So it all turned out fine in the end! In a generally entertaining and well-played tournament, although I would stay well short of calling it one of the best ever as some commentators have done, Spain were the best team and they deservedly won it all.
The Germans, who I had previously described as no better than the fifth best team, played even more poorly than in their earlier matches, and could easily have lost by three or more goals in the Final. They were awful and their defensive shortcomings were even more apparent than previously. Spain were by far the better team and yet I couldn’t help but feel, even as late as the final ten minutes ,with Spain wasting chance after chance, that Germany would equalize and eventually go on to win on penalties – a disastrous result, with Lehmann, Ballack, etc celebrating victory despite their many sub-par efforts…
It was a good competition, England’s absence not affecting everyone like it affected me and other narrow-minded individuals. The ‘cheating and diving’ was less than in recent tournaments, the refereeing was decent, the standard of play high, the excitement levels even higher at times. Some of the “big name” teams were below their ususal standards (Germany, Italy, France) whilst other teams showed that they are on the rise (Russia, Croatia, Turkey). I expect things to continue in this way for the next World Cup with the “big” teams now having to start on a rebuilding programme to some degree. England are somewhat in the middle and yet I have no doubt that with Capello in charge we will qualify and reach the semi-finals at least!
Claret & Light Blue and looking forward to the Intertoto games and the first day of the 2008-09 season…but first we will have to deal with the “silly season” of rumours and gossip about who is going where in the transfer market. “Believe about 10% of what you read” is my advice during this odd time of the year…
