Final: Netherlands vs Spain

[AirWolf]

I didn't watch the final. It has to do with Spain. Their strategy slows the game right down, it's incredibly boring. It's why for all their games they only won by 1 goal.. Except against honduras when they won by 2.

I hate the way they play, and they call it the "passing game" - looks more like constipated to me :wtf:.

They say diving is bad, if Robben dived/fell he would have got a free kick and Puyol a red card... because he stayed on his feet he lost out, bad reffing, no wonder players dive!!!

I wondered about that as well after the red-card to the Dutch player for a slight touch on Iniesta that send him to the ground.

 

[fishfly]

I hate the way they play, and they call it the "passing game" - looks more like constipated to me :wtf:.



I wondered about that as well after the red-card to the Dutch player for a slight touch on Iniesta that send him to the ground.

Even if the player did not touch Iniesta he would fall and be awarded a free kick...

 

[fishfly]

Man of the match = referee
Missed zero Dutch fouls, even made up a few (yellow card that got the defender sent off when the defender barely touched the Spanish forward)
Missed every Spanish dive, and the most obvious pull on Robben. How did he miss the defender hanging on and doing cartwheels/backflips/360's on Robbens back?

Both teams has good chances that they didnt take, and Spain could only finally get through when the Dutch were reduced to ten men. Were the Spanish really better on the day? I dont think so, it looked 50/50 to me with the ref swinging the game

Mind you he did miss the chest kick by De Jong on Alonso

 

[AirWolf]

Mind you he did miss the chest kick by De Jong on Alonso

That should have been straight red.

 

[Stickfigure]

How did Webb miss that corner though? Sneijder's free kick took one of the biggest deflection's ever off the wall yet Webb awards a goal kick :/

 

[Cantera]

What did Innestia shirt say "Daak Africa..."

A tribute to Dani the Espanyol player who died last season. It read, that he will never be forgotten.

He dedicated the goal to him.

------

I read alot of bitter Dutch supporters on the forum today. Blaming the ref. The better team won.

Get over it.

 

[Archer]

Mind you he did miss the chest kick by De Jong on Alonso

That should have been straight red.

Argh, I'm a Dutch supporter by blood so have to try defend this Although I admit I closed my eyes and was praying for a yellow card and not a red. So my weak argument is this: he was semi going for the ball, and it was in the middle of the field (so didnt stop an obvious goal) and it was the finals.
Ref was card happy 1st half and in extra time, but missed lots in the 2nd half. Probably forgot his cards in the changing rooms at half time

 

[The_Pumpkin_King]

A tribute to Dani the Espanyol player who died last season. It read, that he will never be forgotten.

He dedicated the goal to him.

------

I read alot of bitter Dutch supporters on the forum today. Blaming the ref. The better divers won.

Get over it.

fixed for you

no seriously, did you watch the same WC? and im not even a dutch supporter

 

[Cantera]

fixed for you

no seriously, did you watch the same WC? and im not even a dutch supporter

The Netherlands used pathetic tactics to stop Spain from playing. I always thought that this final would be an open game and the Netherlands would stay true to their style and try to take Spain on, instead they used poor tactics to try and stop Spain from playing.

Thier constant fouls on the the Spanish players were pathetic. Some even went as far as saying that it formed part of the ''ugly'' of the tournament.

Oranje's World Cup Final Tactics​

The showpiece event that bookends football’s biggest tournament is rarely a free-flowing spectacle, but observers had hoped that two European underachievers could come together to create a final for the ages.

However, the Oranje came to the realisation early in the contest that they could not compete with Spain on their terms, and so descended into an attempt to suffocate their superior opponents rather than play them at their own game.

As a result, the likes of Van Bommel and De Jong were administered to subdue and dispel the threat of the Barcelona-based quartet that led the line for La Furia Roja. As a result, the yellow cards accumulated, and ultimately, the Netherlands sacrificed a modern brand of total football in favour of a more universal, contemptuous approach.

 

[Archer]

The Netherlands used pathetic tactics to stop Spain from playing. I always thought that this final would be an open game and the Netherlands would stay true to their style and try to take Spain on, instead they used poor tactics to try and stop Spain from playing.

One could say Spain used pathetic tactics to stop Germany from playing their game in the semis... You either bet on your own strategy being better, or you have to stop the other team from doing what they want. Thats how you play any sport. Really lame argument you have there.

 

[Stickfigure]

FFS!!! Netherlands have NOT played Total Football since 1974. Everyone knows that and when people refer to them not playing Total Football it just pisses me off. Total Football is dead and will probably never be played again, not unless another great like Johan Cruyff and Rinus Michels come along.

Also credit to Johan Cruyff for Spain playing the way they do.

 

[The_Pumpkin_King]

The Netherlands used pathetic tactics to stop Spain from playing. I always thought that this final would be an open game and the Netherlands would stay true to their style and try to take Spain on, instead they used poor tactics to try and stop Spain from playing.

Thier constant diving from the Spanish players were pathetic. Some even went as far as saying that it formed part of the ''ugly'' of the tournament.

Oranje's World Cup Final Tactics​

more likely, oh fixed for you again

 

[Cantera]

One could say Spain used pathetic tactics to stop Germany from playing their game in the semis... You either bet on your own strategy being better, or you have to stop the other team from doing what they want. Thats how you play any sport. Really lame argument you have there.

How exactly did Spain used dirty tactics to stop Germany from playing?

Hell, Germany defended for most part of the game. Was that a Spanish tactic to make them camp 10 players behind the ball?

