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Van Marwijk chides Webb for refereeing performance
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Dutch coach Bert van Marwijk has bashed official Howard Webb for his display in last night’s final, and has been joined by some of his player’s in questioning the Englishman’s decisions in the game.
The manager of Oranje said that he felt Webb didn’t control the match well but the man in the middle is put in a very awkward position with the number of fouls that were going on. In an ideal world, he’d be able to let play flow and ignore the odd sloppy effort to get the ball but the reckless challenges couldn’t really go unnoticed.
However in fairness to van Marwijk he did concede that the better side won on the night but was particularly concerned about the decision to not blow for a freekick when Robben danced his way through the Spanish defence. He stated:
“I’m not someone to look back on what the referee did. I think the best team usually wins the match. But if you look at the second chance of Robben, the referee should give Puyol a second yellow card, which would have meant him being sent off. It was a crucial moment just before the end of the 90 minutes. It is very bitter, but that is sport. It is harsh. And as I said, Spain were the better team.
I did cover this in my review but will explore it a little more through photos of the incident. Obviously the rule does state that “attempts to trip or kick an opponent” are fouls just as the trips and kicks themselves. But on the other hand, there are plenty enough a real moments of contact – to include all the failed efforts to win the ball or connect with a competitor as fouls would drastically break-up the match.
In the first photo, Puyol has his arms across Robben’s chest – it doesn’t appear initially to slow Robben down and the winger continues his run.
In the next shot, Puyol is faliing to the ground and Robben moving past him with the ball at his feet, his right leg slightly off balance as he either tries avoid the prone defender or because there is slight contact.
In the following image, Puyol is fully on the ground and his outstretched legs show that while Robben has to hurdle them to avoid tripping over, it looks from his position as though Puyol is trying to get a touch to the ball in desperation rather than try and take Robben down.
Then we see Robben with the ball at his feet having taken it past Puyol who is now no longer involved in play. His body shape is slightly off-balance but he does have the opportunity to get the shot off.
Finally Robben takes the ball on a further foot or two and Iker Cassilas is able to close him down and grab the ball. Despite what the image shows, Pique does not connect at all with either the ball or Robben during the final section of this play.
I would have to conclude that whilst Puyol does slightly interfere with Robben’s attacking advances, he is probably trying to get a touch to the ball but doesn’t touch it and the contact with the Dutchman is small. Robben has opportunities to shoot once he has got past Puyol but chooses to try and round the keeper rather than have an attempt on goal. I don’t believe a serious offence has been comitted and at the very worst, we’re talking about a possible freekick for an advantage in this complex defensive situation rather than anything so rash as a penalty or red card.
Robben himself, would disagree with my assessment, saying after the game:
“When I got my second chance the referee should have given us a free kick and Puyol a second yellow card,” Robben said. “He gave the advantage but there was none as I could hardly move and the goalkeeper was too close already. As a player you always want to go on and especially 10 minutes before time in a World Cup final when you are heading towards the goal. When you play a World Cup final you need also a world class referee and – I have to be careful what I say – this was not the case for this match.
It is not an offence for the keeper to rush out of his goal to stop a goalscoring opportunity and the second or so that Robben would’ve saved if Puyol hadn’t come in with his challenge would not really have changed Cassilas’s pressuring on the attacker.
Robben may be irksome in his discussion of Webb but he should remember that under the letter of the law, he could have been shown a red card when he netted long after a whistle had gone for offside.
If Robben was trying to be tactful with what he said then Wesley Sneidjer certainly wasn’t, arguing:
‘He has robbed us. This really is a disgrace to football. It really shouldn’t have happened. First I shot a free kick that hit the wall and then the Spanish keeper touched it before going behind. What does the referee do? The whistle was not for a corner. In the following attack, Iniesta is at first offside. Webb doesn’t whistle and then Iniesta gets the ball and scores. And earlier there was a moment with Iniesta, he kicked Van Bommel when the ball was not there. The fourth official saw the moment and he said, “Yeah, I saw it”. I think if you saw it it’s a red card. That’s three incidents in a short space of time. It is a scandal it has to end this way.
