BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. – Fire forward Collins John watched Sunday’s World Cup Final with baited breath, hoping that his country, the Netherlands, could bring home the Jules Rimet trophy for the first time in the nation’s history.
Unfortunately for John, the Oranje fell to Spain 1-0 in extra time, denying the Dutch their signature moment.
“That’s soccer you know?” John said on Monday. “Sometimes you lose, sometimes you win. I think the best team won [Sunday] and I think everybody all over the world agrees with me. Spain deserved to win.”
John said he knew it was over after Dutch defender Johnny Heitinga was ejected in the first period of extra time.
“After the red card I knew it was not going to PKs,” John said. “I knew Spain was going to kill it.”
The ex-Fulham player, who has been capped twice by Holland, criticized referee Howard Webb’s performance.
“Actually I know [Webb] because he’s English, so he blew like nine or 10 games for us [when I was at Fulham],” John said. “I think he had a disaster yesterday to be honest with you… He was terrible. I don’t know what he was thinking, but he was giving yellow cards out like it was Christmas night. That was crazy.”
John, who spoke with Netherlands players Eljero Elia, Ryan Babel and Khalid Boulahrouz after the match, said that Holland are devastated by the loss.
“I think nobody went to work today in Holland,” John said. “Everybody’s at home. It’s sad and a big disappointment.”
