World Cup finals can be forgettable affairs. With as much as the line as could possibly be, the fear of failure is more of a factor than going out and trying to win. Maybe the Netherlands will wake up today feeling like Australia did after the game against Germany. If they were going to lose anyway, they might as well have gone down swinging as opposed to simply trying to keep the Spanish at bay.

Maybe this negative mindset affected Arjen Robben with the two priceless chances he had. Was he too focused on trying to force a penalty than trying to score? Would he have converted each of those chances had it been any other game? Ultimately what we saw was a replay of the 1990 and 1994 World Cup finals. A dull turgid match that won’t be remembered for anything.

An early goal would have been just the thing the game needed but instead all we got was yellow cards. 8 Dutch and 5 Spanish players received yellow cards and it was only a matter of time until someone received their second. When the music was up it was the number of John Heitinga that was called. Some people may say that Carlos Puyol should have been sent off for his challenge on Arjen Robben but once Nigel de Jong wasn’t sent off for his karate kick it was clear that you had to do something pretty rash like headbutt someone to be ordered from the field.

This felt like the game the Netherlands played against Portugal in the 2006 World Cup. A game that they also lost. Maybe they should just resort to playing football because when they do they are quite good at it.

In terms of fantasy football it was the Spanish defence that again covered itself in glory. A fourth consecutive 1-0 win meant clean sheet points all round.

Looking at the tourament, Thomas Mueller was the ultimate fantasy football pick with his five goals and three assists. Diego Forlan was a worthy winner of the Golden Ball for player of the tournament.

So now we return to regular club fantasy football which is different creature from international football. The likes of Wayne Rooney, Fernando Torres and Didier Drogba shouldn’t be consigned to the scrapheap just yet. They are proven points scorers when it comes to fantasy football for the English Premier League. Many people may change clubs as a result of the World Cup and success there doesn’t always translate to success at a club level.

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