With Conor Hogan
Spain 1-0 Holland
Wrap up: Spain win and they deserve it. It wasn’t the greatest World Cup final of all-time. In fact, it is hard to remember a worse one (West Germany v Argentina at Italia ’90 possibly). We suspected Holland might play cynically but what we saw was worse than we could’ve imagined. They recieved nine bookings, but they were very lucky not to get half their team sent off. Dirty dirty Mark van Bommel was an absolute disgrace.
Casillas made a couple of great saves, Iniesta and Xavi were excellent. Spain played all the football, and while they haven’t scored as many goals as they would’ve liked in this tournament, nobody can deny that they’ve been the best team.
It turns out Paul the Octopus was right and Mani the Parakeet was wrong.
All hail the Octopus.
Goodnight and goodbye.
Golden Shoe news: After Sneijder, Muller, Forlan and Villa were all tied on five goals each, FIFA used assists as a tie-break. Muller has three assists, while Villa and Sneijder only had one each. Forlan comes fourth because he played more games than the other three. Villa was awarded the Silver Shoe, while Sniejder was awarded the Bronze one.
The Spanish players go up to collect their medals. Casillas is handed the trophy, which he lifts over his head. Nobody can deny that they deserve it.
The Dutch go up to collect their silver medals. This is the third time they have been runners-up in the World Cup, a record for a team who has never won it. Good. They have murdered the memory of the classic ’70s side featuring Cruyff, Neeskans, Rensenbrink et al, with their disgusting performance. Total football it wasn’t.
Howard Webb is booed by the Dutch fans. He completely lost control of the match, but he can hardly be accused of being harsh on the Dutch. He should’ve sent more than one off.
“It would’ve been a dark day if the Dutch had won the World Cup playing like that,” says Liam Brady. “Iniesta was outstanding, Fabregas made a difference when he came on. But that match showcased the illnesses in today’s game,” adds Eamon Dunphy. “The only justice was Spain did win,” says Giles, “it was a very disappointing game but I am delighted Spain won.”
It’s over. Spain with their eight goal in seven matches have won the World Cup. They become the first team to lose their opening match and still win the World Cup, and the first team to win the European Championships and World Cup back-to-back since Germany in ’74.
Full time
A long ball is played to Matheijsen, who heads it harmlessly wide.
Torres has pulled his hamstring. That is almost the only thing he’s done in the match since coming on. There can’t be much time left!!!
Xavi gets the 14th yellow card of the match for kicking the ball away. Robben plays the ball in from a long throw, but Puyol clears.
There have been 13 yellow cards in this match, nine of them for the Dutch. Spain deserve their lead, Holland are running out of time and ideas, and only have ten men. Their performance today remonds me of Argentina in the World Cup final of Italia ’90 against Germany.
Torres plays it into Fabregas, who plays it to Iniesta who slots the ball home. Iniesta then gets booked for taking off his shirt, while Matheijsen gets booked for complaining about a posible offside (which it wasn’t).
Goal Spain!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sneijder has a free-kick from about 30 yard. He shoots, it came off Pique and went out of play. It should’ve been a corner, but a goal kick was given.
Robben should have been sent off after booting the ball away. He was already booked and can count himself very lucky that he wasn’t. It’s incredible to say this about a match with so many bookings, but Webb has actually been very lenient.
Gregory van der Wiel earns the Netherlands’ eight booking of the match for a foul on the multi-fouled Iniesta. Xavi floats in his free-kick but it come to nothing.
Iniesta is pulled down at the edge of the area by Heitinga, who is deservedly given his second yellow card. Xavi blasts the resulting free-kick over the bar. There was always going to be a red card, I’m just amazed it took so long.
Red Card Holland!!!
The first thing Torres does after coming on is to fall over. If there are no goals in this second period of extra-time, this will be the third World Cup final to go to penalties. The others were the already mentioned Brazil v Italy in ’94, and France v Italy in 2006.
Second period kicks off with a substitution with Torres replacing Villa. Baffling decision to be honest.
Half time in extra-time
Celtic’s Edsen Braafheid comes on for former Rangers’ player Van Bronckhorst. Anyone who watched Braafheid play this season will be amazed that he is featuring in a World Cup final.
