THE BEAUTIFUL GAME PART II - 09:20 am, Wed 14th Jul 2010

In these pages the other day I wrote about the joy of the 1974 Dutch team and how they had brought Total Football to the world.  It inclined me towards Holland in the final, in memory of what their predecessors had done for football.  But it didn’t take long in last night’s World Cup final to see that the inheritors of that tradition are not today’s Dutch team, but Spain.  

 

It was Spain who tried to play attractive football. And the Netherlands who seemed intent on kicking them into submission.  Van Bommell and De Jong were fortunate to still be on the park at half time and perhaps would have been dismissed by a less tolerant referee.  Howard Webb had a good game but it seemed he didn’t want to send a player off in a World Cup final and only did so very late in the game.  I’m not sure why the Dutch players were complaining at the end.  He could have been a lot tougher on some their players.

 

The way the Holland of today played – as distinct from in the past – it would have been a shame if they had won.  Football isn’t just about the final score.  It’s about the spirit in which the game is played, the joy that this brings to those watching.  And with their patient passing and fluid movement Spain are playing the game in the right way.  They were worthy winners.

 

Closer to home, on Friday evening I met up with some young players from JCT of Punjab who were spending a week training with Wolves.  The trip was the brainchild of the brilliant Punjabi Wolves supporters club and stems from the Wolverhampton India project I helped set up a few years ago.  They brought their coach, Palminder Singh who played many games for his country over a 10 year international career.  I hope both players and coach got something out of the trip and that it helps football to grow and develop in India.  Well done to Punjabi Wolves and to the two clubs for making it possible.

 

On Friday I also attended the Summer Fayre at Wilkinson Primary school and the 80^th birthday celebrations for Loxdale school, though I resisted participation in the karaoke.

 

 
September 2010
August 2010
July 2010
June 2010
May 2010
April 2010
March 2010
February 2010
January 2010
December 2009
September 2009
August 2009
July 2009
June 2009
May 2009
April 2009
March 2009
January 2009
April 2008
March 2008
February 2008