Match Officials

[Tim Southampton Rover]

Totally agree. Fair enough he made some mistakes but he also made some good decisions and more importantly he used a lot of common sense.

Well done Webb and co! At least some Englishmen get medals in the final

[JAL]

What a tricky game to referee, you get the ultimate world cup final then the players go and behave like that with he world looking on.

Well done to Howard Webb and his superb team.

[thenodrog]

In great British tradition Howard Webb spewed it. He handed yellows out like a man possessed. 15 cards in total and a world record by a country mile! It shouldn't be like that, the old adage that a good referee is not noticed still stands. He missed a simple decision for the deflected free kick, it was a serious deflection not a slight one ffs and I'm not sure the wall was 10 yards away either.

He was taken in by diving and screaming all match, on top of that he allowed the spanish in particular to go unpunished when they dictated to him by waving imaginary cards every time he gave a foul in their favour.

I like Webb as a rule but tonight he just looked out of his depth and like most other english referees who rely on cards over common sense and sound judgement.

[Tom]

He made a few mistakes but I think pretty much every yellow was indisputable and not even a choice to make.

If anything he could have handed out more quite easily an justifiably.

[Grabbi Graeme]

In great British tradition Howard Webb spewed it. He handed yellows out like a man possessed. 15 cards in total and a world record by a country mile! It shouldn't be like that, the old adage that a good referee is not noticed still stands. He missed a simple decision for the deflected free kick, it was a serious deflection not a slight one ffs and I'm not sure the wall was 10 yards away either.

He was taken in by diving and screaming all match, on top of that he allowed the spanish in particular to go unpunished when they dictated to him by waving imaginary cards every time he gave a foul in their favour.

I like Webb as a rule but tonight he just looked out of his depth and like most other english referees who rely on cards over common sense and sound judgement.

Were you watching the same match as me?

[jim mk2]

What a tricky game to referee, you get the ultimate world cup final then the players go and behave like that with he world looking on.

Well done to Howard Webb and his superb team.

Seconded. Faced with cheating players either feigning injury, always diving or trying to get their opponents booked (the Spanish) or another set of thuggish players intent on trying to put their oponents in hospital (the Dutch), Webb faced an impossible task. If he had applied the current ridiculous modern rules to the letter, Webb could have sent off enough players for the match to have to be abandoned. Webb did a great job tonight in the face of alot of provocation that in the hands of another referee might easily have made a farce of football's showpiece final. Fifa should be congratulated in choosing him.

[Nate]

And he didn't get taken in by the a couple of the Spanish tripping themselves up in the hope of a penalty. But a couple of decisions against the Dutch were mess ups. Not the worse ref in the tournament, that is for sure!

[DP]

Given the circumstances I thought he coped as well as he could have done. Like many have mentioned, could have sent more players off but tried to let the game flow. The 13 yellow cards in the end were totally justified.

[philipl]

I would imagine that World Cup Final will become required viewing for ref courses everywhere in the World. Webb was not perfect but got all the big judgement calls right.

Inevitably, somebody walked for a somewhat soft offence but no way was it a foul on the Dutch winger before the Spanish goal- the kid had simply kicked the thing that crucial couple of feet too far in front of him and the Spanish defenders moved into the gap.

It was hard to think of a single yellow that was not justified and there were three Dutch offences in the first half that could have warranted straight reds whilst two Dutch players flirted with second yellows in the second half/extra time before Haitinger got his. That incidentally was the only time a Spaniard over reacted to a Dutch foul- Iniesta could have stayed on his feet but chose not to.

[thenodrog]

He made a few mistakes but I think pretty much every yellow was indisputable and not even a choice to make.

If anything he could have handed out more quite easily an justifiably.

C'mon TCO there was slight initial contact but the crucial sending off was an obvious dive and even worse a card waving episode by Iniesta.

Webb fell for lots of these and missed too much sneaky stuff by both sides.

[thenodrog]

Given the circumstances I thought he coped as well as he could have done. Like many have mentioned, could have sent more players off but tried to let the game flow. The 13 yellow cards in the end were totally justified.

