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. 

incredible

i have to admit, i had hopes, but i didn't think it would actually happen.  netherlands made it to the world cup final!  they beat uruguay 3-2 yesterday in the semi-final.  they play spain sunday (july 11) at 2:30 p.m. eastern (11:30 a.m. here in phoenix) on abc in the final.  wow wow wow.    this could be the netherlands 1st time to lift the world cup trophy.  they've been to the final twice before, in 1974 and 1978, but lost to germany and argentina respectively.

check out this video for highlights of the netherlands v. uruguay match.

on sunday morning i will be at the tilted kilt in tempe, az proudly wearing my netherlands team jersey, rooting for the clockwork oranje.

footie frenzy

in the midst of the world cup going on in south africa, i thought now would be a great time to post the various reasons why i love football so much.  [note:  in this post, i will refer to soccer as football, since that is what the rest of the world calls it]. 

1) it is a sport you can literally watch year-around.  each country has it's own league (including the MLS here in the states), with some playing during different parts of the year.  the european leagues play september thru may.  while the MLS plays during the spring and summer.  between the various leagues and all the international matches (many of which are play-offs for the world cup), it's hard to go a couple weeks without an important game or two going on.  it's great to be addicted to this sport.  you don't have time to suffer from withdrawal.

2) it's not called "the beautiful game" for no reason.  when you watch games from the premiere league (the english league), la liga (the spanish league) or serie a (the italian league), there's an artful flow to the game that doesn't happen in most other sports.  due in part because there are no time-outs.  the development of "total football" in the 1970s by the dutch added to the flow because all the players on the pitch became interchangeable.  teams like arsenal in the premiere league and barcelona in la liga also have a history of playing in a manner considered "beautiful".  long, arching passes combined with excellent ball control add to the art form.  many of the world's best players tend to play in these three leagues, making them the best ones to watch.

3) it truly is a team sport.  yes, there are superstars within football.  current players like ronaldo, wayne rooney, didier drogba and lionel messi definitely take their teams to the next level.  but it's really rare for a team to rise and fall simply on the ability of one player.  although maradona and pele are exceptions to that.

4) the sport is a reflection of the cultures in which it's played.   read the book "how soccer explains the world" by franklin foer to get a good picture of what i mean.  it really is an international sport, which is why the world cup deserves to be called the world cup.  unlike baseball's championship, that for some reason is called the world series...where only teams from the u.s. and canada are able to compete.

those are a few reasons why i enjoy football.  i hope you take advantage of the coverage of the world cup on espn and abc to watch some games, and begin to understand why the rest of the planet is so passionate about it.