World Cup Final - good for Africa and Spain, bad for football

Thank God Spain triumphed over Holland on Sunday night. I was out of my sofa cheering when Iniesta rammed the ball home. Spain, although not the most exciting team, were technically the most gifted in the tournament, and were worthy winners. It would have been an absolute travesty if Holland, having kicked and basically assaulted the Spanish players in lieu of competing on technique, had clung on for penalties and then sneaked a win.



The Dutch team were a disgrace. They made a mockery of the game and should be forever disgraced by their performance. Future generations will surely remember this final as the 'karate-kick' final, just as the 2006 final in Germany is remembered as the 'head-butt' final. De Jong should not just have been sent off but arguably arrested for what was basically an assault, with no attempt whatsover made to play the ball. That thug Van Bommel was little better. Countless millions around the world would have watched that and wondered why on earth everyone makes such a fuss about football.

So why weren't De Jong, Van Bommel and others not sent off? It's partly down to the cowardice and incompetence of the English referee. Don't tell me he didn't see that karate kick. He was a few feet away, for goodness' sake. He saw it, absolutely. He just didn't apply the laws of the game. Yet another disastrous night for English football. He completely bottled it. Even our refs can't get it right.

But here's the thing: if that match had been a Group match between 2 'minor' teams - say Nigeria and Switzerland - you can bet your bottom dollar that the ref would have been showing red cards left, right and centre. But because this was the World Cup Final, and Sepp Blatter and his cronies had so much riding on it - endorsements, advertising, publicity etc - the ref succumbed to political pressure and waited until the very end to do what the laws of the game demand he do and punish transgressions correctly. He was under pressure not to make the Final too one-sided by sending off 2 Dutch players in the first half, thereby making it too easy for Spain against 9 men and ruining the competitive spectacle. The irony is, by failing to do what he should have done (his job) he very nearly let the Dutch win it and the world was within a whisker of witnessing the utter farce of a Dutch team that had no interest in actually playing football beating a Spanish team that exuded artistry and skill.

If ever there was a game that summed up and symbolised the corruption and  the utter debasement that  FIFA has brought to world football, this was it. The arrogance and stupidity of Sepp Blatter and FIFA knows no bounds. They refused to  countenance the use of video technology to reduce referee error, until forced into a u-turn by the Frank Lampard 'goal' in the England-Germany game. They basically influenced a weak referee in the Final into bending the laws of the game to suit the TV audience and they prefer spectacle over honesty. Take the farcical new ball which almost no player can hit the target from in free-kicks, not even masters like Xavi. FIFA just insisted on it because there was money in the sponsorship deal.

At least South Africa have put on a good show and confounded the sceptics and the tournament produced worthy winners, even if the standard of football was for the most part lamentable. The best parts of this occasion were:

1. Seeing England forced to confront the reality of their technical deficiencies instead of blaming lack of effort, a long season, the manager, the press, the tactics etc.

2. Seeing Germany and Spain showing the world that in football possession is king.

3. Seeing arrogant Brazil get booted out and exposed as being violent and petulant in defeat (much easier to smile and dance the samba when you win, isn't it boys?).

4. Seeing Spain triumph over Dutch thuggery and FIFA scheming.

5. Seeing Nelson Mandela.

6. Giving South Africans who live in poverty have just a little bit more to cheer about.

7. Seeing England fans behave, for once.

8. Seeing 'smaller' footballing nations like Slovakia and Algeria demonstrate that they are not so 'small' any more and that football is becoming a level playing field.

9. Listening to everything Diego Maradona has had to say

10. Watching that octopus get every game right.