In the aftermath of the World Cup final, we hear the Dutch have been moaning the performance of referee Howard Webb and blame him for their loss.
Personally, they should be thanking him for keeping them in the game.
You get the feeling FIFA selected Howard Webb as referee due to the fact he had no produced a red card in any previous matches. I thought he did a great job under difficult circumstances.
If one were to be critical of his performance, it would relate to the fact that he didn’t produce a red card sooner.
Webb has exhibited in all matches his reluctance to hand out cards where other referees would. I think it is the right approach.
No one wants to see players being sent off, particularly in the World Cup final. However, the desire to keep players on the park needs to be balanced with the need to appropriately punish offenders.
Webb’s reluctance to hand out cards mainly benefitted the Dutch when you examine incidents throughout the match. Mark Van Bommel and Nigel De Jong could have easily been sent off in the first half.
De Jong’s challenge in particular would not have been out of place in a Bruce Lee film.
Robyn Van Persie and Wes Sniedjer committed other serious fouls and Webb received tirades of verbal abuse by a range players including Arjen Robben. Webb was within his rights to hand out red cards but instead issued only yellow.
It was not until extra time that Webb finally had no choice but to send off John Heitinga for his professional foul on Iniesta (who had been a punching bag all night).
Yet in spite of Webb being lenient of dangerous fouls and disgraceful acts of verbal abuse which kept them in the game, the Dutch still have the audacity to criticise him. Had a stricter referee been in control, the Dutch could have easily had half their team having an early shower.
Bottom line: the Dutch weren’t good enough and perhaps should watch a replay of the match before casting judgement on the referee.
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