Holland’s Oranje See Red

Holland‘s Bert van Marwijk has launched a stinging attack on the referee following his side’s 1-0 loss to Spain in Sunday’s World Cup Final.

And the Dutch coach couldn’t be more on the mark.

Refereeing controversies have been at the centre of this year’s World Cup. Mexico were cheated out of a an offside call in their quarter-final clash against Argentina allowing Carlos Tevez to score and Frank Lampard had the ball over the German goal-line and England back in the game before the referee waved play on.

As one of the few full-time referees in football, the former South Yorkshire policeman Howard Webb was entrusted with officiating the final in Johannesburg. Webb took charge of the Champions League final in Madrid in May and had performed admirably in his three previous World Cup matches – dishing out 17 yellow cards in the process.

On Sunday, Webb faced an altogether different challenge. Spain v Holland. Two nations who had never won the World Cup. The stakes couldn’t be higher. 120 minutes later and a bruised and battered Spain lifted their first World Cup. Howard Webb had shown a record-breaking 15 cards: 14 yellows and 1 red.

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