Congratulations to the Spanish for their well-deserved World Cup Final win against Holland on Sunday night.
If the dutch tactics alone were not hideous enough, the comments from high profile players such as Kuyt, Van Persie, Van Bommel and co were nothing short of an absolute disgrace.
I'm staggered that these professional players are covering up their own inefficiencies with heinous criticism of Howard Webb.
Let's assess a few facts;
Firstly, Webb and his officials were righly awarded the Final based on being the best in the tournament and are clearly the best officials in the world. Secondly, Webb's leniency towards the thuggish dutch tactics meant that they started the second half with eleven men rather than nine. Who knows what the score would have been had Webb sent Van Bommel and De Jong for an early shower as most other refs in the tournament would have done. No doubt, Kuyt and co would have bemoaned Webb as spoiling the game had that have been the case too.
What really gets under my skin hearing these comments however, is their apparent lack of accountability for their own performances both individually and collectively. I would have a minute degree of sympathy for any side losing a World Cup Final had they have given their all in order to try and win the game. Instead, even Johan Cruyff has lambasted a truly despicable performance which deserved a heavier defeat than what they got.
I would love to know what Kuyt thought of his own performance. I stopped counting how many mistakes he made after half an hour. He was truly awful and my advice to him is to watch the DVD back and head quietly for a holiday of reflection, after which an apology to Mr Webb should follow an apology to dutch fans for his own inept performance which had nothing to do with the referee.
I'm thrilled for Spain and I know Joseba will have a big smile on his face for the rest of the summer. I'm just pleased that his old mate Xabi Alonso and Iniesta survived their GBH assaults quickly enough to enjoy the tremendous celebrations in Madrid.
Well done Spain!