Match Day Special/World Cup Final: Spain v The Netherlands

That last vuvuzela is a doozy.

The World Cup Final is, in a way, the grown up version of Christmas Day.  As a child, your focus from mid-November right up until the holiday is being good, in the hope that your parents will get you everything you want, especially the Subbuteo set with the Brazil v Italy setup.  In anticipation of the World Cup, you spend the buildup going to countless fashion boutiques, poetry recitals and antique shows with your wife/girlfriend so that she won’t complain when you park yourself on the couch to watch soccer for a whole month.  No matter how well you behave, though, you don’t get everything you want at Christmas and, by the time the final arrives, your bird has had enough of you screaming at the idiot box and is ready to fly the coop.

Finally, there’s the big letdown afterwards. You’ve played with all (and broken half) of your toys or you’ve watched sixty-four matches in thirty-two days, only to drop fifty quid on the Dutch at the end.  A strange depression sets in and it seems as though there’s nothing left to do until it all rolls around again.  At least Christmas comes once a year.  It’s going to be four years until Brazil, for crying out loud!  All you can really do is enjoy the moment, I suppose.

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With two teams who have so often come up short in the past, this moment held some promise.  The desire of both sides to at last clear the final hurdle and be recognised as a World Cup champion was fueled by decades of mutual frustration.  The Dutch had been in the final twice in the Seventies, losing both times to host nations West Germany and Argentina.

From there, the talisman of the side, Johann Kruyff went on to star and manage Barcelona to a handful of Spanish and European titles.  He brought the Ajax concept of total football with him, transforming both the Catalan club and, through it, the Spanish national team.  His influence has culminated in the 2008 Euro championship and, now, a long awaited appearance in the World Cup Final for La Furia.

With both nations having evolved from the same football roots, there would be no surprises.  The champion would be decided by execution, desire and, perhaps the acting chops of certain players.  Howard Webb, the English referee was sure to be tested by the proclivities of certain players, most notably Arjen Robben, Joan Capdevilla and Sergio Busquets, to embellish the slightest contacts.  As well, both teams featured players with mean streaks.  Mark van Bommel and Carlos Puyol spring most readily to mind.

A sign of things to come.

Spain quickly took the initiative.  David Villa broke on the first attack, just a bit too soon for the linesman’s taste.  Xavi Hernandez sent a beautiful free kick into the box and Sergio Ramos’ header surprised Maarten Stekelenberg but he recovered to make a spectacular save.  David Villa suffered his second offside adjudication immediately after the Spaniards reclaimed the ball.  Dirk Kuyt pounced on a lazy Sergio Busquets pass but muffed the shot in his excitement.  Iker Casillas had no problems collecting it.  Xavi Hernandez sent a through ball too far for Villa, this time on side.  Third time, not quite the charm.

With both sides frustrated early, things became chippy and Howard Webb unhappily inserted himself into proceedings.  Robin van Persie clattered into Capdevilla to earn the first of many bookings which PC Webb would hand out on the evening.  Two minutes later, Carlos Puyol went into the back of Robben and endured the first Spanish caution.  On twenty-two minutes, van Bommel took out Iniesta to go in the book, soon to be followed by Sergio Ramos, for tripping up Dirk Kuyt.

Nigel de Jong gets a bit too frisky with Xabi Alonso.

Just before the half hour Nigel de Jong fully tested Webb’s patience.  His flying tackle caught Xabi Alonso full in the chest but, somehow, the Manchester City midfielder escaped with just the fifth yellow card of the match. The British official, throughout the match, demonstrated a sense of the moment and his own importance in it.  The two teams were fully equipped with skillful, imaginative players.  He would do everything within reason to assure that they, rather than he, were the ones to decide the match.

Five minutes later, the match almost surrendered itself to a sublimely bizarre moment.  Casillas and Puyol collided in pursuit of a loose ball.  Casillas was able to recover the ball and played it out, with Puyol laying dazed on the pitch, in need of treatment.  When he had been seen to, the Dutch sent a long clearance back to Casillas,the normal courtesy on such occasions.  Amazingly, the Spanish captain misjudged it.  The ball bounced over his head, forcing him to scramble back and tip it wide of the post, conceding a corner.  Perhaps a few stars were still twirling around his head?  The Dutch displayed true sportsmanship after the near disaster, as van Persie looped the subsequent corner directly to a now more confident Casillas.