A difficult task to referee that match without a doubt but giving 15 cards in total by definition does not allow the game to flow at all. It appeared to me that his intention was to yellow as many as possible to control the players. Following that line he may as well have stopped the match in the first minute and issued every players with a yellow. It might have flowed better then.

Were you watching the same match as me?

Obviously not Graeme. Mine was the World Cup Final between Spain and Holland in Jo'berg. Yours was....... ?

[thenodrog]

....That incidentally was the only time a Spaniard over reacted to a Dutch foul- Iniesta could have stayed on his feet but chose not to.

Apart from the agonised screaming and rolling around in agony every time they were touched. I though Villa must have had a compound fracture with the bone sticking out near the end.

Please take note Philip. A yellow card nowadays appears to be obligatory when

a. a player experiences even slight contact when he is running fast.

b. a tackled player screams like a girl.

[ultrablue]

That incidentally was the only time a Spaniard over reacted to a Dutch foul- Iniesta could have stayed on his feet but chose not to.

Very strange opinion - especially seeing as Iniesta swung for Van Bommel, and clearly dived for the booking that came a few minutes after the red card. Sergio ran up to Webb's face screaming twice in the first half and Xavi flashed the Air Card twice.

I would say go back and watch it again, but I don't agree with torture.

[modes98]

That incidentally was the only time a Spaniard over reacted to a Dutch foul- Iniesta could have stayed on his feet but chose not to.

They over reacted to just about everything, even the ones they weren't touched on. The dramatics and rolling around were pathetic at times from both teams but more so the spanish.

A difficult task to referee that match without a doubt but giving 15 cards in total by definition does not allow the game to flow at all. It appeared to me that his intention was to yellow as many as possible to control the players. Following that line he may as well have stopped the match in the first minute and issued every players with a yellow. It might have flowed better then.

Every single yellow card in that game was warrented. To say he shouldn't book people to keep the flow of the game is obsurd. If it is a foul that warrents a card then that is the end of it.

Webb could have easily sent Robben off for kicking the ball away but decided not to for whatever reason, probably to keep the final a game.

You can't criticise Webb for the behaviour of the players. No ref in the world would have kept the card count down without being branded an awful ref for not bringing out more cards.

For large periods of the second half the game was allowed to flow, it wasn't Webb's fault that Spain's uninspiring football didn't allow them to score during that period.

Webb was on to a loser as soon as the Dutch set out to play that way. They could easily have finished with 8 players and couldn't have complained.

Interesting that Spain said he didn't protect them and the Dutch said he protected the Spanish too much. Probably got it spot on then!

[Grabbi Graeme]

A difficult task to referee that match without a doubt but giving 15 cards in total by definition does not allow the game to flow at all. It appeared to me that his intention was to yellow as many as possible to control the players. Following that line he may as well have stopped the match in the first minute and issued every players with a yellow. It might have flowed better then.

Obviously not Graeme. Mine was the World Cup Final between Spain and Holland in Jo'berg. Yours was....... ?

Was watching the same game as you, but I'm in the opinion that if a player constantly fouling then a yellow card has to be shown.

In the case of De Jong making a lasting impression in Alonso's chest then it should of been a straight red, the Dutch came to play the game dirty so what do you expect, if Webb hadn't dished cards out then he would of been accused of being weak.

The way they were playing I was surprised that Holland had 11 players walking off the pitch at half time.

[thenodrog]

Was watching the same game as you, but I'm in the opinion that if a player constantly fouling then a yellow card has to be shown.

In the case of De Jong making a lasting impression in Alonso's chest then it should of been a straight red, the Dutch came to play the game dirty so what do you expect, if Webb hadn't dished cards out then he would of been accused of being weak.

The way they were playing I was surprised that Holland had 11 players walking off the pitch at half time.