The other World Cup final to end 0-0 at the end of normal time was Brazil v Italy in ’94 by the way. That match went to penalties. You probably all remember how that ended. Baggioooooo!!!!!!
Jesus was almost Spain’s saviour, as Navas’ shot went into the side netting. Half the ground thought it was in.
A substitution for Holland. Nigel de Jong is replaced by Football Manager superstar Rafael van der Vaart.
“If Holland win this, it’s a joke,” says Iain from Armagh, “there is only one team trying to play football here!” Iniesta has a great chance, but dithers too long in the box, allowing Van Bronckhorst to get a tackle in.
Iniesta plays a wonderfull through ball to Cesc Fabregas, he shoots but Stekelenburg makes an excellent save. At the other end, Casillas misses the ball from a corner, but Mathijsen fluffs his header.
Spain claim for a penalty, for a possible foul on Iniesta by Heitinga. What they get is a corner, when Villa’s shot is deflected wide.
Extra-time kicks off. This was only the second time in World Cup history that a final has ended 0-0 after normal time.
21:26
Awful, Awful stuff here. Holland have been absolutely evil. “It’s been, for a football lover, shocking,” says Eamon Dunphy. “It’s turned out to be worse than we expected. The game is not coming out of it well,” says Johnny Giles. “Do Spain have a plan B?” Bill O’Herlihy asks Dunphy. “No,” Dunphy succinctly replies.
Full time
Sneijder tries a speculative shot from 50 yards, but it goes 164,321 yards wide.
Tight offside decision against Van Persie, who hits the post from a yard facing an open goal (I pressume he was joking). It was the correct decision. All the praise goes to Webb, but his assistants are excellent.
“Are there any Dutch players left to be booked,” asks Robbie from Belfast. Amm, the keeper hasn’t been booked yet, I think. And Elia’s only been on the pitch for a few minutes. But yeah, what a horrible horrible team. Fabregas replaces Xabi Alonso for the final couple of minutes, and possibly extra-time.
Robben is one on one with Iker Casillas yet again, but the Spanish stopper makes a terrific interception. Robben complains furiously that he was fouled by Puyol, but Howard Webb had played advantage. It would have been an interesting decision if Webb had given it, because Puyol was the last man. Robben becomes the sixth Dutch to get booked, for protesting too much.
Alonso plays a great pass to Iniesta, who glides past Heitinga and into the box. Ballon d’Or favourite Wesley Sniejder makes a great tackle however, and the ball is cleared.
Who d’ya think runs into Iniesta before throwing himself to the ground and acts like he’s been murdered?
“We’ve just got wireless in the pub in Solihull Birmingham, so we’re watching on the telly and getting our info from Conor on JOE. I ilke Spain being in their second kit because it makes them look like the baddies,’ says Kieran from Birmingham.
Thanks for that Kieran. If Spain win in their second strip they’ll be the first team to do so since England in ’66. Ramos puts a free header over the bar from six yards.
72′
Another foul by the Netherlands. A bad tackle by Heitinga on Iniesta. He was lucky to avoid a second yellow. Villa’s free-kick is harmlessly off-target.
Navas, who has been very lively, plays it across the box which Heitinga misses. Villa has a shot from three yards which Heitinga does brilliantly to deflect over. Substitution for Holland. Off goes Kuyt, and on comes Elia. The Holland team is no longer numbered from one to eleven.
Van Persie runs down the wing, and has his heels clipped by Capdevila, who becomes the ninth man to have his name written in Howard Webb’s little black book. There have been 29 fouls in this match so far.
Sneijder played a great ball into Robben, who was one on one with Real Madrid’s Iker Casillas. Robben shoots from nine yards. I thought it was in but Casillas made a wondersave with his foot. Forget what I said earlier, Casillas is and always will be one of the best goalkeepers in the World.
Spain are desperate and turn to Jesus. Jesus Navas that is. The Sevilla man comes on for the disappointing Pedro.
Iniesta fouls Robben. The Bayern Munich man plays a lovely ball in to Heitinga who heads towards goal. The Dutch centre half is deemed to be offside, however.
Robben goes on another one of his trademark runs but his pass to Sneijder is intercepted brilliantly by Ramos. Heitinga becomes the seventh player to get booked after an awfully late challenge on David Villa. This is getting ridiculous. I’m amazed nobody has been sent off yet.