It is very definitive that the Dutch certainly should’ve had a corner when Sneidjer’s shot was deflected (twice) wide and Webb was wrong to give a goalkick but this was hardly robbing Oranje of the game, merely of a setpiece (they had six other corners which they failed to make much impact from).
As I discussed in my review, any accusation that Iniesta is offside for the goal is complete rubbish and as for Iniesta’s kicking on Van Bommel which it probably should’ve been a sending off, Vam Bommel should have received a red before the half-time whistle so ifs, buts and maybes surrounding someone’s marching orders do not become the exclusive right of the Dutch team.
The fourth Dutchman to criticise Webb was striker Robin Van Persie saying:
What was this man doing? He made three big errors in extra time of a World Cup final. Believe me, this really hurts. Even after Heitinga’s red card I still felt we could be world champions. With penalty kicks we’d at least have a 50 per cent chance. He whistled four minutes from time, but not for a corner, and later overlooks Iniesta being in an offside position. Iniesta should not have been on the pitch because he kicked Van Bommel. He also should have shown Puyol a second yellow card for trying to knock down Robben. I don’t say it’s only down to the referee. We missed a very good chance. But the referee has been decisive. Perhaps it was because Spain were wronged in a group match against Switzerland? Let me say nothing.
Some of this is inevitably crossing over old ground but in terms of Heitinga’s second booking, he raised his arms and appeared to try and stop Iniesta breaking through. It is worthy of a caution and Heitinga is experienced to know that doing something like that on a yellow is rather silly.
Any accusations of bias for Spain as Webb oversaw their loss to Switzerland are rather unfounded. If anything, the Spanish press were a lot more concerned with Webb’s appointment for the final than Holland, with their view point being that Webb would allow too much physical play and this would unduly hurt Vicente Del Bosque’s side.
In the end, suddenly we were meant to believe it had been the other way round all the time and that Webb was actually penalising the Dutch to make-up for unwarranted opinions that he apparently screwed Spain in their opening game?
This does not fly – we cannot pick and choose the referee’s bias before and after the game and refuse to accept that at some point we were wrong. The Holland camp do have cause to be concerned about a few issues from the final but they need to take off their orange-tinted spectacles if they think Webb was the reason they lost the game.
Displaying the most recent 25 comments from a total of 41 comments.
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This wasn’t much different from the semi-final incident when De Zeeuw was kicked square in the face by a Uruguay player. That was considered careless but going for the ball, and hence a yellow, nobody was calling for a red there.
The rules state:
Playing in a dangerous manner is defined as any action that, while trying to play the ball, threatens injury to someone (including the player himself).
A scissors or bicycle kick is permissible provided that, in the opinion of the referee, it is not dangerous to an opponent.
Playing in a dangerous manner involves no physical contact between the players. If there is physical contact, the action becomes an offence punishable with a direct free kick or penalty kick. In the case of physical contact, the referee should carefully consider the high probability that misconduct has also been committed.
Disciplinary sanctions
If the action is made with obvious risk of injury, the referee should caution the player.
Which is exactly what happened.
Posted from 
Canada
And further to the first re: serious foul play:
Serious foul play
A player is guilty of serious foul play if he uses excessive force or brutality against an opponent when challenging for the ball when it is in play.
A tackle that endangers the safety of an opponent must be sanctioned as serious foul play.
Any player who lunges at an opponent in challenging for the ball from the front, from the side or from behind using one or both legs, with excessive force and endangering the safety of an opponent is guilty of serious foul play.
Advantage should not be applied in situations involving serious foul play unless there is a clear subsequent opportunity to score a goal. The referee must send off the player guilty of serious foul play when the ball is next out of play.
A player who is guilty of serious foul play should be sent off…
Posted from Canada
That kick to the chest was violent, ie serious foul play and set the bar high for the rest of the match. The ref lost respect and yellow cards were meaningless to changing behavior. That why there were so many; they did not change behavior. It needed a red sooner.
If you can’t call the game expecting anything to happen then you should not be there. Overall he called a good game and I am pleased. But unchanged is my lower level of respect for FIFA refereeing after this tournament. I still maintain 100% respect for refs from the USSF.
I hear some chatter about refs being told not to send off stars at a WC final (a la Zizou) Sjneider, Robben, Iniesta were all given a second or third or fourth chance, between fouls away from the ball, dissent or scoring after the whistle had been blown. Forget about Van Bommel or DeJong, I think that the big name guys were all given a break. Not sure if Webb has what Elizondo had in the last final to send off a marquee player.
