It’s over…

Well done Italy. Probably didnt deserve the win after the Australian game and the dives where shameful. However - If Fifa dont crack down on it you cannot blame them

Posted from  Canada

The Italians were lucky, and were outplayed by the French.

We will win at Euro 2008. Watch Oranja!!!!

Posted from  Canada

Agree with footbal-fan - SHAME on Italy! They have used devious means like fake dives to get to the final. They should get an Oscar for acting instead!

Posted from  Australia

Jan’s question:
“Your best memories of this tournament”

My answers:
(in the particular order)
1. Robin van Persie’s free kick goal vs. IC
2. Arjen Robben’s sprint and goal vs. S&M

:o)
–H
(easily amused and bleed Oranje)

Posted from  United States

Hey, to all who are whining about Australia and the dive that Grosso took! Lets face it! France arrived in similar fashion,they even proved it during the final with a dive. ZiZOu who the f__k is he, now if that was an Italian player look out at all the critics taking cheap shots at the italians, but because it is Zidane no one is saying anything. This goes to show how jealous people are of the Azzurri, So I say this to all you no good jealous people, that jump on bandwagons as the tournament progresses. Italy are the World Champs!!! So to all the criticts this victory is dedicated to all of the non belivers and jealous people that can not stand Italy!! You can stick in your asses, as Italy is the best!!!

Italy did not steal the penalty from Australia. If that were outside the box it would have been a foul (obstruction). But inside the box it is a penalty. Nuff said. As for the finals….not the prettiest match but the result is what counted. My heart goes out to the french as I really feel their hero let them down. But a dutchman shouldn’t even been commenting unless your Cruyff or some other dutch phenomenon. Lets talk when your current team does something more than their latest showings at international and european competitions.

Thank you Jan for your wonderful titles and best writings. ITALY is the winner and this is what I wanted. I agree to “–H” about the memories and the other one is winning of Italy against Germany.

Posted from  Islamic Republic Of Iran

My worst memories
*Cocu’s fierce shot hit the post.
*Maniche’s shot so lovely to get pass VDS while all of his went up to sky in other matchs.
*Basten looked helpess to consolidate after the goal conceed.

Posted from  Myanmar

i still cannot believe what zidane did.. how can he do that on his last game ever ??

Frustrating almost.. dont know why, although i never really cared about him.. Just that hes been having a great wc and would deserve the ‘best player’ award.. In one instant all that has gone down the drain..

I disagree with domenech who doesnt blame zidane for the loss.. i really think hes sending off has at least 75% to do with why they lost.

All in all the match ended disappointingly for my taste. zidane’s send off and then the penalties. Would have liked a more convincing or deserved win by either team. YES some more attacking football, please.. The lack of goals is becoming a bit too boring.

Posted from  Russian Federation

See you Euro 2008

Posted from  China

whoever wrote that Van Basten had problems changin ghis tactics hit it right on the nose. And now that I think about it I think we were outcoached in every game. I hope he improves.

Well still I have to admit a below average result for us. I thought we were holding something back. We will improve. Easy qualifying group for Euro 08(the easiest actually). ALso now that we have qualified for the Wc unlike in 02 and will win our qualifying grou for 08 we should for once avoid the grou of death. But if we dont win in 08 then I at least ask that we beat the portuguese.

PS Watching them humiliate themselves over and over almost healed my pain. Still hurting.

Posted from  Canada

Jan , I enjoyed the updates on the Oranje, especially the translated articles. The political views sidetracked us,as we were on differents world views, nevertheless its sports that is the great unifier.

Posted from  Canada

One note on the first goal. It was a flop no question. The funny thing is that later in the game the ref let the Italians get away with a flagrant foul in the box. So in the end it was done in the wash.

But my - they must get 2 officials on the field. 4 linesman and 2 refs. And they got to consider video review. After the game. What the heck was Figo still doing in the tourney after his head butt?

And the OT rules are stupid. PKs are the worst. Want to settle it a bit more fairly? How about 2 20 minute OT halves? How about an extra sub each OT half? How about 10 on 10 or 9 on 9? (Maybe kicking guys with yellows off first?)

FIFA note: Germany were fantastic hosts. But the product is suffering. In the end - too many bad calls, outrageous flops and random chances soured a competition which seemed to soar in the opening rounds. Blatter blathers on - but they need new leadership.

Oranje note: Nederland could have been as good as any of these teams.

Posted from  United States

I would have to say my best memory non-Netherlands related would have to be the opening game, especially Lahm’s goal.

My best memory of the Netherlands are vPersies FK (including the fact that Robben said: “In 20 seconds, i’ll be around your neck” jut before he took the FK) and Robben’s goal set up by vNistelrooy.

favourite moments:

-some dribbles moments of robben and van persie.
-the way australia play
-ghana vs czech
-argentina vs germany
-germany vs mexico
-italy vs germany
-cambiasso goal vs serbia & montenegro
that’s is my favourite 4 games of this wc
if holland can play attractive football as van basten promises, i’ll be happy! i missed how holland play under guus hiddink in 98 and under rijkaard in 00.

Posted from  United States

Boy, do I ever agree with Samuel Knight. What a disappointing WC. I’ll always remember it for the diving, yellow cards, and lack of goals. FIFA has to change the game - forget tradition. A few suggestions (to add to Samuel’s re: officials):

- Use center-line as no over-and-back, similar to Basketball. That way the ball has to stay in offensive zone or you give up a free kick at center line.
- Then, after a team is across center, remove the offside rule. That would really open things up for the midfield and create more offense.

Posted from  Canada

Great World Cup! I’m sad it’s over..