After a bit of a wobbly, Casillas had to be sharp until the break.

L’Oranj were gifted a measure of instant karma in the wake of their generousity and enjoyed the run of play for the remainder of the first fourty-five.  Robben earned a corner, going down as he darted between two markers.  Sneijder’s free kick went to van Bommel at the edge of the box and his cross bounced to Mathijsen.  The defender demonstrated why the back is his preferred position, when he completely whiffed on what should have been an easy volley.

Sneijder was spoken to by Webb after Busquets went down in a heap.  The Inter man’s lack of stature may have saved him from being the sixth booking.  The scolding was an amusing bit of comic relief, however.  Shades of Dr. Evil and Mini-Me.

Just into additional time, Robben found himself in his happy zone, at the top right corner of the box.  He convinced his marker that he wasn’t going to his left (some people never learn), then took one step in that direction and loosed a low shot locked in to the near post.  Casillas was almost not in time to parry the shot over the touch line.  When Howard Webb blew the whistle, it was still scoreless but both sides knew they were in a match.

In the initial few minutes of the closing half, the Spaniards pressed matters.  Puyols wasn’t quite able to repeat his semi-final magic, misdirecting a header to the back post.  Capdevilla was there to clean up but he tripped over his broom and the chance went wanting.  Shortly thereafter, Robben took another of his trademark shots from the top corner of the box.  Casillas was quicker to this one and smothered it completely.  A curling Xavi Hernandez laser from twenty five metres couldn’t quite zero in on the upper ninety.  The end to end action for the first ten minutes was proof that both teams emerged from the break hungrier than ever to lift the trophy.

Iker gets a leg up on Arjen Robben.

Gio Van Brunckhorst and  John Heitenga were quickly added to the list of bookings after a pair of rough tackles.  Both teams have skill and Howard Webb was insistent that they show it.  Shortly after his booking, Heitenga broke in on goal, chasing a long entry pass from Robben.  Ramos hauled him down but the whistle blew for offsides, cancelling out any foul.   Next, it was Robben’s turn to be on the end of a route one pass.  He split the defenders and raced in on a charging Casillas.  The keeper guessed to his left and Robben chipped the other way.  Somehow, though, the Spanish captain managed to lift his trailing leg to deflect the ball wide.

Both teams ran each other ragged for the second ten minutes of the half and then Capdevilla was beaten on the flank by van Persie.  The left back reached out and hauled his man down before he could get clear.  Webb raced over and demonstrated that, like their opponents, the Spaniards were not going to escape his wrath.  Amazingly, despite having handed out eight bookings to this point, you couldn’t really argue that Webb had lost control of the match.  Quite the opposite, in fact.

On seventy minutes, a diagonal ball out to Jesus Navas was sent back in and flicked across the goal.  Heitenga became tangled in his own feet and the ball found its way to Villa.  It was a huge mistake from the Dutch defender but the new Barca man didn’t take advantage, firing directly at Stekelenberg.  Moments later, he wasted a free kick from an inviting twenty two metres.  The Golden Boot, it seemed, wasn’t made for his foot..

After Ramos was hauled down on the right flank unnecessarily, Webb again summoned Sneijder and, in no uncertain terms, indicated he’d had enough.  The miniature Dutchman could only nod vigorously, with a nervous smile on his lips.  The towering Englishman was glaring at him like a hungry polar bear.

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Ten minutes remained and the balance had once again shifted to the Spaniards.  Iniesta cut in from the left side but a perfect tackle from Heitenga snuffed out the chance.  Then, Robben caught Puyol and Piquet napping and sprinted past them, chasing a through ball.  The two desperate defenders were able to chip at him just enough to allow Casillas to capture the ball but not so severely that Webb was inspired to intervene.  An incensed Robben pushed the matter too far and drew Webb’s ire instead, along with the ninth yellow card of the match.

With overtime looming, Cesc Fabregas came on for Xabi Alonso.  Only for Spain would the number ten be a bench warmer.  The Dutch worked a beautiful sequence from the by line to find van Persie but he was offside.  Sneijder unleashed from near the half line to test Casillas at the death but it was no trouble and the match went to an extra thirty.

Iniesta, as in the Champions League, is clutch late.

