*Official* Netherlands vs Spain (World Cup Final)

[The Sean]

Missed all the action in this thread last night, sadly...

Fair play Spain - clearly the deserved winners on the night IMO, really disappointed with the Dutch and thought they were lucky to only have one man walked rather than two or three. That being said, it's difficult to revel too much in a World Cup winning team that scored just 8 goals in 7 games, clinching the tournament with four consecutive 1-0 victories in the knock-out phases. Still, as I say they deserved it fully last night.

New Zealand 2010 - The Invincibles.

 

[The Sean]

Just read too that Forlan was awarded the Golden Ball - well deserved, an absolute class act.

 

[vcs]

Just read too that Forlan was awarded the Golden Ball - well deserved, an absolute class act.

By far the best player in the competition. The only one who seemed to understand how to control the ball. Got nearly all his shots on target.

 

[Spark]

Just read too that Forlan was awarded the Golden Ball - well deserved, an absolute class act.

Definitely.

And pure facepalm at the Dutch media. Maybe you wouldn't have gotten so many ****ing yellows and the red if you didn't play ****ing rugby for so much of the game. Seriously dire stuff.

So, all in all, a pretty grindy final, not high-quality (Holland were awful as said but Spain were off-colour as well), but happy Spain won.

 

[GIMH]

Spain scored 8 goals all tournament. Surely the lowest tally for winners ever?

Yeah the fact that it is being touted as a victory for football when they scored twice in just two games is a joke.

A victory for football, if you're going to follow the cliche, would have been a Germany win IMO, but they bottled it in the semis.

And this thread is a trainwreck, moderation of this tournament has largely been piss poor.

 

[Ausage]

Meh, Spain were hardly angels last night. De Jong should have been marched every day of the week, but I thought overall Webb did decently in very difficult circumstances.

 

[GIMH]

Yeah, 'tis true that some of Spain's ankle-tapping was very much on the cynical side. Just not as bad as Holland's is all.

 

[Spark]

Yeah the fact that it is being touted as a victory for football when they scored twice in just two games is a joke.

A victory for football, if you're going to follow the cliche, would have been a Germany win IMO, but they bottled it in the semis.

And this thread is a trainwreck, moderation of this tournament has largely been piss poor.

Yes, although they certainly created enough chances to score 2- or 3-. Torres left quite a big hole, and Villa dropped off at the pointy end. However I think what a lot of people mean by "a victory for football" is that it's a victory over the style espoused by Van Bommel, De Jong etc. Still a gross exaggeration nonethless.

Definitely agreed that Germany were the most watchable and attractive team at the tournament. They're the ones to look out for in the future IMO.

And calling this thread a trainwreck is a truly dire understatement.

 

[pasag]

I thought it was good fun last night. Certainly livened up a bit of a dour game.

 

[grecian]

I thought it was good fun last night. Certainly livened up a bit of a dour game.

Yeah, me too, only bright spot, I'd say

 

[Scaly piscine]

There's just no way De Jong's was a red. Look at the replay. He's not running and sticking a leg out. He jumps up and sticks a leg out. That's it. He's not kicked violently. He's not ran into him. He just stuck a leg out for the ball and it just happens to catch the guy at a right angle so the impact is worse. 99 times out of a hundred he it's a glancing blow and there's no hysteria whatsoever.

Get a grip people.

 

[Steulen]

Yes, it probably was unintentional but it was still a red imo.

 

[GIMH]

I thought it was good fun last night. Certainly livened up a bit of a dour game.

I missed most of the gold by the sound of it.

 

[Johnners]

Yeah the fact that it is being touted as a victory for football when they scored twice in just two games is a joke.

A victory for football, if you're going to follow the cliche, would have been a Germany win IMO, but they bottled it in the semis.

And this thread is a trainwreck, moderation of this tournament has largely been piss poor.

Whilst I agree in general we could've done a better job, some absolutely pathetic behaviour by a number members who should otherwise know better certainly hasn't helped.

 

[GIMH]

Meh, bit of proactivity in the wake of certain events would have helped hey. One of those members who "should have known better" even linked to a post from James from the last time England went out, the day before. Couldn't have given a much better pointer really. But instead some of the mods felt it appropriate to join in the trolling. Whatever. Tournament's over now anyway.

 

[Uppercut]

Yes, it probably was unintentional but it was still a red imo.

Yeah, this is the conclusion I'm leaning towards. I wouldn't call it a shocker but a red would definitely have been a better decision than a yellow.

 

[silentstriker]

If that's not a red, than anything short of two of your teammates holding a player while you repeatedly punch them in the face is not a red.

 

[Lillian Thomson]

Yeah the fact that it is being touted as a victory for football when they scored twice in just two games is a joke.

A victory for football, if you're going to follow the cliche, would have been a Germany win IMO, but they bottled it in the semis.

And this thread is a trainwreck, moderation of this tournament has largely been piss poor.

If Spain had had the good fortune to play against England and Argentina I suspect their goal tally would have been greater. It's not Spain's fault that the teams they played attempted to kill the game first and play football as an afterthought. They could easily have been beaten by Paraguay, Portugal or Holland but that would have been the worst victory since Lady Hamilton lost her virginity for the second time.

 

[Pothas]

Yeah agree with that, Germany were lauded for playing attacking football but pretty much all their goals came on the counter agsinst piss poor defences.

When they came up against Spain they were outclassed and reduced to getting men behind the ball like every other side had to against Spain.

 

[GIMH]

If Spain had had the good fortune to play against England and Argentina I suspect their goal tally would have been greater. It's not Spain's fault that the teams they played attempted to kill the game first and play football as an afterthought. They could easily have been beaten by Paraguay, Portugal or Holland but that would have been the worst victory since Lady Hamilton lost her virginity for the second time.

That's all fine - I just hate the 'victory for football' mentality as it is, tbh.

Best team won, no doubt.