Dutch legend Johan Cruyff has criticized the Netherlands for the aggressive tactics the team adopted during the World Cup final defeat to Spain. In his column for the Barcelona-based daily El Periodico, Cruyff says Bert van Marwijk's side “didn't want the ball. And lamentably and sadly, they played very dirty.” The former Ajax and Barcelona player, who starred for the Netherlands in the 1970s, added the Dutch “deserved to have been left with nine players early in the game because there were two tackles so ugly and tough they even hurt me.” The 63-year-old Cruyff said the Dutch performance was “dirty” and “ugly”. Cruyff, 63, had expressed his admiration for the Dutch team in an interview with the daily De Telegraaf on the eve of the World Cup final. He had hailed “the remarkable work” achieved by coach Bert van Marwijk, praising him for having “succeeding in building such a strong team”. In the final, the Dutch were bent on showing that they could win ugly for their first World Cup title, but they only got the ugly part right. The coach changed the “Total Football” of flair and spontaneity of the 1970s into “Result football,” using cynical plotting for victory. The outcome was the same – the Netherlands is still waiting for its first World Cup. With a team flush with talent, only Arjen Robben shone Sunday and almost gave the Dutch a breakthrough goal twice on darting runs through the center. Each time, Spain goalkeeper Iker Casillas was perfect in blocking his attempts. “You felt that the team that would score first would win,” Van Marwijk said. “We had two great chances through Arjen. We made a real game out of it.” Two years ago, the coach picked victories over beauty, a sacrilege at a time when Dutch football prided itself on producing the most Brazilian football in all of Europe. But while Brazil has five titles to show for it, the Netherlands carries the disappointing tag of being the best team never to have won the World Cup. Van Marwijk has taught his team to win ugly when it needed, and they started doing so. And as long as they won in South Africa, six victories in a row, all was well. And they were within one game of winning the World Cup. When it counted, though, their creativity was stifled and the nastiness came out.
