World Cup 2010 is over (spoilers)

[hal]

I loved the shot of the royals as the game ended. The spanish royals leaped out of their chairs and were jumping up and down for quite a while while that one dutch woman (the leftmost one) burst into tears in the same moment.

btw - spoilers is in the subject - it's safe to talk aloud...

[hal]

davester wrote:
I don't understand mavic's complaint about bad calls. The ref's decisions were near perfect for the entire game (with the possible exception of a yellow card which probably should have been a red).

I agree (but that one exception is a BIG exception) that the game was called pretty well. If they called every infraction, it would have been the most boring game in the world.

I thought the ref squad did well to keep the game moving...

[edgarbc1]

i thought it was a great match.. i was rooting for Espana
and was happy to see the tribute to the deceased player with the gol.

I thought Netherlands played dirtier (more physical infractions) and had a couple
of chances of scoring during the first 90mins (one on one with goalie was a nail biter! -
nice foot save by goalie)

a fun match, nice cap to a great tourney
i was hoping to see more babes of soccer during the fan/crowd shots...

btw the spain was not offside on that goal.. check the replays

[Silencio]

It was a tough match for Howard Webb to keep ahold of, but I thought he did okay. It was a very, very physical game, as it seemed the Netherlands' game plan for their thuggish defensive midfielders De Jong and Van Bommel to physically harass Iniesta and Xavi as much as possible. Spain gave it back pretty well themselves through guys like Puyol. This was the exact opposite of the Germany / Spain semifinal where very, very few fouls were committed and I don't remember seeing a single card issued.

The one really blown call I saw was a free kick that should have resulted in a corner kick for the Netherlands but was inexplicably called a goal kick for Spain instead, which eventually led to Iniesta's goal. I assume it was the linesman that missed that one. Well, and De Jong should have drawn a straight red for his kung fu kick to Xabi Alonso's chest. That's the same De Jong that broke Stuart Holden's leg in a friendly earlier this year. That, and he plays his club football for Manchester City so I really, really don't like the guy.

[M A V I C]

Wow, strange. I watched the broadcast on CBC and they said there was no doubt he was offsides. From the angles I saw, it appeared he was offsides.

There were some bad calls in this game, and some of them were very big. Seems like almost every soccer game is like that. With the NBA, it's not as big of an issue because the games are high scoring. But with soccer, there's far fewer goals made.

[Manlove]

Should have been a red card for the karate chest kick, which was almost as bad as Zidane's headbutt.

davester wrote:
As far as diving is concerned, there was definitely some overdramatization but frankly it was a brutally rough game. Until you've actually played the sport and understand what a kick to the shin feels like when sprinting at full speed down the field you really have no basis for criticizing a player who goes down from a late tackle. I think a lot of the complaints about diving are from people who simply like badmouthing the game and have never played.

Couldn't agree more. I have ankle issues 20 years after playing regularly, and scars that aren't going to heal any time soon. The histrionics do seem ridiculous sometimes and weren't always part of the game. I blame money.

Scrappy game, but fun.

[Buck]

Both teams had multiple chances to score and win without going to overtime. Either one or the other team would be somewhat lucky to score, or it would have been a shoot-out, which mainly tests nerves. One of these 2 great teams had to win, even if it meant a coin toss.

Having been a ref myself, I think Webb was too trigger happy with yellows. The missed corner kick could have sent the game to penaly kicks.

In the end, losing teams can't blame the ref more than themselves if they waste 10 good chances.

[Rolando]

Grace62 wrote:
[quote=beagledave]
Smart octopus.

I'm worried about that octopus. Does he have body guards?
I think the Germans threatened to make Payeya out of him!

[davester]

The fact is that it could have been anybody's game because the skill levels of each team were very close. I thought the spanish had a slight edge in skill while the dutch had an edge in aggressive play, thus cancelling each other out. It was appropriate that the dutch lost a player due to over-aggressiveness and being that one man down for a short period may have helped give the chance for Iniesta's goal. That is as it should be.

My favorite man of the match...Puyol, the little spanish troll straight out of Lord of the Rings.

[(vikm)]

Yeah, it was a perfectly called game. Oh, I mean except for that one call. Oh, and that other call and... Everyone above that noted one of what they interpreted as a bad/wrong or even gray area call must not know what they are talking about (I assume that includes the announcers MAVIC mentioned).

There's no need to get defensive about the suggestion there is diving. Similar things happen in many sports, basketball, hockey, football. I never played ice hockey but I can tell you when a player takes a bloody dive or not as I'm sure even the most casual fan can.

No one said the officiating in this game was as atrocious as previous matches and I'm guessing most if not all that post in the Cup threads are posting not because they have disdain for the sport but probably quite the opposite.