And the best side won!

Background: People of my generation were doubly spoilt in the 60s to 80s; it was a golden age of both popular music and football. As for the latter, we thrilled at the Brazilian and Argentinian magic, the famous German “efficiency” – and occasional touch of magic of their own – and of course the Dutch sides of 1974 and 1978.  Their “total football” and tremendous skills made them exhilarating to watch. The names still linger in the memory; Cruyff, Krol, Neeskens, Hahn, Rep, Rensenbrinck, van Hanegem, van de Kerkhof …

But they never quite made it to the summit. This was not through any lack of quality, but they didn’t have – for me – that little bit of luck at the right time that you almost always need at this level. Could this latest Dutch team possibly do what the astounding Cruyff team hadn’t quite managed to pull off?

Setting the Scene: Unfortunately, the omens for the final weren’t that great. The Dutch coach had made noises about it “not being pretty” and that he didn’t mind how they won as long as they did. There was in fact to be no romantic looking back to the magic of the Dutch sides of 1974 and 1978; this Dutch side was pragmatic. They were going to make up for the past. They were NOT going to be the third Dutch team to lose in the  final ……

In truth, they had done well to make the final, in particular stunning the much-fancied Brazil; you had to take them seriously after that. But they were efficient rather than slinky-skilled like the Spanish. With only one real star, the mercurial Arjen Robben, they were hard and “pragmatic”, which unfortunately – and as it once again proved in the final – often means “rough and brutal”.

The Spanish had shown great footballing skills, particularly in their mastery of the midfield, where they choked the life-blood out of the Germans in the semi-final. Pundits had agreed that the Germans had shown them “too much respect” and “allowed them to play their own game.” This, however, was one mistake the Dutch were NOT going to repeat. They were unlikely to be able to out-football the Spanish, so another strategy had to be found.

The Referee: What an honour to referee the World Cup Final! What excitement Howard Webb and his team must have felt as the kick-off approached. But it’s a fantastic “one-off”; you can never turn back the clock. Mistakes are fixed in time and unerasable, and there were to be several to scar the memory of his special day; which is a personal tragedy in itself.

The Game: Let’s not beat about the bush; the first half was a disgrace. The Dutch game-plan seemed to be to kick the Spain out of their rhythm and indeed even off the field. Some of the tackling was appalling. Feet were smashing in left, right and centre with no hope of getting the ball. Webb was forced to issue yellow after yellow, yet seemed so stunned by and unprepared for the ferocity of what was going on that  in fact, he was over-lenient despite the  number of bookings (14 yellows and one red, easily a record for the final). The Dutch were lucky to reach the interval with 11 players. Van Bommel could well have gone with a straight red; how de Joong didn’t get a straight red is a total mystery to everyone I’ve talked or listened to.

It was appalling, and not just in terms of what was actually happening, it being quite sickening to see players smashed recklessly to the ground. After all, a single clumsy, violent and of course illegal challenge can end a player’s career. No, the deeper tragedy was in the realization that in their desperation to win, the Dutch had cast aside sportsmanship and in essence betrayed the memories of their magical predecessors.  I have no idea what their coach said before, but the brutality of much of the tackling seemed so widespread that one felt it could only be part of a game plan and not just “World Cup nerves”. After some time, the Spanish (somewhat naturally) began to respond in kind so that the yellow cards began to mount up on both sides, and then, mercifully, came half time.

The second half was a bit better; had the players had a bollocking in the dressing room? Of course, for almost half the Dutch side they now HAD to be more careful, since a second booking meant they were off and their team one man down. As it happens, they survived till extra time before they had a man sent off; how is a mystery, and sadly, the referee has to take the blame. Yes, it is a showpiece. Yes, in one sense a sending-off would “spoil the game”, but the spoiling would have been self-inflicted by the Dutch, not the referee’s fault.

The Result? Non-partisan before the game, I was now rooting for Spain. Despite my nostalgia for Dutch teams of the past, their cynical approach could not prevail, could it? But the Spanish were doing everything possible to gift them the game. They simply could not find the goal, despite their usual domination of the midfield. The funny thing is that despite their being “the best side of the tournament”, they won it by scoring the fewest goals in World Cup history – only EIGHT, and winning ALL the knock-out stages just 1-0. As time went on, it seemed they would never score, with shot after shot whizzing miles over the bar or left or right of an untroubled goalkeeper, while the Dutch lurked and waited and should have won with Robben’s one-on-one with the Spanish goalkeeper after a magnificent through-ball on the counter-attack. Mysteriously – and tragically for the Dutch – Robben could not lift the ball a couple of feet and thus surely over Cepillas’ desperately-sliding legs.

And so we went into extra time, the Dutch seeming to play for a draw until finally their misdeeds caught up with them and Heitinga was sent off. With Dutch legs flagging Spain launched wave after wave of attacks and finally found the target with 10 minutes to go. This spared us the agony of a penalty shoot-out, which I would have backed the pragmatic Dutch to win.

But thank God they didn’t and that their brutality of the first half was not rewarded. I asked myself whether a Dutchman could have been proud of this side. Surely nationalism and pride should not prevail over sportsmanship? I am waiting to see what the great Cruyff has to say about it all. (see below)

Sadly, the Dutch players took the defeat badly, with endless complaints about the refereeing.

Agreed, the ref had a very poor game (though the players must take much of the blame for this.) Apart from all the brutality, he missed an obvious corner to the Dutch just before the latter scored their goal. But had the Dutch won, I suspect there would have been an absolute furore in the media, and a legacy of much bitterness.

But in the end, they had nothing to complain about (which didn’t stop them looking). The better – and MORE IMPORTANTLY – more sporting side won, but the post-mortem will continue.  And the final questions are:

• Is winning really worth losing your honour? If it is, then I’ll stop watching professional football; it’s already going that way to some extent as we saw on Sunday.
• Will FIFA one day get its act together and sort out the constant gamesmanship and brutality that scar the game? Video evidence seems essential here, INCLUDING its use AFTER games to retrospectively punish bad and unsporting play, which too many players get away with.
• Why is FIFA so CONSERVATIVE? Why not as in rugby a SIN-BIN for players booked? Knowing that a yellow card would mean 10 or 15 minutes off the pitch would seriously concentrate the minds one thinks.  I hate punishment on a philosophical level, but if it IS felt necessary then it HAS TO BE EFFECTIVE. It is not for nothing that I have nicknamed the FIFA President  Sepp Blabber, or even Blather – either seems appropriate.

By Chris Snuggs

PS I found out about Cruyff – as I had hoped and suspected he would,  he has severely criticised his own national team, showing the same admirable qualities as a man that he did as a player. His countrymen have to take a long, hard look at themselves after all this, not just at the way the team played but at how some people in Holland have reacted to the defeat.

• Morality
• Sport