Futbol, we hardly knew ye. The World Cup final was played yesterday between Spain and the Netherlands, with Spain ultimately emerging victorious by a score of 1-0. The one was scored with an eight-yard boot by midfielder Andres Iniesta in the 116th minute, off a feed from teammate Cesc Fabregas. The Dutch were down a man by that point due to a second yellow card handed out to defender John Heitinga, and cards were indeed one of the primary stories of the match, with referee Howard Webb handing out 14 yellows throughout the event, twice the previous record for a final.
Personally, I didn't watch the contest until the end--if I was going to spend two-plus hours yesterday watching two teams only score once, I'd rather it be the Phillies and Reds than two European countries that I could only find the most arbitrary of reasons to root for one way or the other. From what it sounds like, though, I didn't miss much--the primary words being bandied about to describe the match have been "physical," "ugly," "unpretty," "rough" and "boring as f'ing hell." (Maybe not so much the last one, but I extrapolate.) Said ESPN's Jeff Carlisle, simply, "It was not a match that was an advertisement for the beautiful game."
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So let me know, 700 Level futbol devotees--was this game really so unwatchable? Does this final hurt the chances of the sport winning lasting support stateside? Was there a reason to give a crap about the result?
In the meantime, so long, international soccer. See you in another four years. And go Union.