Worthy Winners

The World Cup ended last night, as Spain became the eighth World Champion, and the Netherlands completed a hatrick of final defeats. It was not a vintage game, but that was perhaps predictable - Spain haven't been an entertaining side this tournament, and the Dutch were never likely to decline the chance to make the final a physical contest against their diminutive opponents.

It was a fair result. Spain were deserving winners, not just of the game but of the tournament. They came in with the added challenge of being the red hot favorites for the title. That was enough to undo France in 2002 and Brazil in 2006. Every team knew the Spanish game plan inside out, and every coach had given hours of thought to stopping it. Yet no one could. They have been the best side in the World for several years now, and in South Africa they fulfilled their promise. Congratulations to them.

In the final Spain implemented the same game plan they have throughout the tournament. They passed and passed and passed until eventually the breakthrough came, while the Dutch fell into the same frustrated defensive mode that had condemned Germany. In contrast to the Germany game, the older and more experienced Dutch side brought some cynical tactics to the table. De Jong's kick on Alonso in the first half would be called assault off the field, and probably should have brought a red card, and Van Bommel was his usual snarling self in the midfield.

In a game of 14 yellow cards it is often the referee that gets blamed, but I think Howard Webb did everything right. None of the yellow cards was undeserved, and Webb treated the final with an appropriate sense of occasion in trying to avoid sending anyone off. When the red card came he really had no choice.

Spain seems to be in somewhat of a golden age as far as sport goes - Nadal just won Wimbledon again, Alonso won a couple of Formula 1 titles a few years ago, and now the football team is European and World Champion.

You wouldn't begrudge them the sporting success, because the rest of the country is in such a mess. With over 20% unemployment, the economy in the doldrums, and the country facing a Greek style debt crisis, they needed something to feel good about. Yesterday Andres Iniesta delivered it. I've read suggestions that when Germany won in 1954 it was the kick start to the economic miracle in that country. Maybe it can do the same for Spain.

Spain have been the perennial under achievers of World football. It beggars belief that the same country that produced Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, with 12 European cups between them, had never passed the World Cup quarter final. The rest of Europe will now be wondering whether the sleeping giant has been woken, and a new side will now join Germany, Italy and the Netherlands with a consistent international record.

For the Dutch, there is the bitter sweet feeling of reaching a final and losing it. The heart breaking moment of the final was, for me, when Arjen Robben finally decided to stay on his feet. Through on goal until Carlos Puyol bear hugged him, the man who has been accused of spending his entire tournament rolling around on the floor did everything to stay up and in the process let the Spanish 'keeper beat him to the ball. Had he gone down Puyol would have been sent off and the Dutch would have had either a dangerous free kick or a penalty. It may be to his credit that he stayed up, but he surely wouldn't do it again. Robben and Van Bommel join that elite list to lose the biggest games in both club and international football in the space of a few weeks.

We can ponder briefly the insanity of an event that captures the whole world, only to leave 31 nations bitterly disappointed and send one into ecstasy, but in truth, the end of a World Cup is always a relief. Finally, we can all breath easily again, thoughts can move to non football related matters. And in four years, in Brazil, we'll do it all again. If you've stuck with this blog to the bitter end, thank you for taking the time to read it - I hope you enjoyed it half as much as I enjoyed writing it.