Creating respect from the players from the start would have made Howard’s job a lot easier, and that should have been by showing red cards. Still admire some of his game management skills.
Wow, pretty lousy article. I am a Dutch fan and Spain clearly was the better team and deserved to win. Webb called a good game up until the last 20 minutes. Spain, however, should be disgusted that it’s “Star” player resorted to the most despicable act of diving when it was clear that he wasn’t even touched. An academy award for best actor should be forthcoming. I’m glad that Robben played through the obvious foul committed against him without any embellishment. But let’s be honest folks, ANY player in the world would have been critical of the ref after that non-call. It’s time to modernize the officiating with an additional ref and video replay and reduce some of the enormous pressure on the ref.
Ok, let’s forget about the ref for a sec. Let’s talk about the coach. He should have put Rafeal Van der Vart in the game WAAAAAAAYYYYY sooner than he did. This is a major player that makes things happen and instead, he was put in the game in the last minutes like some rookie that had never had any experience. Coach had a MAJOR brain fart if you ask me… But hey it’s all should have would have could have at this point…
Posted from 
United States
dutch, you are ridiculous..
Posted from United States
I’m from kenya I have been dutch fan for so long since 1994.my review over the game.I can say that the ref webb was so influencial in the game.this lead to a kind of un proffessional conduct.his greatest mistake are the foult of peyul attracked Robben. The coner kick belong to dutch robben and ended goal.Inesta attacked van bomel when the ball was not there. FOR DUTCH MANAGER he was wrong for him to keep van der vart up to 9o min outside.am sure he could create unpredictable chances.any way congrat we went a long way and still will have opportunity to do better things.am telling FIFA they should contract world class ref and avoid village referee like Webb.he tarnished the good name of english refs.
English refs certainly do not have a good name (especially in England), however as many have alluded to already, referees in big pressure games are often asked to try and keep the game flowing, improve the game as a spectacle and try and help push the image of the game into countries where its popularity is not so high. Mr Webb fell victim to this at the hands of the Dutch, they started it all and should have rightly been reduced to 9 men by half time, however had the referee done so then the biggest game of football in 4 years would have ended flat, very one sided and destroyed as a spectacle. The bottom line is both teams were allowed more leniency than usual with the Dutch team getting a lot more favours, I wish the Dutch fans would shut up complaining, if the ref had took appropriate action in chronological order then many of the players involved in the decisions that didn’t go Hollands way would simply not have been on the pitch at the point of those incidents, this a fact and an undeniable one, accept it with grace, even England managed at least that.
Posted from 
United Kingdom
“referees in big pressure games are often asked to try and keep the game flowing, improve the game as a spectacle….”
Is that the reason why Webb didn’t award the corner kick?
“if the ref had took appropriate action in chronological order then many of the players involved in the decisions that didn’t go Hollands way would simply not have been on the pitch at the point of those incidents, this a fact and an undeniable one..”
Does the “Butterfly effect” ring a bell?
One would also argue that had a player been sent out earlier in the game, the other players would have been more cautious.
Nobody knows what would have happened had the Netherlands been reduced to 10 men. Haven’t we watched games where both teams were reduced to 10 or 9 players each? Haven’t we watched games where one of the “Big 4″ teams failed to beat a 10-man “small” team?
Posted from United States
i WONDER HOW MUCH MONEY WEBB GOT FROM THE SPANISH FOR HIS DIRTY REFERRING.
Posted from Canada
sscouser, apparently, you don’t have any refereeing experience..
as webb showed only yellow card to de jong when it was already second brutal foul in row, yellow lost any meaning and every player felt that they can commit “smaller” infigements and they can’t be sent off. thus the game get into a big chaos. this is mistake of webb although the players didn’t help him anyhow.
he tried to be nice to everybody but at the end it all turned against him. i think he is great referee and i like his style. however, he missed the decisive point and it was de jong’s kung fu.
once again: how can dutch blame webb for their lost?? they have to thank him to be kept so long hoping.
Posted from 
Slovakia
“sscouser, apparently, you don’t have any refereeing experience..”
