2010 FIFA World Cup Final: Howard Webb Was the Man of the Match

While critics have been quick to condemn the standard of football at the World Cup final, there were two major positives. The first is that the game was settled with an actual goal rather than a penalty shootout, the second is that for once in this competition this game was not adversely affected by refereeing errors.

Chances were few and far between, but how many major finals are high scoring affairs full of free flowing attacking football these days? The stakes are simply too high and almost without exception the finals of elite tournaments are tense affairs, the outcome of which will hinge on a single moment.

It should be cause for celebration that the outcome of this particular game was settled by a moment of magic involving three of the greatest players in the game of football. For once Torres was the provider, finding Fabregas in a dangerous position.

The Arsenal midfielder did what he does best by sliding in Andres Iniesta who made no mistake with his finish. It was a goal fit to settle a World Cup final and no more than the Spanish team deserved for their efforts in the previous 115 minutes.

Webb was unusually busy, but that is hardly his fault. If players consistently commit bookable fouls, then it is the referees duty to interrupt the game and book them, something which Webb was forced to do with increasing regularity. A poor referee would have allowed himself to be influenced by the mob of angry players who surrounded him in the aftermath of a bad challenge and felt obliged to produce a red card.

Webb judged every challenge in the game on its individual merits and almost without exception he got them right. Players waving imaginary cards were given short shrift and left in absolutely no doubt as to who was in charge. Webb asserted his authority on the match in a way that none of the other 22 men on the field were ever able to do.

Nigel De Jong could easily have been sent off for a kung fu kick on Xabi Alonso. Webb could have justifiably dismissed the Dutch midfielder, but referees should be reluctant to reach for red cards and risk ruining a game of football.

Webb presumably took the view that the challenge was so incredibly bad that it could not possibly have been premeditated and De Jong therefore must have been making an honest attempt to go for the ball.

This is a generous interpretation, but when there is any doubt over a decision in a referee's mind, players should always be given the benefit. The Dutch might be criticizing Webb for the number of yellow cards which he produced, but it is they themselves who should be subject to such criticism purely for the number of bookable challenges their players produced.

The Dutch are understandably aggrieved at Webb's failure to award them a blatant corner in extra time, but for as long as football matches are refereed by humans minor errors like this will occur. I think the assistant referee is equally culpable for not immediately informing Webb of his mistake. Referees cannot get everything right, but all that you can ask is that they apply the laws of the game as judiciously as possible, which Webb consistently did.

You can put the best players in the world on a pitch together, but you cannot force them to perform. You can, however, provide the perfect environment in which to try and do so which is what Howard Webb was attempting to do. The World Cup final was not a classic, but at least it gave us a definitive winner in Spain, and was not marred by any dubious refereeing decisions.