I know where you are coming from but like Webb and many others I feel that you have been overly influenced by Spanish theatrics accompanied by peircing girly screams! It's a tactic every bit as deplorable as De Jongs challenge but in a different way. We see it more and more in the Prem. Scream as you go to ground and the other player gets booked. It's a tactic as simple as the mentality of the referees that continually fall for it.

Despite the horrifically enacted sights and sounds the only serious injury was Torres' and that happened when there was no one near him!

[JAL]

The Dutch should be ashamed of themselves in their criticism of Howard Webb.

Cloggers was the Times newspaper headline how poignant, cant think i've ever seen Van Persie go out and kick the opposition in such a predetermined manner as he did from the first minute of the world cup final 2010.

Van Bommel and De Jong will never ever be world class players such is their limited ability, just plain old cloggers from the Netherlands.

[Anti-Dingle-Brigade]

cant think i've ever seen Van Persie go out and kick the opposition in such a predetermined manner as he did from the first minute of the world cup final 2010.

He does it every time he plays against us, it's nothing new.

[JAL]

He does it every time he plays against us, it's nothing new.

The only kicking I remember Van Persie doing against us is kicking the ball into our net.

[Grabbi Graeme]

I know where you are coming from but like Webb and many others I feel that you have been overly influenced by Spanish theatrics accompanied by peircing girly screams! It's a tactic every bit as deplorable as De Jongs challenge but in a different way. We see it more and more in the Prem. Scream as you go to ground and the other player gets booked. It's a tactic as simple as the mentality of the referees that continually fall for it.

Despite the horrifically enacted sights and sounds the only serious injury was Torres' and that happened when there was no one near him!

From what I seen the Dutch were taking the player before getting the ball, now I'm not sure what is theatrical about having your legs taken from underneath you as your opponent tries to make contact with the ball.

It's a foul it doesn't matter if you roll around and scream or you just get up, it is still a foul.

The Dutch were quite good at theatrics as well, Robben a talented player that he his seemed to be under the impression that the Spanish should not be allowed to tackle him.

[thenodrog]

The only kicking I remember Van Persie doing against us is kicking the ball into our net.

Better ask Nelsen about that. He scythed him off at the knees late in a game at Ewood in a fit of pique.

It's a foul it doesn't matter if you roll around and scream or you just get up, it is still a foul.

One is a free kick. The other is a free kick and a card. Diving and screaming at the same time is an increasing tactic. Suprised that you can't see that GG.

[dave birch]

From what I seen the Dutch were taking the player before getting the ball, now I'm not sure what is theatrical about having your legs taken from underneath you as your opponent tries to make contact with the ball.

It's a foul it doesn't matter if you roll around and scream or you just get up, it is still a foul.

The Dutch were quite good at theatrics as well, Robben a talented player that he his seemed to be under the impression that the Spanish should not be allowed to tackle him.

In the very first game the Dutch played, there were several instances of the Dutch going over the ball in the tackle.

Put me right off them from day one.

Robben, great player, but soooo much of a cat. Should just rely on his skill and forget the theatrics.

[Grabbi Graeme]

One is a free kick. The other is a free kick and a card. Diving and screaming at the same time is an increasing tactic. Suprised that you can't see that GG.

What about persistant fouling, there will come time in a game where players who go in to take the player out irespective of if they get the ball or not, will be carded because of the number of times they foul.

The Dutch played dirty and deserved what they got, even Johann Cruyff has come out and slammed the Dutch side for playing that way in the final.

A lot of the tackles deserved a card anyway, wheather the player screamed or not.

[thenodrog]

What about persistant fouling, there will come time in a game where players who go in to take the player out irespective of if they get the ball or not, will be carded because of the number of times they foul.

The Dutch played dirty and deserved what they got, even Johann Cruyff has come out and slammed the Dutch side for playing that way in the final.

A lot of the tackles deserved a card anyway, wheather the player screamed or not.

I was looking a t the wider picture not just the WC final. As far as I am aware persistent fouling is usually rewarded with a caution. Also I see lots of players booked / sent off simply because the other guy screamed at Ewood Park never mind anywhere else.

[Stuart]

Nm