Spain 1, Netherlands 0. Spain is the world champ. Rightfully so.

The match was disappointing. Holland viciously and cynically fouled the Spanish, the worst of which was de Jong's explicit cleated karate kick to Alonso's chest that somehow drew yellow rather than red. Van Bommel was his villainous self. He's an awful human being who was successfully able to rile the modest and elegant Iniesta into hip-checking him. Regrettably Van Bommel was able to continue "playing."

Iniesta had the last word, scoring the game winner in the 26th minute of extra time, a fierce across the goal blast on a bouncing pass from Fabregas. I've long loved the play of Iniesta, but candidly neither this game nor this tournament was his best. Compared to his customary otherworldly standards, he surrendered possession more frequently than usual and misplayed a higher percentage of passes than normal. Xavi had a better tournament than Iniesta, and, in fact, was probably the player of the tournament (although Forlan, who won the award, is a totally sensible choice).

And so it ends, WC 2010. I've seen more of this World Cup than any previous one (more than 50 of the 64 matches), and I watched many of the games on hi-def TV, which was utterly delightful. The colors and the detail were so vivid as to be truly immersive. Kudos to Mrs. Fan Futbol for pushing to purchase a hi-def set before the Cup. It was also particularly enjoyable to watch some of the matches with the Fan Futbolitos, my two sons (one three and the other one and a half), who would run around cheering and tackling each other and shouting "World Cup." And a shout to one of my oldest friends (almost thirty years!), Fan Futbol San Francisco, who traveled halfway across the country to spend a week watching matches with me.

Can't wait for 2014.

FF