Good day in the office for Howard Webb
Published 23:00 11/07/10 By John Cross
Howard Webb became the fourth English referee to take charge of a World Cup final last night.
But, unlike Jack Taylor in 1974, Webb did not award a penalty in the first minute.
A good ref, like children, should be seen and not heard. Sadly, the Yorkshireman was rattled by a difficult 13-minute spell in the first half when he dished out five yellow cards – and one should have been red.
The Dutch dogs of war – Mark van Bommel and Nigel de Jong – left their mark all over last night’s final.
De Jong’s 28th-minute assault on Xabi Alonso warranted a sending-off, not just a yellow card, for putting his studs in the midfielder.
Robin van Persie, Carles Puyol, van Bommel, Sergio Ramos, Giovanni van Bronckhorst and Joan Capdevila were all booked as both sets of players kicked lumps out of each other. But Holland’s Johnny Heitinga was the only one to see red.
Webb got most of the big calls right and it was not his fault the final will be remembered as a brutal, cynical affair.
