The only disappointment in Spain’s performances was that they never quite dominated with scorelines that they deserved to have. And a huge shame that Holland played with such vulgarity in the final.

Nice post, Mr. Silva, especially noting the impact of football on national cultures, economies and social relationships. The reason why Britain’s new PM, David Cameron, has instituted the severe fiscal austerity measures is because he knew, like all Englishmen, that hoping for a World Cup win to revive England’s economic fortunes would have been foolhardy and in vain! Perhaps Spain, as a European nation under skeptical scrutiny from the global financial industry’s watchful eyes, deserves the World Cup victory for that reason alone.