – Sergio Ramos really should have scored with fifteen minutes to go when he did very well to escape his marker from a corner and earn a free header from six yards, which he blazed over. It was a huge miss and one that you worried might punish the Spanish if Robben got another chance to break, and he did just that a few minutes later, tussling with Carles Puyol just outside the area and, for once, staying on his feet showing strength that makes even more deplorable his customary falling flat at any opportunity. Casillas once again came out and denied him, prompting Robben to run screaming at Webb in a disgusting example of dissent. The boy who cried wolf comes to mind.
Eventually, inevitably, it came to extra time and it was a pleasing relief that neither side seemed willing to settle the game on penalties, although the Dutch attempts to go forward immediately ceased when the red card was finally produced to Heitinga. Half-time in extra time and Vicente del Bosque produced a baffling substitution, withdrawing Villa for Torres. Villa hadn’t had a great game but he had been hamstrung by the absence of Torres or Fernando Llorente, and with penalty kicks looming why take off your best goalscorer and a natural penalty taker in favour of a striker with a confidence problem? I was seriously worried that del Bosque was shooting himself in the foot.
Finally, though, we got a breakthrough, although there was a touch of controversy. It came after Sneijder’s free-kick cannoned off Cesc Fabregas and went behind but was strangely given as a goal kick, which was a wrong decision, and then in the play that followed Eljero Elia went down looking for a free-kick having possibly been blocked off by a Spanish defender. The key word there is ‘looking’, though, as he was clearly trying to buy the free-kick for a foul that wasn’t really there (I’ve seen them given, but it’s not really a foul in my book). While Elia was asking for the free-kick Spain got on with it and, despite a lucky deflection allowing them to hold onto posession, Fabregas finally opened up space in the box for Iniesta, who, as coolly as you could ask for, took one touch and fired home a decisive shot. Spain went mental, and the Dutch more so, fuming that the goal had been allowed. There’s a slim case that backs them up but it was a lesser injustice than, say, Holland having eleven players on the pitch after forty-five minutes, so I don’t think they can really complain. There was just time for Fernando Torres to do his hamstring before full-time, and it really was the depressing icing on a miserable personal tournament for the Liverpool man. He’ll be back, though, and it was good to see that he was OK to walk around for the celebrations.
So in the end Spain definitely deserved it. They played the best football on the night, and were the best team of the tournament. They’ve been the single best international team in the world over the past four years, and this trophy is a fair reflection of that. The scary thing is that they could have been better – imagine if Torres had been fit and firing. Imagine if Vicente del Bosque was better at making substitutions. This team is still young enough to keep on at the top for the forseeable future, even if Puyol retires from international football now, as I believe is to be the case.
Man of the Day: Iker Casillas for me was the standout player, although his opposite number Maarten Stekelenburg also had a good game. Casillas’ two saves from Robben were absolutely crucial, and of course the Real Madrid man is the captain who lifted the World Cup trophy. That probably justifies him as Man of the Day.
Tomorrow…oh. No, don’t worry, there’s still some mopping up to do. I’ll be discussing the tournament as a whole in the next couple of days and handing out some CDB Awards, and then once all that’s wrapped up there’s all sorts of football to talk about. The Europa League’s already started, don’t you know.
Finally, I bow down before Paul the octopus. Let’s just elect him Supreme Overlord and be done with it.