FIFA World Cup 2010 Final: Sepp Blatter sympathizes with Webb
In perhaps one of the dirtiest World Cup finals ever, Spain defeated Netherlands by a goal to nil. The only goal of the match came during the second half of extra time through Spain’s Andres Iniesta. The referee who was in charge of the match was England’s Howard Webb.
Webb honestly had a hard task on his hands as both the teams were intent on kicking each other to the ground rather than passing the ball around and playing football. A total number of 14 yellow cards were shown during the match. There was a lot of criticism before the match surrounding FIFA’s decision to appoint Howard Webb as the referee for the final match of the tournament.
Webb, who is a regular official in the English Premier League, has been known to make errors of judgment in big matches. Two of the yellow cards during the match were shown to John Heitenga. The Dutch central defender was sent off as a result in the ending stages of the second period of extra time.
Spain took full advantage of their numerical superiority on the field and scored their goal shortly after Heitenga was sent off by Howard Webb. Blatter remarked after the match that, the final was not what he expected in terms of fair play.
He also added that it is not his job to judge officials and rate their work but he explained that according to him, the refereeing team in charge of the final match was faced with a very hard job. Blatter further added that it was really not easy for the officials and they were not assisted by the type of football that was being played during the match.
Blatter was also asked about the aggressive approach which was employed by the likes of Holland but he refused to give his comments regarding the match tactics. He stated that he observed all the irregularities as a fan of football but also explained that he was attending the press conference as the President of FIFA, thus it was not appropriate to make any remarks.
Blatter also added that football is a school of life and that it is based on respect and discipline. He also stated that football is a combat game but based on rules of fair play. He went onto comment that a team has to learn to lose as well as to win keeping in mind the basics such as discipline and respect.
When Blatter was asked whether Van Bommel or De Jong should have been sent off for their dangerous tackles, he said that the fans have to live with player’s errors and referees errors; he also said that perfection does not exist in our world.
Blatter also congratulated Spain on their victory and thanked the hosts, South Africa for their wonderful hospitality. He said that Africa has proved that it can now host big competitions. He also said that FIFA trusted South Africa with hosting the World Cup and as a consequence South Africa has now grown in confidence and proved that they can host huge tournaments. Blatter also said that International football association will re-consider its decision regarding goal line technology.
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