World Cup Spread Betting

Spain are the football world champions for the first time in their history and one would have to say it is totally deserved and long overdue. They overcame Netherlands in the 116th minute with a goal from Andres Iniesta. The game will not go down as a classic final and that was mostly due to the tactics of the Dutch which at times descended into downright thuggery. How they managed to keep 11 players on the park for as long as they did defies belief. Howard Webb may not have got all his decisions right, but to see the Dutch surrounding him at the end of the game was laughable they should have been saying thanks considering they didn’t end the game with only 8 players on the pitch.
Despite the most yellow cards ever dished out in a world cup final, 14 in total, all of them justified with Heitinga seeing red for a second yellow. How Nigel De Jong wasn’t sent off for planting his studs into the chest of Xavi Alonso I will never know. Mark Van Bommel was cautioned for mowing down Iniesta and if he has any complaints he needs to look back at some of his tackles in previous matches where he didn’t even see yellow. It could be argued that he should have been serving a suspension if he had been treated as he should have been. The Dutch displayed everything that is bad in football last night and it would have been a travesty if it had gone to penalties and they won. Thanks to Iniesta’s goal we were saved the indignity of that.
Both teams had their chances during the game with Robben put clean through twice but Casillas was up to the task on both occasions. The second time Carles Puyol tried to hold him back and the only thing that kept him on his feet was that he was about a yard outside the penalty area. If he had been anywhere near the area he would have gone down like a sack of potatoes as he is prone to do. Sergio Ramos had a free header on the edge of the 6 yard box which he failed to get on target when it seemed easier to score and then with less than 5 minutes of extra time remaining and penalties looming, up popped many peoples man of the tournament Iniesta, to supply the finish to another of Spain’s flowing moves that sent all of Spain into football heaven. Casillas was in tears as the ball hit the net and Iniesta ripped off his shirt to reveal a message to his friend Dani Jarque who tragically died from a heart attack during pre season training last year, before he was mobbed by his squad mates at the corner flag.
The Dutch were raging, feeling that they should have had a corner when a free kick deflected off a Spanish player and went behind. Howard Webb gave a goal kick instead and the rest as they say is history. If the Dutch had approached the game in any other manner than that which they did there might have been some sympathy for them but every neutral fan in the world will feel that justice, for once was served and the best team for once did actually win. The rest of the world’s football powers will have a job on their hands trying to surpass this Spanish team and now they know how to win they will be hard stopped. Whoever does manage to stop them lets hope they take a more footballing method than the Dutch.
So the end of another world cup finals and it won’t go down as a classic but I’m sure it will be remembered for the colour, the noise and the welcome of the South African people. Hopefully they will get the legacy they deserve after decades of turmoil.