Ad hominem: attacking the person instead of the argument.
By the way, what is it that makes you believe that I don’t have any refereeing experience?
Posted from United States
this:
“One would also argue that had a player been sent out earlier in the game, the other players would have been more cautious.
Nobody knows what would have happened had the Netherlands been reduced to 10 men. Haven’t we watched games where both teams were reduced to 10 or 9 players each? Haven’t we watched games where one of the “Big 4″ teams failed to beat a 10-man “small” team?”
Posted from Slovakia
OMG. You win, I lose.
contra principia negantem non est disputandum: there can be no debate with those who deny the foundations (Debate is fruitless when you don’t agree on common rules, facts, presuppositions)
Posted from United States
@ David,
I highly doubt you could straight up say that the Dutch got more favours. It seemed that Webb tried to balance out him leaving on some of the Dutch players despite major fouls early (most notably de Jong) by letting Spain getting away continuously with the smaller things and diving, especially as the game went on.
Again, exhibit A is Robben/Puyol vs Heijtinga/Iniesta. Puyol’s foul had a much greater impact upon the player fouled than Heijtinga’s (even the foul itself was more egregious, a hand across body followed by almost trip vs hand on shoulder) – somebody even pointed out that the way Iniesta fell is only possible through diving…
Where the Dutch often went in too harsh, the Spanish resorted to diving and got away with it.
Posted from 
Netherlands
When all this settles, history will remember van Marwijk as the true villain for turning Holland, whose legacy we all cherished, into Argentina in 1966 or the worst version Uruguay: a team of clobbers whose only resort is to maul the ankles of the more talented opponents. It is a miracle that no Spanish player was seriously injured in the first half.
As for Webb, it was indeed a tough game to referee, but by the 20th minute the players already knew that the game was beyond him and that everything was allowed. This sadly turned what should have been the biggest festival of football into a very poor advertisement of the game.
Sad, sad van Marwijk. Winning by any means is not everything in life…and if,on top of that, you lose, history will put you in the right place. We will all continue to have fond memories of the Hollands of 74, 78, 88, 98, 2000, but this one will be quickly forgotten.
Posted from United Kingdom
Just wondering, imagine if the game was officiated by the USA/Algeria game ref exactly the same as officiated by Webb
Posted from United States
Why was Heitinga sent off when he slightly holds Iniesta, who took a dive afterwards. Puyol clearly holds his arm around Robben (look at the video’s) but he was allowed to stay. Iniesta should also have been sent off just as De Jong. Webb also didn’t see the corner but everyone else did. Webb sucks, this was his last major game!
Posted from Netherlands
Have done some investigation. Advice you to do the same.
1st half. Referee made 16 mistakes. 15 out of those 16 mistakes his decision went in favor of Spain.
Further more it wasnt the Netherlands that started the foul play it was Puyols attempt to break Robbens ankle that started it. 9 out of 10 referees would have pulled a red card right there, so please stop blaming the Netherlands for the foul play.
Webb was a disaster, Spain started playing like villains, The Netherlands sadly enough answered the call, but dont blame them for acting only human.
van Marwijk, van Bommel, Sneijder and Robben had all the right to play the blamegame.
Posted from Netherlands
Karl,
I believe you were watching “Strictly come dancing” rather than the Word Cup final
Posted from United Kingdom
Karl,
Can we assume you got your stats from an unbiased source? You didn’t just re-watch the final and tally up instances where you thought the ref was wrong, did you?
Posted from Canada
@ Karl
Whatever you were drinking while doing you mistake tally I want to try some of it!!!
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Posted from 
China
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Must be two different Andys.
Re: De Jong Ninja Kick
You’ve got two options here. One, you feel it is intentional so red. Two, you feel he was going for the ball but was careless, so yellow.
I personally don’t feel it was on purpose, so yellow is correct.
Dear first Andy,
The rules state that: “A player, substitute or substituted player is sent off if he commits any of the
following seven offences:
• serious foul play
• violent conduct”
and this: “Using excessive force” means that the player has far exceeded the necessary
use of force and is in danger of injuring his opponent.
• A player who uses excessive force must be sent off”
I would say that a head-high studs up kick to the chest would qualify for the above.
Posted from
Canada