Really interested to hear your response.

 

[Archer]

I said "one could say" not necassarily me. I also didnt say anything about dirty tactics, stop putting words in my mouth. But I'll take a shot at it... Germany has a young side that loves to run around with the ball and press forward. Spain killed this by keeping the ball and slowly passing the ball around to their backs and midfielders. This frustrated the Germans and coupled with a lack of experience it cost them. So the Dutch decided to really hassle the Spanish making sure that they couldn't play their passing game with ease but probably went 'a bit' overboard with this though.

 

[Cantera]

I said "one could say" not necassarily me. I also didnt say anything about dirty tactics, stop putting words in my mouth. But I'll take a shot at it... Germany has a young side that loves to run around with the ball and press forward. Spain killed this by keeping the ball and slowly passing the ball around to their backs and midfielders. This frustrated the Germans and coupled with a lack of experience it cost them. So the Dutch decided to really hassle the Spanish making sure that they couldn't play their passing game with ease but probably went 'a bit' overboard with this though.

So you think that the only reason why the Germans defended 10 men in their half for most of the game was because Spain kept on passing the ball to their backs and midfield?

Catch a wake up mate.

 

[Archer]

So you think that the only reason why the Germans defended 10 men in their half for most of the game was because Spain kept on passing the ball to their backs and midfield?

Catch a wake up mate.

Like I said, lack of experience. They couldnt get the ball away from Spain, so instead of hassling them they went all defensive (hoping for a counter attack) which then allowed the Spanish to spend the whole game in the German half.

 

[Ronjay]

The Hollanders were playing hard and many of their tackles were fouls, no doubt about it, but the moment the Spanish saw this they just had to ham it up. It was getting to the point that if a Hollander just looked at a Spaniard the oke would go down writhing in pain, but at the same time the genuine fouls were real bone breakers. But such is the nature of the game now day's. I blame FIFA, because they introduced far more stringent rules a few decades ago on tackling which just invited the acting. Not that Spain did not deserve the win, Netherlands pissed their chances away on more then one occasion, so it's their own fault that they lost. Ah well, next time Netherlands, next time.

 

[gpe]

The Hollanders were playing hard and many of their tackles were fouls, no doubt about it, but the moment the Spanish saw this they just had to ham it up. It was getting to the point that if a Hollander just looked at a Spaniard the oke would go down writhing in pain, but at the same time the genuine fouls were real bone breakers. But such is the nature of the game now day's. I blame FIFA, because they introduced far more stringent rules a few decades ago on tackling which just invited the acting. Not that Spain did not deserve the win, Netherlands pissed their chances away on more then one occasion, so it's their own fault that they lost. Ah well, next time Netherlands, next time.

+1 wrt what you said

I said it in previous posts -- I wanted Netherlands to win -- but yes they weren't the same team as previous games. They were on cruise control against Uruguay and I knew if they came into the final playing like that it was going to turn sour(sloppy fouls and play). Both teams had ample chances and with a man down the games pretty much over. Knew that would happen in the end but well done to Spain

 

[poolmania]

I don't balme Holland for the the tactics, they knew that it would be difficult to play against a team that are superior in their passing ability and keeping the ball. They had to change their game plan to try and intimidate and harass the spanish players and play with some pace on the counter which could of easily worked for them. It's part of football. No complaints from me. I actually enjoyed the game thoroughly.

 

[Alan]

Both Germany and Holland changed their natural games against Spain and payed the price. Spain though stuck to theirs throughout and won the tournament.

The Dutch were a disgrace frankly. Johan Cruyff summed it up

Johan Cruyff has slammed Netherlands for their approach to the World Cup final and said he had never believed the team could adopt such a "vulgar" style.

Johan Cruyff
GettyImagesJohan Cruyff is currently in charge of the Catalonia national team

Cruyff, who featured in Netherlands' first World Cup final in 1974, is seen as the icon of the Dutch 'Total Football' style and he says he finds it hard to accept the methods adopted against Spain.

"Thursday they asked me from Netherlands 'Can we play like Inter? Can we stop Spain in the same way Mourinho eliminated Barca?" Cruyff wrote in El Periodico. "I said no, no way at all. I said no, not because I hate this style - I said no because I thought that my country wouldn't dare to and would never renounce their style.

"I said no because, without having great players like those of the past, the team has its own style. I was wrong. Of course I'm not hanging all 11 of them by the same rope, but almost.

"They didn't want the ball and regrettably, sadly, they played in a very dirty fashion. So much so that they should have been down to nine immediately, then they made two such ugly and hard tackles that even I felt the damage.

"This ugly, vulgar, hard, hardly eye-catching, hardly football style - yes, it served the Dutch to unsettle Spain. If they got satisfaction from this then fine, but they ended up losing.

"They were playing anti-football."

Referee Howard Webb has received criticism both for being too lenient and being too harsh. Having seen Nigel de Jong's chest-high tackle on Xabi Alonso, though, Cruyff is firmly in the former camp.

"When we say, often, that we do not like talking about referees, it is true and, above all, because only refereeing like that last night by the Englishman Howard Webb can create in us a state of such indignation that it is necessary to comment.

"You can referee incorrectly, make a mistake, but what you cannot do is create your own sense of justice and, even worse, invent a very personal application of the rules.

"Not only did he not send off two Dutchmen (including Robben who deserved the second yellow) but he also looked the other way at times when he should have involved himself.

"A World Cup final deserves great refereeing and, above all, deserves a referee who dares to do everything it means to be a judge."

oh and Webb was way, way out of his depth.