Holland v Spain - World Cup Final

[Terminal Boardom]

I thought Iniesta had already been booked.

And who else could have tried to control a game like that? The Dutch epitomised EVERYTHING I detest about the professional game.

[PEARCEY]

Same old idiots attacking the ref for trying to do the right team and keep the game a spectacle. Fair play to Webb, I actually felt sorry for him towards the end and I don't often defend referees.

Don't call me an idiot for chosing to have a different view from you sunshine. It was a very difficult game to ref but the big occasion demands a referee the playrers respect. It seemed to me the players didn't respect Webb.

[paultheroyal]

For the record, Iniesta had not been booked before goal scored!

[paultheroyal]

Pearcey, please!

How can you tell if players respect him. Your arguement is based on guess work which therefore makes it nonsense.

I think a Champions League Final Ref and a ref awarded the final gets the utmost respect.

He tried to keep it a spectacle which in the main he did.

[winchester_royal]

Webb did very well in what was a near impossible game to referee IMHO.

[PEARCEY]

Pearcey, please!

How can you tell if players respect him. Your arguement is based on guess work which therefore makes it nonsense.

I think a Champions League Final Ref and a ref awarded the final gets the utmost respect.

He tried to keep it a spectacle which in the main he did.

Do you think the players would have acted like that if Pier Luigi had been in charge?

[RoyalChicagoFC]

The Dutch had Webb overseeing a prison yard and not a football match from the off

Perhaps if instead he'd "of" pulled out a rod and winged one of the lairy bastards in the first ten minutes and kept the cards in his pocket

Everything to loathe about this match origin7ed with them

And I keep seeing gripes on FB and so on about "Spanish play-acting" --"Spanish play-acting"?!

Sh'yaright, those paragons of footballing rectitude Robben and Van Persie would never stoop to such a thing

[Ian Royal]

Pearcey, please!

How can you tell if players respect him. Your arguement is based on guess work which therefore makes it nonsense.

I think a Champions League Final Ref and a ref awarded the final gets the utmost respect.

He tried to keep it a spectacle which in the main he did.

Do you think the players would have acted like that if Pierre Luigi had been in charge?

I think they'd have tried to and someone would have been sent off much sooner.

[FiNeRaIn]

The Dutch had Webb overseeing a prison yard and not a football match from the off

Perhaps if instead he'd "of" pulled out a rod and winged one of the lairy bastards in the first ten minutes and kept the cards in his pocket

Everything to loathe about this match origin7ed with them

And I keep seeing gripes on FB and so on about "Spanish play-acting" --"Spanish play-acting"?!

Sh'yaright, those paragons of footballing rectitude Robben and Van Persie would never stoop to such a thing

+1

[PEARCEY]

^ Agreed Ian and sometimes you have to get a red card out otherwise the players know they can get away with it. The Dutch were appaling though.

[Ian Royal]

^ Agreed Ian and sometimes you have to get a red card out otherwise the players know they can get away with it. The Dutch were appaling though.

The bonus is even though I tainted myself by prefering the Dirty Dutch, I get to take the piss out of a guy at work who hates Spain with almost mindblowing passion.

[paultheroyal]

Pearcey, please!

How can you tell if players respect him. Your arguement is based on guess work which therefore makes it nonsense.

I think a Champions League Final Ref and a ref awarded the final gets the utmost respect.

He tried to keep it a spectacle which in the main he did.

Do you think the players would have acted like that if Pier Luigi had been in charge?

YES

[Terminal Boardom]

Pearcey, please!

How can you tell if players respect him. Your arguement is based on guess work which therefore makes it nonsense.

I think a Champions League Final Ref and a ref awarded the final gets the utmost respect.

He tried to keep it a spectacle which in the main he did.

Do you think the players would have acted like that if Pier Luigi had been in charge?

The disturbing thing is the number of fouls committed by players like van Bommel yet they continually got away with it by staying on their feet. Would Colina have allowed van Bommel and de Jong to stay on the pitch after their outrageous first half challenges? We will never know. What we do know is that for once, the good guys triumphed. And this coming from someone who grew up on Total Football, Cruyff, Neeskens etc.

[The whole year inn]

New Zealand the only undefeated team in this tournament

[PEARCEY]

Fair comment TB. This was a far cry from the Dutch football of 1974. The Dutch were as cynical as it gets.

[John Madejski's Wallet]

Another one in defence of Webb here.

Had he sent off the 5 or so players that should have gone (note to those annoyed at the dutch tactics......TWO spanish players should have gone), then everyone would be saying the ref had ruined the match

With the dutch tactics, Webb was in an impossible situation, and I thoroughly applaud the job he did in trying to keep a game of football going

[Zammo]

Pearcey, please!

How can you tell if players respect him. Your arguement is based on guess work which therefore makes it nonsense.

I think a Champions League Final Ref and a ref awarded the final gets the utmost respect.

He tried to keep it a spectacle which in the main he did.

Do you think the players would have acted like that if Pier Luigi had been in charge?

The disturbing thing is the number of fouls committed by players like van Bommel yet they continually got away with it by staying on their feet. Would Colina have allowed van Bommel and de Jong to stay on the pitch after their outrageous first half challenges? We will never know. What we do know is that for once, the good guys triumphed. And this coming from someone who grew up on Total Football, Cruyff, Neeskens etc.

From the Country who brought us total football, we now have endure total fouling. I had no feelings on the outcome of tonight's game whatsoever, yet the more the game wore on I was firmly in the Spain camp. Had the first half been a normal Prem game, Webb would have sent off De Jong for sure. Fair play to Webb, he handled the night very very well indeed. Having to brandish so many yellow cards cannot be easy. He must have known at half-time that a red was a formality.

For Spain, Iniesta gave the most complete performance I have ever seen in a game of such importance. With regards to the Dutch, Van Perise up front on his own was never going to win the World Cup. He should have been replaced, but I guess they had no one to replace him.

[Maquisard]

Will the Dutch end the game with 11 on the pitch?

Nope -- funny how (sober) Dutch players are so much hotter tempered than their (totally stoned) supporters

[RoyalChicagoFC]

New Zealand the only undefeated team in this tournament

Heh!

It's at least conceivable that half the referees from my own fed, if put in charge of the same match, would've had the thing under peril of abandonment before 45 minutes were in the books

If anything, Webb should be knighted for valourous service to the world's game under absolutely absurd circumstances

[John Madejski's Wallet]

What was the final card count?

iirc it was 7-5 to the dutch.

Van Bommell, Iniesta, Puyol, Schneider & Robben would have gone with a continental ref.....which would have been a farce and EVERYONE would have been moaning about the ref. Fair play Mr Webb