disappointed

it's been 2 days, and i'm still feeling it.  the netherlands lost to spain on sunday in the world cup final, 1-0, in overtime.  i felt like things were going wrong for the dutch in the beginning of the 2nd half.  they amassed 9 of the 13 yellow cards handed out, including a red card handed to john heitinga (who plays for f.c. everton, the english team i support). 

i felt emotionally drained after the match.  i was quite excited to watch it, and was glad to have my fellow soccer dork, rex, join me.   by the end, after watching a great 0-0 game go to overtime, my frustration and hope had collided with each other too many times. 

the atmosphere in the pub we went to was good, with about 70% supporting spain and 30% for the dutch.   the netherlands definitely played a little dirty, which explains the amount of yellow cards they received.  i do still feel that howard webb, the main referee during the match, did a poor job.  he's the same guy who handed out 3 yellow cards to 1 player in 1 match in the european championships in 2008.  the rules state it's 2 yellow cards an you're out.  how he was able to ref the biggest sporting event on the planet after that display is beyond me.  

in the end, i'm not sure if spain were necessarily the better side.  thanks to the ref stopping the game so much to hand out yellows, neither side had a chance to develop their individual styles of play.  the netherlands definitely had their scoring chances, with 2 by arjen robben that he should have capitalized on.  but after heitinga was taken out it was simply a matter of time before spain scored.  the netherlands should have gone into the match with a better game plan than playing as dirty as they did.  i just hope this isn't going to replace the total football they are known for.