potsy
Rambler
- Location
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Torres to get the winner after doing nothing all tournament?
Hard match.
I'd like to see the Dutch win, they're playing to their strengths and giving Spain some real stick.
Hard match.
I'd like to see the Dutch win, they're playing to their strengths and giving Spain some real stick.
Thugs. Cruyff would be turning in his grave if he was dead.
I think you are all being unfair on the Dutch. They were clearly playing a much better side, and had no option but to put themselves about a bit. There is a strange kind of beauty about violence in sport, it can occassionaly add to the spectacle. Who could fail to be moved by the Leeds/Chelsea FA Cup final replay in 1970, where X-rated tackle followed X-rated tackle in what was probably the hardest match ever held on British soil. Not one of the players whinged about it either.Or the Italy/Chile World Cup game in 1962, which saw more than one uppercut to the jaw of an oppossing player.
The reason international tournaments can now be rather sterile is the blanket clampdown on physical contact. No one wants to see career threatening injuries, but the good old shoulder to shoulder contact did no harm to anyone, and the days when a forward could challenge the goalkeeper for a cross without automatically giving away a foul are greatly missed. A shame Holland lost, we need a return to a more robust style of play and not all this non contact keep ball we get now.