Spain’s “La Roja” took home the cup (actually, a gold-plated replica thereof, rather than the solid gold original) on Sunday, 11 July, despite The Netherlands’ desperate and very aggressive myriad fouls (kung-fu kicks and all) deserving of the highest form of punishment. The usual implications of the Dutch’s bad form were mostly ignored by British umpire Howard Webb. Incidently, this referee, usually known for calling fairly, had already shown Spain his unwillingness to see fouls perpetrated against the Iberians during their first match and sole loss at the World Cup against Switzerland. It strikes me as odd that he would conveniently oversee 3 indisputable red cards and 1 penalty kick deserved by Holland’s display of very dirty soccer and bad sportsmanship. If I didn’t know better, I would be inclined to believe that Mr. Webb is not a fan of “La Roja” or at least uncomfortable in conflict situations.

Webb was, however, forced into dishing out 13 yellow cards and one red. With eight bookings and the dismissal of Everton’s John Heitinga toward the very end of the game shaming the Dutch, as well as five cautions for the usually passive Spain, whose players eventually had to begin defending themselves, it was a record for a World Cup final. Howard Webb did not have the game under control, allowing the Dutch to get away with near murder! But Holland coach Bert van Marwijk astonishingly accused Webb of favoring Spain after the Dutch tried and failed to kick their way towards World Cup glory! The sore loser claimed:

“I don’t think the referee controlled the match well. I read a few things today about how angry Spain were at the refereeing in the first match against Switzerland.If you view the performance of the referee today, you’d almost think now that the first match had an influence on this game.”

Regardless of the Dutch coach’s emotional and ugly outburst of unsubstantiated accusations, the Dutch were clearly the villains of the match, something that Van Marwijk, who confronted the referee after the game, seemed unwilling to accept as he reflected on a third failed attempt by his country to win a World Cup final.

Spanish trainer Vicente del Bosque, on the other hand, showed great class and restraint, choosing to forgive and forget the bad sportsmanship displayed by the Dutch. He had this to say:

“I should congratulate our opponents. They made it very difficult for us to play comfortably. I’m here to speak about the beautiful things in football. Holland played a good game. It was very intense, balanced and even. It was rough at times, but that’s part of football.”

I, for one, wanted Spain to win with all my heart. And I am overjoyed and relieved that they did. The team, captained by goalie Iker Casillas (voted the world’s top goal keeper), is deserving of the title for all of their hard work, perseverance and beautiful Tiki-taka football. Yet, had The Netherlands won by delivering a good and fair match, I would have been genuinely happy for their achievement. But frustrated at Spain’s initial unquestionable domination, the Dutch instead opted to play dirty and disregard rules of good sportsmanship by dangerously fouling Spain every chance they got. Sure, the irresponsible and dangerous actions hindered Spain for a while, but did not break their concentration nor in the end, impede the job they came to accomplish.

Eventually (it was only a matter of time) and with great prowess, Andrés Iniesta (voted most valuable player of the tournament) finally followed through with the winning goal at the 116th minute of play! Judging by the team’s reaction and with only 4 minutes of overtime to go, the new world champions must have known that their dream had become a reality and that their undisputed reign would last a couple more years!

Spain is the first team to take both the European Cup and the World Cup consecutively and the first European team to win a World Cup title not held in Europe. It is the first World Cup win for Spain, and hopefully will not be the last for the memorable “furia española”.