spain

Despite a woeful World Cup personally, it was fantastic to see Fernando Torres holding the World Cup last night. Well done to Spain! The flag I've had up for the last month has definitely done its' job.

The competition itself wasn't the best I've seen. Certain players, rather than teams, stood out. Forlan had a brilliant tournament, ditto Schweinsteiger of Germany. But my man of the competition was the legend that is Xabi Alonso.

Now I know I'm biased, and the worst decision Liverpool ever made was selling him, but he was the fulcrum knitting the whole Spanish team together. People raved about the excellent Xavi, and he was very good. But Alonso gave other players the space and opportunity to do so much.

The only problem with Spain was they tried to walk the ball into the net sometimes. Their paltry eight goals in the entire World Cup showed how badly they missed an out and out striker like Torres, who was just not fit before or during this entire campaign.

I hope El Nino wasn't badly injured last night. He has three weeks off to rest and hopefully get the rest and recuperation he needs for next season. Regardless what the papers speculate, he'll be at Anfield for at least another year.

Last night's final - a word about Holland and Howard Webb. One had to wonder why the Dutch, who had paved a flawless route to the final, were intent on kicking the shit out of anything Spanish? They are a far, far better side than that. Three of their players (De Jong, Van Bommell, Robben) should've been sent off in the first half. On saying that, I felt Howard Webb had a good game, all things considered. He's not my favourite referee, but with Holland on a self-destructive warpath, he gave them the benefit of the doubt - probably more than he should've?