South Africa, 2010

Paul · Jul 12, 2010

Eddyz Aquila said:
The ref did not make a good job at all.

First of all, I'm a Holland fan. Whenever Romania gets knocked out, I support Holland. Always been like that.

So, De Jong deserved red. That's the first big mistake, and what a mistake it was. Perhaps it was not intentional but the ferocity of the strike...Jeez that's out of Mortal Kombat!

Iniesta is a cheat. Period. Diving so easily it's incredible. Ref once again made it a complete disaster by sending Heitinga off easily, Heitinga did not even touch Iniesta. Furthermore, another disgusting dive, yellow for Van der Wiel. I mean, congrats ref, two horrible dives and you take out half of the defence, no wonder Spain won!

Sneijder's free kick from 30m out with 10 minutes left I think. It hit Fabregas in his arm, full out, and yet no corner. I mean, come on, it's not big, but that was so obvious it was just mind-boggling...

Yellow cards were handed out too easily. Van Bommel deserved his for the ugly tackle on Capdevilla, but the rest, not really. Typical hardline tackles that everyone receives in a match.

On the other hand, congratulations, hands down, nothing to say, to Puyol. He was excellent. Made no mistake, perfect defending, Van Persie was inexistent. Holland's coach did make a couple of mistakes by introducing Elia instead of Babel and keeping Van Persie when you have Huntelaar on the bench.

My 2 cents.

+1
(except for the yellow card underlined /embolden bit. In fairness I think he got it just right - if he went by the letter of the law, it would have become 5-a-side- footie.

Priene · Jul 12, 2010

And the Dutch are whining about Webb being biassed towards the Spanish. Incredible. Hey, Netherlands, why don't you go and look up whether chest-high-studs-in-kung-fu assaults are permitted under the laws of the game. And try picking a midfield who kick footballs instead of legs.

robeiae · Jul 12, 2010

They are whining. And they did get away with a great deal, most especially that Kung Fu kick. But that doesn't excuse blatant dives by some Spanish players, most especially Iniesta. And it doesn't excuse the no-call on Robben's breakaway, particular when there was a call for the Spanish when the exact same play went in the other direction.

Meh.

Spain won a very tight match, so the Dutch whine. I dare say the Spanish would be whining if it had gone the other way. And the same people writing panegyrics to the Spanish "game" would be doing the same for the Dutch "game," while criticizing Spain for not being able to finish (which, btw, they couldn't do in the actual game).

Priene · Jul 13, 2010

It was only tight because Webb didn't do his job and send off several Dutchmen. 11 v 9, 11 v 8. It would have been a massacre. The first half was a disgrace and if I was Dutch I'd be, like Cruyff, appalled. Whining about unfair treatment is just pathetic.

But you have pointed out Spain's big weakness. They don't score goals. Mind you, France in 1998 were superb, and their main striker was Stéphane Guivarc'h.

South Africa, 2010

Paul

Priene

Out to lunch

robeiae

Touch and go

Priene

Out to lunch