The Netherlands had a clear game plan - albeit an ugly and savage one - but it was essentially to disrupt the contest as far as a football match was concerned. Similar to Chelsea's approach against Barcelona a year ago, the tactical set-up of the Dutch was an acknowledgement of the fact that they are not in Spain's league as far as pure footballing prowess goes. It stands to reason then that a more physical and robust approach, if it is your best chance of success, should be the one that the coach instructs his team to adopt.
It certainly doesn't make for a good spectacle though, and judging by the reaction across the internet, it has also lost the Oranje a good deal of neutral support. Many spectators will have found themselves cheering Iniesta's superbly taken late winner - again, just as they did when Barca played Chelsea in 2009 - as it represented a victory for the team that stuck far more to their footballing guns and did not resort to the fight that the Dutch were hoping for.
Spain are not exempt from criticism though, and the cynical diving, imaginary card-waving etc is in it's own way just as unpleasant to watch as the brutal assault on the ankles that Mark van Bommel and Nigel De Jong persisted in. De Jong incidentally announced last night that he is giving up football to target an appearance at London 2012 for the Dutch Tae-Kwan-Do team.
All in all it was a disappointing anti-climax to the first ever World Cup on African soil; but it would be difficult to argue that the Spaniards are not worthy winners. They will look ahead to Euro 2012 and, given the age of many of their key players, Brazil 2014, with every reason to feel optimistic about their chances.
For Holland, it may be time to sit down and reflect on whether it's better to lose playing Total Football, or lose playing Street Fighter. Either way you lose, but which feels better?
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