2010 FIFA World Cup

[TheRMVR]

Where is the world going to when a team like the Spanish can win world cups. They play the most boring football there is. The Dutch weren't very good yesterday, but that ref made some critical mistakes in the last 10 minutes.

I do agree that perhaps they've tried to create plays from too far back. However, many teams have gone the catenaccio style against Spain. Switzerland, Portugal, Paraguay, you name it. The first team that really tried to do something different was Germany, and we all know how that ended.

However, Torres has been so awful it's been like playing with 10. Spain's style requires a lot of movement from all the attackers to find a space, and in a few games Torres has been very static. In all of them he's been slow. The injuries this season have taken their toll on him.

Finally, and because everybody was raving about germany, here you have a comparison: fifa.com/worldcup/statistics/teams/compare/index.html

Most shots: Spain (121), although per-game they are third behind both Ghana and Argentina

Most shots on target: Uruguay, Nederlands and Spain (46). Per-game, Argentina is better than them.

Numbers of attacks: Spain (107). Germany is second with 91 (almost 20% less).

Most passes: Spain (3800, Germany is second with 2865). Spain also has the highest success rate, with 80%, with Brazil's 79% being next.

It's actually in goals per shot where Spain really sucked. Compare their 7% with Germany's 16% or the Nederlands' 11%.

@doopie2you,

It's a miracle that the Dutch had 11 players on the pitch after the regulatory 90 minutes.

I agree with you on the card thing. The Dutch deserved almost all of those cards. They should've had 2 more reds though. But once again it's just such bad luck that the ref made critical mistakes in the last 10 minutes. By not giving the Dutch the corner they deserved, by giving the Spanish a free kick every time Iniesta went down, and by not seeing the off side that eventually led to the goal.

The Spanish where better and probably deserved to win, but thats not what counts. I'd loved to see some penalties.

[Miguel]

I agree with you on the card thing. The Dutch deserved almost all of those cards. They should've had 2 more reds though. But once again it's just such bad luck that the ref made critical mistakes in the last 10 minutes. By not giving the Dutch the corner they deserved, by giving the Spanish a free kick every time Iniesta went down, and by not seeing the off side that eventually led to the goal.

The Spanish where better and probably deserved to win, but thats not what counts. I'd loved to see some penalties.

The corner thing was really surprisng. Everybody agrees that was a bad call. Anyway, here's the best video I've found of the goal:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQYqvWtmjKE

Please endure the music. I won't use the youtube flag, because there has been enough salt rubbing and I'm still angry about the British GP. Torres passes the ball at 0:10, and the Dutch defender and Iniesta seem to be on par. You can also check the perspective with the area, since they are close. It is tight but, IMHO, legal. Nevertheless, it's the classic play linesmen don't have a chance in hell of ruling properly.

Regarding Iniesta, I'll say two things. The first one is that he's tiny: 1.70m 65 kg. I estimate the average centre back to be about 1.85 and 80 kg. The second one is that many Real Madrid supporters consider him a diver. Thus, I'll let you choose any point in space between "easily fouled" and "diver".