Spain open the added period in the ascendance.  Fabregas and Xavi went down in the box and the Spanish were screaming for a penalty.  Fabregas had run into a defender after losing the ball and the contact on Xavi was incidental.  Webb was not duped into making it easy for the Spaniards.  Fabregas was fed a through ball soon after but Stekelenberg made himself large, as if the two metre tall keeper wasn’t already, to kept the Dutch hopes alive.  Immediately upon the heels of that save, Iniesta popped up free in the box, for a moment, but van Brunckhorst rode him off the ball beautifully.  Navas came open on the right but fired into the side netting.  The first half of overtime was spent almost entirely in the Dutch end of the pitch.  The experienced options on the deeper Spanish bench, with Torres, Fabregas, Silva, Llorente, et al, versus only van der Vaart and Huntelaar for the Dutch, were telling in the late going.

Three minutes into the restart, Iniesta chased a through pass from Xavi and Heitenga put a hand on his back, in order not to lose him.  At first glance, it looked as though the Barca midfielder went down easily but Howard Webb felt obliged to pull the yellow card out.  As it was Heitenga’s second, the red followed.  The Dutch, being a man down, were suddenly in dire straits.  Heitenga’s reaction was more disappointment than outrage and he left the pitch directly, without any real protest.  His meek exit may have been sufficient indication that the Englishman had made the right judgment.

... and picks up the only soft yellow card of the night by paying tribute to a fallen teammate.

Spain immediately applied pressure.  the free kick was just over the bar and likewise two more quick attacks.  The Netherlands didn’t pack it in easily, however, even with van der Wiel drawing yet another card for tripping Iniesta.  Eljero was brought down in front of goal and the Dutch had a free kick from thirty metres.  Sneijder’s cannon deflected off the side of the wall.  The Dutch looked to hold possession as long as possible but Eljero failed to split two defenders, a poor choice with time and support to hand, and Spain were off to the races.  Working a diagonal break to spread the defense, while the Dutch hurried to get numbers back, the Spaniards smartly reversed their tack and found Iniesta open to the right.  His shot to the far post beat Stekelenberg to give la Roja the lead with less than five minutes remaining.

The bookings piled up after the goal.  The Dutch felt, wrongly, that Iniesta was offside.  Mathijsen’s dissent sent Webb’s hand into his pocket and the goalscorer was added to the list after he stripped off his shirt in mad celebration.

The Netherlands threw everything they had left into a last desperate attack.  A half dozen passes and throw-ins to the box came to naught as Puyol and the rest of the back line stood their ground and cleared every dangerous ball.  Xavi Hernandez forced Webb to hand out one last caution, when he tried to milk the clock, kicking away a ball awarded to the Dutch. Then, Fernando Torres pulled up lame, clutching his hamstring, while needlessly chasing a long clearance (not a happy sight for the Kopp).  Judiciously, Howard Webb added an extra minute to the deuce he had already granted the Dutch.  It was to no avail, though, and Iniesta collapsed to his knees in the middle of the pitch, fists joyfully thrust to the heavens, when the final whistle at last sounded.

The match played out as expected.  Both teams showed some skill, some physicality and the frequent willingness to ham it up for a possible advantage.  There wasn’t the barrage of goals we were treated to yesterday but the match was just as compelling.

After the Dutch and then the Spaniards claimed their medals and the latter hoisted the World Cup, the individual awards were announced.  Diego Forlan was honoured with the Golden Ball as the competition’s most valuable player.  He certainly carried the Uruguayans through this tournament, especially in the semi-final against the Netherlands, when he was without his favourite target, Luis Suarez.  The Atletico Madrid forward also shared one-third of the Golden Boot award, as his five strikes were equal to the totals of Wesley Sneijder and David Villa.

Your Golden Ball winner.

Iker Casillas, despite his near gaffe this evening, was handed the Golden Glove for his goalkeeping.  Thomas Müller, of Germany, was the best young player of the tournament and Spain were gifted the FIFA Fair Play award.  Apparently, only the infrequency of fouls and bookings factor into that accolade, with simulation not considered.

That is not to take away from Spain’s glory as champions, however.  It is well deserved; they improved as the matches progressed and had the better, by a hair, of the Dutch on this day.  The World Cup Trophy certainly didn’t come gift-wrapped.  We have an eighth champion at last and sadly, the Netherlands are still the best side never to have won it all.