World Cup 2010 - Day 31

Holland 0 Spain 1 (Final)

So. Would it be the Spanish or the Dutch
that hosted high the trophy at the end?
In every tiny corner of the world,
they tuned in to see if Holland or Spain
would clinch the ultimate prize in football
against a backdrop of vuvuzelas.

From the start, those blaring vuvuzelas,
harsh and bullying, drowned out the cowed Dutch
and Spanish voices, just as the football
was subsumed in a plethora of end-
-less fouls, mostly committed against Spain.
As neutrals watched in horror round the world,

angry gusts of changing sympathies whirled
across the globe, blown from vuvuzelas
that angrily trumpeted football’s pain.
Van Bommel and de Jong dragged the proud Dutch
name into the mire, thuggish and unend-
-earing in a coup d’état ‘gainst football.

Thankfully, after the break, the football
returned from exile, decreeing the World
Cup was not ‘win at all costs.’ End to end,
the ball was blown by the vuvuzelas
like table football – Robben for the Dutch
was sent away but was thwarted by Spain’s

goalkeeper, Villa and Ramos for Spain
both had great chances; intricate football
from the Spanish, breakaways by the Dutch.
Who would be crowned champions of the world?
The cacophony of vuvuzelas
never ceased in extra time. The Dutch end

was the busier. Heiting upend-
ed Iniesta and saw red as Spain
pushed for the winner, the vuvuzelas
deaf’ning. Then, penalties looming, football
won out - Iniesta’s strike stunned the world
and finally put a sword through the Dutch.

The vuvuzelas, strident to the end,
seemed to mock the Dutch approach to football,
as Spain were hailed the champions of the world.