I don't see anyone blaming the ref in this article except Kuyt who doesn't count because he plays for Liverpool.




What do you think about the FourFourTwo article Dutch Blame English Ref?
DIRK Kuyt pointed the finger of blame for Holland's World Cup final defeat by Spain at English referee Howard Webb.

Have your say.

English referee Howard Webb gave so many yellow cards to Holland players which slowed the game for them a lot!!
It was not his best day at all!!
Well done to Spain

I thought Webb handled this game well. There were many, many more yellow and even red card type offences that would have been given during the earlier stages.

I was supporting the Dutch and don't think they can blame anyone but themselves.

In a sense even though de jong deserved to be sent off for the fly kick to Xabi Alonso's chest - I'm glad he wasnt becasue as finals go it would have completley killed it off.

Just like when Cristiano got sent off in the final against the Victory scum :lol:

But that wasn't a red, de Jong did deserve one.

Correct.That decion early on killed the spectacle is my point.

Surely, if anyone/anything is to blame for the Dutch defeat, it's that stupid octopus?!

+1 on evrything you said.
There were a couple of crap desicions (like the goal kick that should have been a corner near the end), but overall I think Webb did well. Just because van Bommel wants to play like a butcher, doesnt mean he should escape sanction. Thought that there coould/should have been more red cards tbh.

Dirk? Shut it.

Surprised he didnt break ribs!!!

Yes, an awful awful foul. Deserved a red for sure. In fact, I think the referee should be punished for not giving it a red. All this bull-shit about how it would have killed off the game is ridiculous. Fouls like that should get reds - i can't see how this is at all debateable.

how the hell can the dutch complain? They should've been down to 9 players after 30 minutes, they were outplayed, outpassed, and outscored.

The Holland coach said: "I don't think the referee controlled the match well.

dutch coach is right, would of been controlled better is van bommell and de jong were both sent off in the first ha

holland whingers...you played pretty harshly ie lots of fouls...admit it, not good enough

Robben should have been red carded for dissent when he kicked the ball in the net after being called off-side. De Jong should have been red carded for his chest high karate kick on Alonso and Van Bommel should have been red carded several times over for being a beligerant thug from start to finish.

Yep..I agree. How can you possibly say he favoured the dutch after so many chances given to them not getting a red.

Did well considering how the game was played in my opinion

NO sire.

Perhaps a two-edged charateristic of the Dutch perhaps. Self belief at times seen as blind arrogance. Webb was under pressure not to send anyone off in the final. The Dutch knew that and employed dubious physical tactics to throw the Spanish off their game. If they have any objective analysis it wasn't Webb that lost control rather it was the Dutch and they must wear the reputation of destroying the beautiful game they have built a reputation on. I'm sure Cruyff would have been disappointed. Webb should have been brave enough to send 2 Dutch players off in the first half. He certainly looked after the Oranje..
But congratulations for the Dutch to form a guard of honour at the presentation..

If Robben had taken his chance better then the result would have been totally diffrent and the Dutch would be praising the Refs performance. At the end of the day its Hollands fault that they didnt win the game. The dutch were also very lucky to have had only one sent off as three other players should have been shown red.
Van Bommel - for his constant fouling and dirty challenges, not to mention disputing the Refs calls
De Jong - for that awful cowardly act of thuggery on Alonso
Robben - after being called offside Robben went towards goal without a care in the world ignoring the Refs whistle and tapping it into the back off the net.
Anyway Spain should have also beign given 2 penalties, one for a Van Bommel push into Alonso and another for Heitinga denying Xavi from taking a shot in extra-time by fuling him.
And yet the Dutch are complaining at the Referee = pathetic sore losers

Holland looked and sound like very sore losers - their carry on at the ref after Iniesta's goal and at the end of the game was really disappointing. They employed the tactics they did (thuggery)and should not be at all surprised by the yellow cards they received. They should consider themselves lucky to have 11 on the park for as long as they did. Congratulations to Spain for playing beautiful football still, despite the rough attention. IMO the game between Germany & Spain was so much better - very few fouls and yellow cards (both teams playing the game instead of 1 focussing on playing the player). Really disappointed in the lengths Holland went to, to try and stop Spain - so happy they didn't win that game by some stroke of luck (as they didn't deserve it!!!)

Goes to show you can complain about anything. They are basically complaining that they weren't awarded a corner and a clear Robben non-foul that lost them the WC.

That's just ridiculous. The Dutch should be thanking Webb for not sending more of their players off early in the game. Dirty cheating bastards

I said it before. The Dutch were lucky not to have 10 men after the fly kick. The way Spain play the only thing for the Dutch to do was foul. Robben admitted in an interview before the final by saying if winning ugly wins us the World Cup then so be it.

:lol: at all the people who could not see the exact same tactics used by the Spanish. Their were only 2 straight red fouls in the game, de Jong's and Puyol's. If you cannot see that wrapping your body around a player as the last defender is a foul and straight red you have not watched enough football, or read the rules of the game - Robben did not need to go to ground for it to be called.

Frankly neither team played clean football, Iniesta's dives and then his off the ball proffesional foul after being cleanly tackled also deserved yellow cards. So did Alonso's late challenge on Schneider. Puyol's initial yellow could also have been a straight red for being late and from behind (though that would have been unlucky). Would you like me to continue? Just because the Netherlands were given more cards does not mean they were guilty and Spain innocent. Try watching the game again without supporting either team (and don't listen to Foster and Basheer's biased commentating) and you will see the game differently.

General - As a center back myself and after watching the replay again and again Puyol did not foul Robben. In fact he had his hands in the air and applied the right amount of pressure. They both had the forward momentum. There was no studs up tackle or blatant trip. You make it sound he tackled him to the ground.

Wasn't for lack of trying though:lol:

Fact is if Robben had gone to ground Puyol would have been sent off.

If he went to ground it would have been a dive and being Robben I'm surprised he didn't.

I agree, up until the moment he puts his arms around Robben and then does this octopus slide thing around Robben's body - I am amazed that Robben did not hit the deck, not because he would have dived but because it would be pure chance that not a single part of his body was trapped under Puyol's, I reckon I will never see anything like it again in my life!

BTW I am not going to argue with you about this leftrightout, we have a difference of opinion on some of this game and I can respect where you are coming from at least.