Although Spain won the FIFA World Cup 2010 but it was not beautiful football
If it were to be left at the Spanish’s peril, Tapas will be made compulsory at all meal times, Benidorm will be the next French Rivera and the cultural capital of Europe and three siestas a week will be in high demand. However, thankfully, it’s not all at their peril and the world still is functioning normally.
There has been so much hype following Spain’s triumph in the world cup about their beautiful football and their footballing principles, but was it actually beautiful?
Spain are the kings of the world for now and another four years, ‘un trabajo bien hecho,’ without a doubt but all this moaning and whining about playing the beautiful game is just a bit over the top.
The Iberians demonstrated to the world that the basic difference between a golden generation and a tin pot dynasty is to win.
Spain’s win in the world cup may trigger a phenomenon, where every Premier League will rush out and buy a left back, right back or an attacking midfielder from Huelva or Murcia’s youth team, that perhaps no body would have ever heard of but please spare the world the eulogies.
Not to take any credit away from them but from the observer’s armchair, the most entertaining and the most enjoyable team to watch at this summer’s world cup went out at the semi final stages – the good old n***s.
Yes, and undoubtedly Spain deserved to win the World Cup final. Yes, Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta pass the ball wonderfully well and yes, the clogs of war precisely got what they deserved for turning the greatest footballing showpiece into a grotesque kick boxing contest.
But this is a world where an English man’s salami is a Spaniard’s chorizo, so can the Spanish media please spare the world the pundit’s hogwash about one team only standing up for the beautiful game.
Spain scored a mere 8 goals in seven games, the lowest tally ever by a world cup winning team and like Italy, the undeserving winners four years ago, they have won the World Cup with a binary score line.
They were made to work hard in the quarter finals by Paraguay and in the end only scraped past; their winning strike in the semi final against Germany was straight out of the training grounds of Blackburn Rovers or Stoke City: corner, header and goal. Tony Pulis and Sam Allardyce have never been praised for their pragmatism and yet when this golden Spanish generation does it, its art.
It is not saying that Holland deserve any sympathy for the series of insane challenges, specially Nigel De Jong’s kung-fu kick on Xabi Alonso in the second half, it was a shame, a total desecration of their total football. Especially if you consider that, it was Rinus Michels Dutch side in the 70s that introduced the term total football and beautiful football to the world.
The Spanish, as they are so desperately trying cannot walk away blameless from the game, in which Howard Webb had to brandish 14 yellows and a red card.
Every time there was a foul on a Spanish player and the referee had to admonish the Dutch, he was surrounded by at least five Spaniards – lead by their long haired lobbyists Puyol and Ramos- demanding all the colours of the rainbow from yellow to red.
They certainly did not show any dismay when Robben was hauled by Carlos Puyol with mind boggling impunity in the final, or when Meut Ozil was tripped by Sergio Ramos in the box and it went unnoticed.
Perhaps Howard Webb brought it upon himself by failing to apply the rules of the game properly and especially during that fanatic 13 minute spell of anarchy in the first half when the ball appeared to be incidental to the main plot.
Perhaps he should have stopped the game, ordered both the skippers to one side and had a word with them for the disgrace that their sides were turning the match into.
Had this been a match in the Premier League, there would have been at least 3 red cards in the game but Webb tried his best not to spoil world football’s greatest show and credit must be given to him for that.
Felicitaciones to Spain, it is a great achievement to be the European and the World Champions at the same time and Gracias en gran medida for exposing the myth of European teams not landing the Holy Grail outside their own continent.
However, were Spain the greatest Entertainers? No! It was Far from it. This was not the world cup of beautiful football. It was a world cup where hands were more famous than the feet. Remember Thierry Henry’s hand of God and then Luis Suarez’s hand of God. So come off it all you Spanish Pundits.
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