Johann Cruyff tells it like it is:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/footbal ... 812484.stmI said this earlier in the tournament. It was REALLY disappointing to see both Brazil and Holland resorting to the boring, negative tactics of being solid rather than the beautiful, free-flown football they are so famous for. Holland topped it off yesterday by just trying to kick Spain off the park, and a stronger referee would have ended the match as a contest a lot sooner.
To be fair to Howard Webb, it wasn't his fault Holland played like that. He has a track record of trying to keep players on the park in big matches (go see the Carling Cup final and ask how Vidic stayed on the park for instance - Martin O'Neill did) and that almost seemed evident last night too. Sadly in the modern game that doesn't so much "keep the contest alive" or "stop the game being ruined by red cards" as commentators are so fond of insisting, it more allows the players to think they can get away with booting their opponents up in the air.
Spain have been a far cry from the brilliant footballing side we saw in Euro 2008, but despite never quite clicking they never wavered from the tactics that make them good to watch. They deserve credit for that much. Hopefully by the time the next World Cup comes round, the likes of Brazil and Holland will be back to the teams we all know and love. They'll need to be, because that young German team are only going to get better.
Still, the World Cup is over and those of us that have been on the sidelines can now look forward to a qualifying campaign for Euro 2012. Last time Scotland tried to qualify for the Euros we found ourselves in a group with the World Cup winners Italy, the World Cup runners up France, and the World Cup quarter finalists Ukraine. This time we only have the World Cup winners. Sigh. Oh for an easy group JUST ONCE...