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[hsmith1]

See one of the linesmen is Mularky(spelling is nearly correct) from Pinhoe in Exeter,he's the bloke that refed the Wetmouth Alty game a few years ago when we drew 2 each and he should have sent of 2 more Muff players but bottled it.

[distancetraveller]

I thought Danny Adams was playing for Holland tonight then I realised it was Arron Robbin   He's a dead ringer 

[Dougals Dad]

Then if Nicky Clee & Danny Adams are in the same team at Alty we'd have Batsman & Robben!

[Jezza]

I thought Howard Webb reffed a difficult match very well tonight and did his best to allow a spectacle to take place by keeping as many players on the pitch as possible....it was not his fault the dutch were just out to muscle their way through the match with some outrageous tackling....they were lucky to finish with 10 men and it's not the ref's fault if a team relentlessly commits yellow card offences....he'll probably get marked down by the assesors for that but I liked his obvious efforts to try and allow two teams of eleven men the opportunity to provide a classic game of football..not his fault they refused to take up his offer...the finishing tonight was much poorer than the reffing.

.....someone pick ATS up off the floor I think the poor chap just fainted.....

[jamestimperleyrobin]

Wanted Holland to win but well done Spain. And well done Howard Webb for possibly the toughest game of his career!

[taxi Phil]

From the snatches of it I picked up on Five Live, it sounded a quite appalling match, and probably in keeping with the majority of the "extravaganza". Only four more years till I avoid most of the next one.

[SW]

A decent refs performance in difficult circumstances. The Dutch thought they could rough it up a bit, enhanced by the Spanish tendency to overstate it. Spain probably the deserving winners overall, but the Germans had more flair. Not the best tournament though in my opinion.

Now it's over I shall miss it, even my 17 yr old daughter has started watching football.

[jimmyhank]

I thought Howard Webb reffed a difficult match very well tonight and did his best to allow a spectacle to take place by keeping as many players on the pitch as possible....it was not his fault the dutch were just out to muscle their way through the match with some outrageous tackling....they were lucky to finish with 10 men and it's not the ref's fault if a team relentlessly commits yellow card offences....he'll probably get marked down by the assesors for that but I liked his obvious efforts to try and allow two teams of eleven men the opportunity to provide a classic game of football..not his fault they refused to take up his offer...the finishing tonight was much poorer than the reffing.

.....someone pick ATS up off the floor I think the poor chap just fainted.....

Totally agree.

[RedhillAlty]

A decent refs performance in difficult circumstances. The Dutch thought they could rough it up a bit, enhanced by the Spanish tendency to overstate it. Spain probably the deserving winners overall, but the Germans had more flair. Not the best tournament though in my opinion.

I agree with above except I thought the Refs performance was very poor - so did most of the crowd who showed this at the presentations. He got the basics wrong by ignoring the rules of the game by not sending off a Dutch player in the first half. Unfortunately this sent the message to the Dutch what they coutld get away with. combined with Latin exagerations. The goal should not have stood as there was a blatant obstruction, something that players in the UK get away with every week. I wonder if the media attention to the fact that Webb had not shown a Red card in the tournament had anything to do with it?

[distancetraveller]

The fans barracking the ref at the end were obviously Dutch fans.. They had no right to do that after there team  hacked the Spanish players in a cynical ploy to kick them off the park especially in the first half ...

Robbin was fortunate not to see red for kicking the ball away... (Thank god we dont have to watch that moaning diving git in the premiership each week). Van Bommel (or whatever his name is) is a fkn disgrace...

I thought Howard Webb did well in what was a most difficult game ...

All in all the right team won in what was most certainly NOT a classic game.

[seasonticket]

Ref reverted to type. After good games earlier in competition he returned to what the pundits and commontators call "letting the game flow". This in my view is a euphamism for can't be arsed blowing my whistle to much, and all it does is give the cheats i.e those who deliberatly foul and dive encouragement to continue to do so.
In one earlier match a penalty was awarded for pushing and holding in the box at a free kick or corner. Result, it stopped that for the rest of that game. If a ref stamps on a problem early then players will play fairer. Not sending players off or booking them when deserved is bad refereeing. (OK someone tell me why De Jong stayed on the pitch.)
As for the Spanish being such a brilliant side, fancy football keeping possesion on the half way line etc. is boring. The game is about scoring goals which you do more often by going forward, not sideways. In Spains last two games they only scored when they pushed forward. You can have ninety nine percent possision and still lose one nil as all those at the siege of Belle View Doncaster will remember.The most onesided game I have ever seen, but Alty scored one goal and they didn't.

[Number23]

Spain probably the deserving winners overall, but the Germans had more flair.

Not in the semi-final between the two. The spanish completely stopped them playing and did it without kicking them up in the air.

[Jezza]

I think what I really liked about Mr Webb's performance was that despite the superb opportunity to do so he showed a desire not to be the centre of attention....I suppose if Holland had sneaked a late winner Spain would have been furious...was it 9 yellows to Dutch players? and one sent off?...so he can hardly be accused of not trying to clamp down.....he should have sent Puyol off if he was following the rules strictly.....but that would have been sad to see I think.....so I'm glad justice was done and Spain won despite being kicked off the park

[fuertes]

Whilst the Dutch were a bit overphysical, the TV analysts were going well OTT last night. The hyperbole really served no purpose. "The Dutch should be down to 8 men at H/T". No. No they shouldn't. De Jong could count himself lucky, I certainly wouldn't have complained if he'd been sent off. However, some of the other incidents they were pointing at were ridiculous. Van Bommel rightly saw yellow for a late, clumsy tackle. He then slightly mis-timed a tackle a few minutes later and Shearer/Hansen are saying it should have been a second yellow! I'm sorry, if we're going to start sending people off for that we might as well all give up on the game of football and do something else.

I think there needs to be some change to the advantage rule, perhaps along the lines of rugby. After all, Robben stayed on his feet despite Puyol trying to haul him down (an offence for which he would have seen red). He then messes up the finish. Result? No goal and Puyol stays on the pitch. That just isn't fair.

Mind you, Robben should have seen a second yellow for utter stupidity when he kicked the ball away.

Personally I was far more angered by the Spanish approach last night. Endless diving and badgering of the referee. Every time there was a foul you saw the Spaniards running up to Webb and the old waving of the imaginery card. I wanted to run into the TV and smack Iniesta and Capdevilla in the mouth.

It was a very difficult game to refereee. I thought Webb just about avoided a farcical performance, which looked possible given the tackles flying in and the diving and backchat. However, he did bottle some big decisions. 4 or 5 out of 10 for the ref I'd say. 3 out of 10 for the quality of football on show.

[Butty]

(OK someone tell me why De Jong stayed on the pitch.)
 

Ill give ATS a break and I'll do the job of devil's advocate here- How many times did you see that foul? And how many times did Howard Webb see that foul? He saw the incident at full speed, and may have been obstructed by other players. Because of this, it makes it difficult to decide between Foul Play (which would just be a high foot) or Serious Foul Play (which would be studs up). With all the other factors that Webb had to look out for, I'm sure the exact angle of De Jong's boot (and therefore a judgement as to exactly how bad the tackle was) was not what he was looking at when the incident occurred.