Another Dutch player is booked. Van Bronckhorst this time. Spain earn a free-kick from 23-yards, which Xavi puts high and wide.
Robben takes a shot from outside the box, that is safely smoothered by Casillas. May I repeat; there doesn’t look like there is going to be a goal in this match. Houghton suggests Spain should bring on Torres. Ha!
Xabi Alonso goes down in the box after a nudge from guess who. In all fairness to Alonso, he didn’t claim it. At the other end, Van Persie flicks the ball to Van der Wiel, who crosses the ball across the box to . . . nobody. There was no Dutch players in the box.
First corner of the second half for Spain. Puyol flicks the ball on to Capdevila, who completely mis-kicks it. The ball goes out for a throw.
The second half kicks-off. Robben has a chance to play Van Persie in but puts far too much pace on the pass, and it goes harmlessly out of play.
It was a very poor, very stop-start first half. Holland are playing on the edge and are kicking strips out of the Spanish players. They aren’t making the same mistake as the Germans who took a whole half-hour before commiting their first foul against the Spanish. It’s horrible, it’s cynical, it’s nasty, and it just might win them the match.
Spain’s tikka taka style isn’t getting them anywhere in this match so far, but as long as they keep hold of the ball, you get the impression that they can wear the Dutch down and get the goal they need. It only take one goal, as Spain have proved throughout this tournament.
Brady is amazed that you know who hasn’t been sent off yet. “If Webb was was reffing in England, he’d have been sent off.” They also criticise De Jong’s horror tackle on Xabi Alonso. “Holland are playing like Wimbledon,” says Giles, “Vinny Jones would be right at home in that team. People in Holland must be horrified.”
2025:
“Customer service; it’s reaction time, empathy, knowledge, so the first we want is we want an answer,” says George Hook in an ad for Sky, “We want a feeling that the person on the other end of the phone feels as passionately about my problem as I do (fake laugh). Most importantly of all; that they they have the product knowledge to fix it. Sky Customer services are always there when I need them. They are a pleasure to work with. What more can I say (another fake laugh).”
Half time
And thank God for that. George Hamilton wittily describes the contest as, “much ado about nothing-nothing.”
Alonso fouls Robben, and Webb blows for ANOTHER free-kick. Sneijder floats the ball into a great position in or around the six-yard box. Puyol heads clear, it goes to Robben. His shot from outside the box is saved by Iker Casillas.
Sneijder catches Sergio Busquets with what looked like a nasty tackle, but which might have been accidental. Xabi Alonso tries his luck from 40 yards but he was nowhere near. Holland have now commited 12 fouls but have only had two shots.
Xavi floats a free-kick into Puyol, but Heitinga outjumps him before Sneijeder boots it to safety. A goal really doesn’t look like coming.
Holland have a corner that goes to dirty dirty Mark van Bommel, who miskicks it. Then it goes to Heitinga who completely misses the ball. “Sums up the first half really,” says RTE’s Ray Houghton.
Robben is caught by a cynical shoulder challenge by Busquets, who is so dirty he could play for Holland. A ball is played in that Casillas gathers, but not before colliding with Puyol. Casillas boots it out of play so that his centre half can get attention.
Holland take the throw and Heitinga kicks the ball back to Casillas. Amazingly the Real Madrid man misjudges the bounce, and it nearly goes in. He has to tip it over. Sportingly the Dutch play the ball back to him from the corner. I can’t tell if Casillas is good anymore.
Nigel de Jong gets booked for a Karate kick to Xabi Alonso’s chest. It looked absolutely horrific in the replay. Webb is doing excellently to control this ‘game’ so far. It’s been nasty stuff.
“This is the Worst World Cup final since the last one, and the one before that,” says Tommy from Westmeath. I thought the 2006 one was pretty good, but I get your point Tommy. The final often tends to be an anti-climax.
Dirty dirty Mark van Bommel takes Iniesta from behind with a hard tackle (Hmmm, maybe I should rephrase that). Anyway, Howard Webb gives him a yellow card. That’s his first booking of the tournament for a bad challenge (his other one was for mouthing).
As you would expect, tikka-taka specialists Spain have had three fifths of the possession. They’ve both had the same number of shots though.
