Ok hands up, who had Spain to win from the beginning? (I put my left hand up when I typed that, then realised I was getting funny looks from motorists passing my office, and hastily retracted it!)
It is always somewhat satisfying to get something right, and for the best team on paper to triumph.
Then again even the bloody English/German octopus got it right! - Perhaps he felt the need to do something in life after rather randomly being named 'Paul'?
But I was still bored! And no, I'm not going to apologise for it.
During the World Cup final, I:
Downloaded four songs, updated my itunes, checked my emails, ate a cream-egg, sent and received several texts, had a conversation on msn and uploaded photos from my phone - Ash at the Empire in good old Boro were awesome!
Now, even allowing for multi-tasking, and that fact that I rarely totally focus on one thing, this gives anyone who didn't watch the final a rough idea of how bitty it was.
Following the match, Alan Shearer - a man who was never afraid to lead with his elbow - doubled his smugness levels to tell us that he had Spain from the start, and that the Dutch 'got what they deserved' for the disgusting game plan they set out with.
For the record, Mr Shearer also said that we could entirely discount the USA from the tournament as England would beat them comfortably and they would pose no threat to anyone. That'll be the USA that finished top of our group then.
I worked the 2006 World Cup final (as a barmaid) so pretty much just remember stifling heat, glimpses of the tv as I served drinks, and a businessman muttering 'at least it wasn't the bloody Germans!" at the end of it.
I was therefore fairly excited to be free to watch this year's offering, and being fairly neutral, just hoped for a good game with a lot of goals given that the race for the Golden Boot was so close.
Hmmm.
I'm not disappointed that Spain won it, I'm disappointed that they did so with four 1-0 draws! That's not a precedent we want setting.
Shouldn't a team with so much attacking talent, attack more? And in doing so, shouldn't a team packed to the rafters with goalscorers score a few more goals?
Perhaps I'm being greedy, but pretty passing is all very well, (and even more impressive when you've got a Dutchman wrapped round your legs) but it's goals we cheer.
And now Dirk Kuyt's moaning about Howard Webb showing too many yellows to the orange assassins?! Some of them were going after the man with the single minded determination of hired killers, long after the ball had bounced away.
I do think Webb started to get just about everything wrong the longer the game went on, but they weren't big decisions. And he did guess right when I doubt very much he saw one or two of the later fouls.
Let's be honest, Kuyt, Webb could have been officiating 8 v 11 with half an hour gone.
But I'm pleased there are new World Champions and I liked Richard Bacon's assertion that if Ghana were playing for all of Africa then surely both Spain and Holland were playing for the whole of Europe?, so we couldn't lose and are all now champions! - Excellent!
The third place play-off was a far more entertaining affair, if not quite 'a fight to the death' as Uruguay manager Oscar Tabarez billed it. It didn't fall far short.
In fact it was probably one of the best games in the tournament, football wise and for me personally, as these were my favourites teams in the competition going head to head.
Mueller showed exactly how much Germany had missed him in the semi-final against Spain by scoring in the 18th minute and Diego Forlan responded with another cracker to make it 2-2 and made the race for the Golden Boot even tighter.
Nobody had told these guys that the game was meaningless.
Both teams fought hard but Germany were the victors, although Forlan came agonizingly close to taking the game to extra time when he hit the crossbar with literally the last kick of the game - that's the kind of match I want to watch.
If we are judging on potential, the Germans should walk it in 2014, and actually I'd be pretty happy with that, although I wouldn't say no to England winning it, obviously.
Four years to go with the Euros in between!
And finally, a totally gratuitous shout out to Teesside University Futsal Club, who will be representing Great Britain in the European Championships in Zagreb at the weekend.
I'm not going to use my column to put ridiculous pressures on them like we do with the footballers, just wish them good luck and lots of goals! I'm sure the boys will do us proud!
First published on www.SportingPreview.com on 12/7/2010
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