The football World Cup final from South Africa was played out before billions of viewers around the globe, glued to their televisions.
Spain took on Holland, with neither side ever before winning the biggest prize in football. And it was to end with a Spanish victory which was well deserved, as they showed the Dutch that thuggery on the pitch has no place in football.
The 1-0 win gave Spain the title of World Cup winners for the next 4 years. Both sides had a number of chances during the 90 minutes of normal time. And when it got to the extra 30 minutes of play it seemed likely that it would all go down to penalties.
Fortunately with just a few minutes to go Spain scored, and the victory was theirs. It isn’t that I don’t like the Dutch, it’s just that I remember the days of players like Johan Cruyff when style and artistry were displayed, things that the Dutch showed little of this time round. In fact Cruyff himself commented after the game that Holland could have had more than just the one player sent off, it could easily have been three. Thankfully the English referee, Howard Webb, put on an excellent display and kept the game moving, dishing out yellow cards when necessary. Whether he ought to have shown more red cards is debateable.
Where do England, one of the pre-match favourites, go from here, after being knocked out so early in the tournament?
England have dropped down to 13th in the FIFA world rankings. Is it that they lack quality, passion, or what? Well, one of the noticeable things about Spain’s football squad is that the vast majority of the players came from one of two teams, either Barcelona, or Real Madrid. So, most of their players knew one another very well. They worked with one another, and that teamwork really showed.
The England squad, however, were made up of players from a number of clubs, including Spurs, Chelsea, Manchester United, Liverpool, Aston Villa… the list goes on. And while I’m not suggesting that is the only reason Spain did so well, many believe it to be an important factor.
England has the quality with players like Rooney, Gerrard, Lampard and Terry, it’s just that when it gets to the big matches for some reason they just can’t get it all to work for them. It isn’t as though the football stars of Spain get huge wages compared to the England players. Some of England’s top footballers get over £100,000 a week, they don’t have to worry over debt problems. Whatever it is about Spain, as their successes in both Europe and the world have shown, they have that magic ingredient, and that’s why they were the best in the World Cup.