JOHANNESBURG // Celebrations and recriminations. The day after the night before began with debate and disagreement over the numerous controversies that marred Africa's maiden World Cup final.
Led by the domestic media of the victorious and vanquished finalists, and their overjoyed or disappointed fans, the Dutch-Spanish inquisition ensured Sunday's final will be remembered more as a blame game than a beautiful one. "As a game, it was disappointing, even tedious," said William Sharpe, a Holland-supporting South African in Cape Town. "Holland tried to be vigilant tactically, but it didn't work."
Spain, the swashbuckling champions, and Holland, criticised in some quarters for an overtly physical approach, returned home to royal welcomes yesterday.
After landing back in Madrid, the Spanish history-makers - Vicente Del Bosque's squad is the first European nation to win a World Cup outside its home continent - received the favour of King Juan Carlos and the plaudits of grateful Madridistas as they toured the capital's streets on an open-top bus.
Bleary-eyed, Holland's players - beaten in a World Cup final for the third time - saw their planned victory ride, on a boat through Amsterdam's canals, sunk. Both teams, however, are heroes to their citizens. The scorn, directed from the countries' press pens anyway, was reserved for an Englishman.
Referee Howard Webb's performance dominated editorials and radio talk shows in Holland and Spain. Webb handed out 14 yellow cards and one red, waved away Dutch and Spanish appeals for penalties and failed to give Holland a corner when Wesley Sneijder's late free-kick deflected behind off Cesc Fabregas.
That error was compounded when Spain countered up the pitch and Andres Iniesta scored the World Cup's deciding goal four minutes from the end of extra time. The Dutch press, while generally conceding that Spain were the better side, were heavily critical of Webb.
Several publications put the blame for the Oranje's defeat squarely at the official's feet.
AD Sportwereld described Webb as a "chump", whose "blunder" had cost Holland the cup, while De Telegraaf newspaper said the game had been a "nasty, niggly, fractious affair that had nothing to do with football, but was not helped by Webb".
Although he refused to directly criticise Webb, Bert van Marwijk, the Dutch coach, did not praise the official's contribution. "Both sides committed fouls, but I don't think the referee controlled the match well," he said.
There was little Webb could do to avoid reaching for his cards as several of Del Bosque's players were caught high and late by Dutch challenges, but Spanish newspapers also slammed him.
Marca, one of Spain's leading dailies, said: "Webb is a narcissist who needs a quota of protagonism which doesn't correspond to him, [he was] a bad referee yesterday and almost always is."
El Mundo Deportivo called the referee an "ally of Holland", and AS agreed, citing Webb's "bad display".
El Mundo newspaper, however, extolled the virtues of Del Bosque's all-conquering matadors, declaring their victory as "poetic justice [against] the 11 most quarrelsome Dutchmen in history", while ABC demanded the entire country, and all its autonomy-seeking regions "should resemble and work like this group of young men".
"The Spanish team is a metaphor for what Spain can aspire to be, as long as we are prepared to apply the same criteria that have been the basis for the successes of the national team," continued ABC.
emegson@thenational.ae
RESULT
Manchester United 2 Burnley 2
Man United: Lingard (53', 90' 1)
Burnley: Barnes (3'), Defour (36')
Man of the Match: Jesse Lingard (Manchester United)
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
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Heard It in a Past Life
Maggie Rogers
(Capital Records)
3/5
The biog
From: Ras Al Khaimah
Age: 50
Profession: Electronic engineer, worked with Etisalat for the past 20 years
Hobbies: 'Anything that involves exploration, hunting, fishing, mountaineering, the sea, hiking, scuba diving, and adventure sports'
Favourite quote: 'Life is so simple, enjoy it'
Buy farm-fresh food
The UAE is stepping up its game when it comes to platforms for local farms to show off and sell their produce.
In Dubai, visit Emirati Farmers Souq at The Pointe every Saturday from 8am to 2pm, which has produce from Al Ammar Farm, Omar Al Katri Farm, Hikarivege Vegetables, Rashed Farms and Al Khaleej Honey Trading, among others.
In Sharjah, the Aljada residential community will launch a new outdoor farmers’ market every Friday starting this weekend. Manbat will be held from 3pm to 8pm, and will host 30 farmers, local home-grown entrepreneurs and food stalls from the teams behind Badia Farms; Emirates Hydroponics Farms; Modern Organic Farm; Revolution Real; Astraea Farms; and Al Khaleej Food.
In Abu Dhabi, order farm produce from Food Crowd, an online grocery platform that supplies fresh and organic ingredients directly from farms such as Emirates Bio Farm, TFC, Armela Farms and mother company Al Dahra.
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match details
Wales v Hungary
Cardiff City Stadium, kick-off 11.45pm
The Dictionary of Animal Languages
Heidi Sopinka
Scribe
Our Time Has Come
Alyssa Ayres, Oxford University Press
Our legal consultant
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How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
West Asia rugby, season 2017/18 - Roll of Honour
Western Clubs Champions League - Winners: Abu Dhabi Harlequins; Runners up: Bahrain
Dubai Rugby Sevens - Winners: Dubai Exiles; Runners up: Jebel Ali Dragons
West Asia Premiership - Winners: Jebel Ali Dragons; Runners up: Abu Dhabi Harlequins
UAE Premiership Cup - Winners: Abu Dhabi Harlequins; Runners up: Dubai Exiles
UAE Premiership - Winners: Dubai Exiles; Runners up: Abu Dhabi Harlequins
More from UAE Human Development Report:
Aayan%E2%80%99s%20records
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The figures behind the event
1) More than 300 in-house cleaning crew
2) 165 staff assigned to sanitise public areas throughout the show
3) 1,000 social distancing stickers
4) 809 hand sanitiser dispensers placed throughout the venue
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets