Jul 18 2010
Howard Webb Was the Latest in Long Line of English Officials With Role in Final
Filed under: England, Netherlands, Spain, World Cup 2010
In Johannesburg, Howard Webb became the fourth English referee to officiate at a World Cup final. The fifth if you count what, thanks to FIFA madman’s fly trap of a 1950 tournament, was technically just a final match in the final mini league group, Brazil versus Uruguay. Played before a hugely partisan Brazilian crowd of 200,000 spectators, the match was impeccably refereed by the Southampton headmaster, George Reader. And though Uruguay won it, it passed off, whatever the cacophony, peacefully.
In 1954, it was the turn of Bill Ling from Cambridgeshire. Germany after going 2-0 down – were they drugged as was widely rumoured and latterly it seems confirmed? – recovered to win 3-2. But there was much controversy over what seemed to be an equalising goal by the celebrated Ferenc Puskas, running through the German defence to score, only to be given offside by the waving flag of the Welsh linesman, Mervyn Griffiths.
The classic Total Football final of 1974 in Munich, between the Germans and the Dutch, was capably refereed by the Wolverhampton butcher, Jack Taylor, who gave a penalty to either side; the Dutch one coming in barely a minute. But he himself would honestly admit later that he wrongly refused a German goal by Gerd Muller, eventual scorer of the winner, for offside.
Also in Switzerland, in 1954, Arthur Ellis, a Yorkshire referee, like Webb, manfully controlled the so called Battle of the Berne, between the Hungarians and the Brazilians, expelling two of the Brazil team, one from Hungary.
Less successful in Santiago, in 1962, was the tall blond Ilford schoolmaster, Ken Aston, who described the violent match between Chile and Italy as “uncontrollable”. Bitter anti-Italian feeling had been engendered and perhaps exploited because of two derisory articles written by Italian journalists. In the event, Aston would send off two Italians, but, uninformed by his linesman, not the Chilean left winger Leonel Sanchez, who broke the nose of Italy’s Humberto Maschio with a left hook.
It cannot be said that Webb had a happy evening in Johannesburg. Surely he should have sent off the Dutchman, Nigel De Jong, after 17 minutes, for a shocking, studs up assault on Spain’s Xabi Alonso, caught full in the chest; later, there seemed good reason to expel another Dutch midfielder, the abrasive Mark Van Bommel, who many thought lucky not to have been dismissed for two bad fouls in the semi final. Shades, perhaps, of the 1978 final, in Buenos Aires, when the Dutch, incensed by blatant Argentinean gamesmanship before the kick off, committed a foul in the very first minute and ultimately a total of 50, though, goodness know, the Argentineans were no angels.
England could never aspire to the kind of football played by the Spaniards at their best nor, plainly, to that of the Germans. That Fabio Capello remains in charge, while several other coaches have died on their swords, is hardly a matter for celebration. In retrospect, there seems little doubt that he created an atmosphere of boredom and gloom among the players, and for his defenders to emphasise that he won so many titles in Italian Club Football is surely irrelevant. International football, especially in a foreign country, is quite another matter, but there he still is. Will David Beckham be back?
Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Related posts:
- Nigel de Jong Poised to Return and Play a Crucial Role in Final for Netherlands
- Uruguay 2 Netherlands 3: Wesley Sneijder in Charge as Dutch Reach Final
- Live Commentary: Quarter-Final – Uruguay v Ghana
- Dunga Pays The Ultimate Price For Abject Brazil Quarter-final Collapse
- Cristiano Ronaldo The Latest Name To Add To List Of World Cup Under Achievers
