ARJEN ROBBEN

Article by Stephen Lars

When it comes to soccer and referees there has always been a lot of controversy. But many can agree that no World Cup has had so many referee miscalls as this one. And the World Cup final game could not be the exception. Howard Webb, the official in charge of the final game was just simply pathetic. He could not control the game; he could not control the players or the Netherlands’ blatant attempt to pull a game full of shenanigans and unnecessary roughness. At the end, the team that focused on playing football and keeping the cool took home its first World Cup. Webber booked 14 yellow cards in this game. In spite of the record breaking number, truth be said, he could and should have showed many more. Specially red cards. It was just plain ridiculous. At one point, Nigel de Jong made a full on taekwondo kick against Xabi Alonso. But that was not half of it. Early in the game, Mark van Bommel went all in against Joan Capdevila and saved himself from what would had been a red card had van Bommel be wearing any other team’s shirt. Wesley Sneijder made a foul against Pedro. And it seemed as if the Netherlands were going to do whatever it took to keep the Spaniards from completing more then three consecutive passes. It was a sad scene, especially for a World Cup final. The game was boring. Despite the Spanish had a clear domination of the ball possession, the team was not able to keep on the ball and take good chances at goal. Their passes were great, and even thought the Dutch team did had a couple of chances to go on forward, there was little coming from the orange team. Arjen Robben was spectacular. He had the best runs and truth be said, any chance of a break down, he was able to outrun each of the Spanish defenders. But one thing is certain; he could not open up the scoring. Iker Casillas, the Spanish keeper and team captain, was quite responsible for this. He was amazing. Spain brought up the tempo once Cesc Fabregas came in. He brought a breath of fresh air to the Spanish team. Fernando Torres was kept on the bench until the very end. He did not bring much to the game. Jesus Navas the 24-year-old midfielder was also important in the second half. He was fast and his dribbling abilities made him quite capable of driving to the end and sending off good passes to the strikers. In extra-time the talented player Andres Iniesta was the key to the Spanish first ever World Cup. He received a good pass by Cesc Fabregas who somehow managed to pass the ball pass a couple of Dutch defenders. Iniesta defeated the Netherlands keeper, Marteen Stekelenburg with a nice volley to the side. Not much was left for the Dutch team to do, but to accept in frustration their second place finish. This is the third final that the Netherlands team loose in a World Cup competition. It could have been a good game. Let’s hope that FIFA is going to finally get it together and solve the problems they have when it comes to referees. It is a shame that such a beautiful game can depend so much on a referee that seemed unprepared, unprofessional and who could never handle the pressure of a World Cup final.

About the Author

Stephen Lars is a prominent sports blogger and currently covers the FIFA World Cup 2010 Odds previews and handicaps for the BetIAS’ Sports Betting Blog. You may reprint this article in its full content, please note no modifications to it are accepted