WITH Jabulani in hand, Howard Webb walked out into the Soccer City stadium a mighty proud man last night – but boy was he made to work for his place in history.
The Dutch tactics to snuff out the Spanish in any way possible made for a difficult game for the Premier League official and despite breaking records with the number of cards brandished, I thought he did a pretty good job.
It’s not often you can say that a game warranted 13 yellow cards and a red, but I think this one did.
The Dutch will go on about the decision not to award a corner moments before Iniesta’s goal, but Webb, inset, showed leniency to both Nigel de Jong for his high boot, and Arjen Robben for kicking the ball away late on when on a booking.
Bert van Marwijk got it wrong for me. Holland’s negative tactics in trying to stop the Spanish from playing threw them off their stride also, and consequently we never saw the best of them.
It also made for a poor game, a damp squib in the weight of expectancy given the reputation of both teams for their passing styles.
But, it has to be said that not only the right team won on the night – thanks largely to an out-of-this-world performance by Iniesta – but the right team won overall.
Spain were, by far, the best passing side in the competition and victory for them was a victory for total football.
