I'd Rather Seen Webb's Wife Taking Charge

Good news first, Spain won this year's FIFA World Cup yesterday night in Jo'burg, South Africa — against the odds. Of course, “La Roja” had proven her technical, mental and social superiority more than once during the tournament, and did so once again playing the Netherlands in yesterday's showdown, yet football knows no preparation against the man with the whistle.

The Netherlands vs. Spain vs. Referee: 0-1-2

Assuming that soccer rules do still apply to World Cup Finals, Howard Webb should have brought red and yellow stickers instead of the traditional cardboard, it might have saved him a lot of writing and some confusion too. What certainly would have helped was a parental advisor running along to and fro, holding his hand. It was due to the Spanish kids' proper rearing rather than Mr. Webb's efforts that the encounter ended without blood-shed.

Mr. Webb recently revealed in an interview that at home his wife is to take charge of the kids, as he is “too soft with them” — things are no different on the pitch, it seems. At least Nigel De Jong and Mark van Bommel profited from this softness early in the match, as they both had deserved to be sent off to bed without supper, after kicking one of the neighbourhood kids in the chest (Alonso) and the other in the legs (Iniesta), like the over-enthusiastic rascals they are. Quite logically, letting both attacks pass, merely handing out a yellow card to each of the boys, Howard Webb lost any authority with the “Elftal”. They ran wild, and he increasingly lost grip of the match. This way, he failed fair play and the audience who was looking forward to more than just twenty minutes of the Spanish teams' already legendary tiki-taka. What's more, he failed to appear impartial, and such is the worst one can say about either a parent or a referee.

It's entirely incomprehensible that the FIFA delegates a head referee to each match, if this person is apparently not in the position to instantly overrule obviously wrong decisions. Yesterday's cup final should have been interrupted after thirty minutes (at the latest), and both teams and the referee given a good talking to by the FIFA official. The last thing any sports fan wants to see is a lost referee blowing the whistle and playing cards. The match was in parts rather entertaining, but it could have done with a firmer go-between — perhaps, Mrs. Webb had been the better choice this time around.

12.07.2010. 03:19