Spain reign over Dutch cloggers

SPANISH captain Iker Casillas lifted the World Cup to the African night sky as all of Spain celebrated the first World Cup triumph in their history.

And justice was done at the end of a match in which Holland should have lowered their heads in shame.

South Africa did not deserve this. They did not deserve a final which made history with 14 yellow cards, two of them leading to a red for Everton defender John Heitinga — the most cards in the 80–year history of the tournament.

They did not deserve the final throes of the first World Cup on their continent to be remembered for Dutch thuggery and a match which stained the spirit of football.

Heitinga was the man dismissed by English referee Howard Webb, who was booed by the Dutch fans as he picked up his souvenir medal and must have wondered what he had done to be awarded this Dante’s Inferno of a football match which was put out of its misery only when Andres Iniesta slid the ball into the Dutch net for a 1–0 victory after 116 minutes.

Even then Holland disgraced themselves even more as they surrounded Webb and the linesman, Joris Mathijsen slamming the ball into the turf for which he saw yellow.

What made it all so much worse was that an hour before kick–off Nelson Mandela had been driven onto the pitch in an open–topped buggy to a rapturous welcome and chants of ‘Madiba,’ the affectionate name for elders of his clan.

Mandela had fought and worked and prayed for this moment. Not the football, but the moment in history when South Africa, the new, respected, free and democratic nation was at the centre of the world for the right reasons.

Frail now and with his 92nd birthday next Sunday, he left to watch the match at home with his wife Graca.

But, forget the football for a second, Mandela’s presence was just as potent symbolically.

Here was the architect of the Rainbow Nation, the anti–apartheid campaigner who had had been imprisoned for 27 years, mostly on Robben Island, before becoming the first democratically elected president of South Africa.

Here he was giving his support and approval once more on the night South Africa, 16 years after the end of apartheid, came of age as a developing nation before an estimated one billion viewers around the globe.

That was the sub–plot of this World Cup final, the first on African soil. One which had flown in the face of all the doubters and doom–mongers and proved to be a huge success.

We had hoped for a classic between two teams who profess to play beautiful football. After seeing Germany outclassed in the semi–final, Holland clearly decided they could not afford to match Spain when it came to skill, so they opted for a slugging match.

The first half alone saw five bookings, three for the Dutch and two for Spain as Holland sought to break up Spain’s rhythm by getting their foot in.

In Nigel De Jong’s case that meant into the chest of Xabi Alonso, a Cantona–style kung–fu kick from which Alonso was fortunate to emerge unscathed and De Jong even luckier to stay on the pitch.

The same could be said for Mark van Bommel, who had already taken out Joan Capdevila. It was more than niggly. It was nasty. Premeditated. A shameful attempt to knock Spain out of their stride.

You can only imagine what Johan Cruyff, the Dutch pioneer of ‘Total Football’ back in the 1970s made of it.




Webb sets card record



HOWARD Webb set a new World Cup final record after handing out 14 yellow cards and one red to Spain and Holland.



It was an ordeal by combat for the Yorkshire official and his assistants Darren Cann and Michael Mullarkey as Holland in particular tried to ‘win ugly’.

It is not a record the Webb (38) will be proud of but he was often left with little option as a tense encounter saw some crunching fouls and numerous late challenges.

Webb showed nine yellow cards to the Dutch, including two and a red to Everton’s John Heitinga.

Webb easily surpassed the record of Brazilian referee Romuald Arppi Filho who showed six cards in the 1986 final between Argentina and West Germany.




Forlan’s FIFA honour



URUGUAY’S Diego Forlan won the FIFA ‘Golden Ball’ as the outstanding player at the World Cup.



The Atletico Madrid man scored five goals, including a couple of stunners against South Africa and Germany, as Uruguay exceeded expectations to reach the semi–finals.

Forlan finished in a four–way tie with Thomas Muller, Wesley Sneijder and David Villa for the Golden Boot with five goals — an award Germany’s Muller took on a tie–break thanks to having more assists.

Muller also picked up the best young player award, while Spain captain Iker Casillas added the ‘Golden Glove’ award to his World Cup winners’ medal.