Favorite Moments:

- Robben and vPersie Goals

- Argentina destroys S. Montenegro

- Rodriquez goal during Argentina - Mexico!

- Klinsmann’s Germany

- c. Ronaldo making an Ass out of himself

- Zidane’s Header in the Final

Posted from  United States

One note on forgetting tradition: you can’t really - that’s part of the charm of the game. Plus, it’s almost impossible to get almost 200 countries to agree on anything. So rule changes are tough.

And we with a North American heritage (me on one side, moeder - Nederlands, father - American) have to remember that other nations don’t tinker around with their games as readily as we do.

But as far as keeping the game going, I like to keep the flow alive, so I’d be happy to see them really deter just the hack fouls. My favorite rule change possibility is simple: no defender can come back to help on Defense after a foul. They must wait until the ball is played.

That’s what drives me nuts, someone’s hacked, and while the ball is dead, defenders coming streaming back to help out. In other words, a foul helps you out because you slow down the attack.

Favorite memory? Just being in Stuttgart - Hup Holland! What a great game Cote D’Ivoire played.

Biggest regret - it didn’t seem like Van Baasten was reacting tactically during games. He had his strategy at the start - Oranje began well, but then nothing unusual. That’s what made Germany and lots of other teams interesting - you saw a few offensive “looks”. Hope he learns it.

Posted from  United States

best moment: ruud van nistelrooy’s goal. i’m a fan of ruud…

worst moment: sending off of boularouz i’m was starting to think the end was near…

and on removing the offside rule, i think with this football would become more defensive!

as the teams wont play offside trap anymore and defenders would need to play very very low!!! as far as the attakers go!!

there wont be any team playing like barcelona with their centre-backs on centre line as there would be attackers in their back!!!

I absolutely agree with Samuel that the refs should watch video reviews - maybe just one sideline ref who is in charge of watching them to give the field ref a thumbs up or down on those late whistle calls. I am so tired of the diving. I’m also on board with Samuel’s rule about detering fouls that just allow the defense to catch up. That tactic has been abused big time in this WC, especially when coupled with the dramatic falling, rolling and embracing of a limb - followed by jumping up and sprinting to the ball.

I wouldn’t be in favor of a no off-sides rule, though. Nobody likes a cherry picker. I would just like to see less play stoppage. I mean, I was so heartbroken when only 6 minutes were added at the end of the Ned v. Por game, when it was obvious that about 25 minutes had been taken up by cards. If a ref is going to facilitate that much stop of play, at least give the game a chance to gain the momentum back.

Posted from  United States

@Jan, thanx for everything, really hope there will be a blog for the euro 2008…

highlight for me: you telling me you’re a girl!! (dont know why man have nipples!!)

on the football: the Arg. goal with the 42 passes,
seeing Ronaldo cry!!

again Jan (and Mike) thanx for all, special greetz to Micha, Aala, Rami, mrfocus etc. and ofcourse u idiots and MarioF, see you guys

WIJ HOUDEN VAN ORANJE VOOR ALTIJD

Posted from  Netherlands

@Jan, thanx for everything, really hope there will be a blog for the euro 2008…

highlight for me: you telling me you’re a girl!! (dont know why man have nipples!!)

on the football: the Arg. goal with the 42 passes,
seeing Ronaldo cry!!

again Jan (and Mike) thanx for all, special greetz to Micha, Aala, Rami, mrfocus etc. and ofcourse u idiots and MarioF, see you guys

WIJ HOUDEN VAN ORANJE VOOR ALTIJD

Posted from  Netherlands

I thought it was a good WC, but perhaps not a great one. There were some exciting matches and more than a few dull ones as well. The officiating IS a problem–it’s too inconsistent, all over the map. And because goals are SO hard to come by, you just can’t allow one wrong penalty kick decision to decide a match. IMO, if an attacker is thought to have been brought down in the box, video replays should be used to make the decision. It would not be foolproof–the real problem with officiating football is deciding whether the contact made by a defender to the attacker’s ankle’s legs is minor or major–but video replay would be a major improvement. In the case of the final match, a video replay committee may not have awarded France the early penalty kick–but they might have gotten one later when another attack was brought down in the box in a much more flagrant way. In any case, the officiating to me is a big issue–and Fifa needs to think hard about it.

I liked the way Italy played in this tourney–and I have to say both they and france looked like better sides than Holland–there is just more quality from front to back but especially in the middle. It’s been talked about a lot, but the Dutch will need to get much stronger midfield play to challenge for the Euro title in two years.

Posted from  United States

i just feel that everyone now isn’t talking about the world cup itself but The Headbutt.
IT happened, its over!!!!!!

Materazzi was a moron And Zidane rose to the bait.

IT DOES NOT SUM UP THE ENTIRE WORLD CUP PEOPLE - and Nick i agree with you; Italy won so suck it up. You dont just get all the way to the top by cheating. Their defence was solid and they played well. Fouls, diving, penalties it’s all part of the game.

Posted from  Singapore

I think Jan’s summary about
the final (the best thing
was the grass)is superficial
journalese.

1. There were better things to
be said about the final
(e.g. the quality of much
of the French performaance
plus the overall drama.

2. The grass was in fact always
a bit of a problem as
reported from a lot of very
different angles.

C o u l d i t b e that Jan, while composing his text, had had quite a few puffs too many of some high quality Amsterdam “g r a s s ” ?

One final note from a German perspective:

While having had my problems sometimes in earlier Cups (not this time) with Dutch f a n s
I have always been an admirer of Dutch football culture.

And I feel once again they were tragically, almost - unable to unfold their real substance - for a variety of reasons.

Posted from  Germany