Dirty dirty Mark van Bommel has a bit of a kick at Carles Puyol. Robin van Persie earns the first yellow card of the game after an appalling tackle on Capdevila. The Carles Puyol has a bad tackle on Arjen Robben. It’s all getting kind of heated. Schneijder’s free is gathered easily by Iker Casillas.
Ramos smashes one across the face of the goal that Heitinga punts out of play. The corner goes to Villa, whose shot goes just wide. All Spain at the moment.
The most interesting clash here isn’t Sneijder v Iniesta, but Octopus v Parakeet. Both Paul the Octopus and Mani the Parakeet have been 100% successful in their predictions so far. Paul has gone for Spain however, and Mani has gone for Holland. Somethings gotta give.
Xavi whips in a great free-kick, Ramos heads towards goal and Stekelenburg pulls off an astonishing save. Exciting start at Soccer City.
Both these teams had a 100% record in qualifying. If Holland win today’s match they’ll be the only team apart from Brazil in 1970 to have been victorious in all their qualifying and World Cup matches. Then again, Brazil in 1970 didn’t have to play Modern Scotland and Iceland in World Cup qualifying.
Holland kick off. Mathijsen plays a long ball to Kuyt which is too long and goes out for a goal kick.
I’m also pretty embarrassed that I tipped Peter Crouch for the Golden boot in our World Cup Betting Special. The fact that I had sound mathematical reasons behind my decision doesn’t make it any less dumb. If you want to read what JOE’s team picks were at the start of the tournament click here.
Brady went for Holland at the start of the tournament, and he’s sticking to it. I’m happy that I tipped Holland to get to the final, but I got the other side of the draw badly wrong. I had Argentina defeating Spain in that semi. I also tipped England to get to the semi like a big eejit. I should watch a little less of the Premier League, I reckon.
“Ethical considerations aside, tiki-taka is a bit like the other great Spanish contribution to spectator sport: the bullfight. There is a lot of seemingly pointless fannying about, then the same side always wins. Some people applaud the matador’s skill and artistry. Others are bored and find themselves hoping the bull sticks a horn in,” writes Ken Early in his JOE column.
Dunphy continues to be a slight lick-arse. “Xavi is one of the all-time great players,” he says, “he’s up there with John and Liam.” Brady and Giles were excellent players, but it was still cringe-worthy.
Dirty dirty Mark Van Bommel is favourite to be sent off first, but amazingly he has only been booked once in the World Cup so far, and has commited only 12 fouls. “Van Bommel has a red card coming his way,” reckons David Sheehan, “and few would shed a tear if one of his overly-robust challenge like the potential leg breaker that went unnoticed against Uruguay, drew the ultimate sanction from the referee.”
The A-team of Bill O’Herlihy, Johnny Giles, Eamon Dunphy and Liam Brady in the RTE studio. Giles is going for Spain. Dunphy thinks, “it’ll a tight game, an intriguing game.”
In four of the last five World Cup finals the runners-up have failed to find the net. A 1-0 win to Spain looks like a very sensible bet then. The odds on that are 5/2. To read Paddy Power’s blog click here.
Then again the average could be lowered tonight. A 1-0 win for Spain will make them the lowest scoring World Cup winner in history, with eight goals in seven matches.
One hundred and forty-four goals have been scored so far in the tournament. For all the complaining about low scoring, there has only been 0.01 less goals per game than four years ago.
As expected there is no place for Fernando Torres, and no place for Cesc Fabregas either, despite both of their pleas to the media. Nigel De Jong and Geregory van der Wiel return for the Netherlands.
The teams:
Spain: 1-Iker Casillas; 15-Sergio Ramos, 3-Gerard Pique, 5-Carles Puyol, 11-Joan Capdevila; 14-Xabi Alonso, 8-Xavi, 6-Andres Iniesta, 16-Sergio Busquets; 18-Pedro, 7-David Villa.
Holland: 1-Maarten Stekelenburg; 2-Gregory van der Wiel, 3-John Heitinga, 4-Joris Mathijsen, 5-Giovanni van Bronckhorst; 7-Dirk Kuyt, 6-Mark van Bommel, 10-Wesley Sneijder, 8-Nigel de Jong, 11-Arjen Robben; 9-Robin van Persie.
