July 11, 2010: The Battle of Soccer City

Andrés Iniesta with the World Cup

July 11, 2010: The World Cup Final is held at Soccer City in Johannesburg, South Africa. For sponsorship reasons, it is known as First National Bank Stadium, or FNB Stadium. But since the World Cup prohibits corporate names on stadiums, it was referred to as "Soccer City." It was built in 1989, on the edge of the Soweto township, a key location in black South Africans' struggle for equality. It is also the home of one of the country's top soccer teams, Kaizer Chiefs.

ABC broadcast it in America, including the constant annoyance of the fans with their native musical instrument, the vuvuzela. Given the countries competing in the game, it should have been a beautiful Final for the world championship of what Pelé called "The Beautiful Game": Spain vs. the Netherlands.

It wasn't. It was the ugliest Final in World Cup history, even more so than the tainted Final of 1978 in which Argentina, on Fascist-controlled home soil, beat the Netherlands.

The Spain side was managed by former Real Madrid boss Vicente del Bosque, and was dominated by 2 of the most-cheating teams in soccer, brought together for a common purpose: Real Madrid and FC Barcelona. From Real Madrid came goalkeeper Iker Casillas (Captain of club and country), defenders Sergio Ramos (maybe the dirtiest player in the sport at the time), Raúl Albiol and Álvaro Arbeloa; and midfielder Xabi Alonso.

From "Barça" came defenders Carles Puyol (their Captain), a dirty tackler, and Gerard Piqué, a notorious diver; midfielders Andrés Iniesta, Xavi Hernández (known by just his first name) and Sergio Busquets (another diver); forward Pedro Rodríguez (also known by his first name); and backup goalkeeper Victor Valdés.

From Valencia CF came forward David Villa; midfielders Juan Mata (yet another diver) and David Silva; and defender Carlos Marchena. From Villareal CF came defender Joan Capdevila. From Sevilla FC came midfielder Jesús Navas. From Athletic Bilbao came forward Fernando Llorente and midfielder Javi Martínez. And 3 players came from England's Premier League. From Liverpool FC were forward Fernando Torres and goalkeeper Pepe Reina. And from North London team Arsenal FC was former Barcelona midfielder Cesc Fàbregas.

And the Dutch? This was not your father's Oraanje. No Total Football, no brilliant passing, no stylish goalscoring. They were more like a sledgehammer. They were managed by Bert van Marwijk, who once managed Rotterdam side Feyenoord. As usual, the Dutch team was dominated by players who had come from the Netherlands' "Big Three" Feyenoord, Amsterdam team Ajax, and Eindhoven team PSV. But, as the Dutch top league, the Eredivisie, doesn't pay as well as the leagues of neighboring countries like England, Spain, France and Germany, not all of them had stayed with those teams:

From Ajax: Goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg; defenders Gregory van der Wiel, John Heitinga (then with Liverpool team Everton FC); midfielders Demy de Zeeuw, Nigel de Jong (then with Manchester City), Wesley Sneijder (who had played with Real Madrid, but was then with Internazionale Milano) and Rafael van der Vaart (then, ironically, with Real Madrid); and forward Ryan Babel (then with Liverpool).

From Feyenoord: Defender Giovanni van Bronckhorst (Captain); and forwards Dirk Kuyt (then with Liverpool) and Robin van Persie (then with Arsenal).

From PSV: Defender André Ooijer; midfielders Ibrahim Afellay, Mark van Bommel (who had played for Barcelona, but was then with Bayern Munich); and forwards Arjen Robben (who had played with Real Madrid, but was then with Bayern) and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (who had also played for Ajax and Real Madrid, but was then with AC Milan).

From AZ Alkmaar: Defender Joris Mathijsen (then with Hamburger SV); midfielder Stijn Schaars.

From Enschede side FC Twente: Backup goalkeeper Sander Boschker; defender Edson Braafheid (then with Glasgow, Scotland team Celtic); and forward Eljero Elia (then with Hamburger).

From RKC Waalwijk: Defender Khalid Boulahrouz (then with VfB Stuttgart).

From FC Utretcht: Backup goalkeeper Michael Vorm, who led to the soccer-themed pun: "Vorm is temporary, class is permanent."

The Netherlands slogged through their Group, winning all 3 games, but not particularly distinguishing themselves in any of them, beating Denmark 2-0, Japan 1-0, and Cameroon 2-1. Spain opened their run by getting upset 1-0 by Switzerland, but rebounded to beat former colonies Honduras 2-0 and Chile 2-1.

In the Round of 16, the Netherlands beat Slovakia, 2-1 in Durban; while Spain beat neighboring Portugal, 1-0 in Cape Town. In the Quarterfinals, 2 goals by Sneijder turned an early 1-0 Brazil lead into a 2-1 Dutch win in Port Elizabeth; while Spain left it late, with Villa scoring in the 83rd minute, to beat Paraguay, 1-0 in Johannesburg. In the Semifinals, the Netherlands hung on to beat Uruguay, 3-2 in Cape Town; while Spain got a goal from Captain Puyol in the 73rd to beat Germany, 1-0 in Durban.

The referee for the Final was Howard Webb, the English former police officer infamous for his bald head and his apparent favoritism for Manchester United. To be assigned as the top official for a World Cup Final should be the greatest honor any sports official can ever receive, but Webb did not live up to the distinction. To say that he lost control of the match would suggest that he even tried to exert any control. The 14 yellow cards he gave out -- 9 to the Netherlands, 5 to Spain -- were more than double the previous record.

Howard Webb

Spain had the 1st serious chance of the game just 5 minutes in, when Stekelenburg made a diving save of a Ramos header. Shortly thereafter, the Dutch had their 1st chance, but Casillas saved from Kuyt. Heitinga deflected a Ramos shot over the crossbar in the 11th. Casillas stopped a screamer of a free kick from Sneijder.

In the 28th minute, with Webb having already given each side 2 yellow cards, de Jong kicked Alonso in the chest. For this, Webb should have shown him a straight red card and sent him off, but he only gave de Jong a yellow. As if the match wasn't rough enough, Casillas did Spain no favors by colliding with Puyol and injuring him in the 33rd. Puyol was able to carry on. Just before halftime, Casillas saved a shot by Robben, and it remained 0-0.

In the 50th minute, Spain did what Barcelona usually do when they think they should be awarded a penalty, and surrounded the ref in an attempt to intimidate him. Webb, used to such behavior from Premier League teams Man United and Chelsea, refused to give in. Two minutes later, Casillas saved a van Persie shot.

Heitinga was booked for a foul on Villa in the 56th. In the 62nd, Robben had a one-on-one with Casillas, but shot too low, and Casillas deflected it. In the 70th, Villa had an equally good chance, and an equally bad shot, deflected by Stekelenburg. Ramos had a great chance in the 77th, but fired over the crossbar. Casillas made a brilliant stop on Robben in the 83rd. Regulation play ended with the game still scoreless.

On to extra time. In the 92nd, Xavi went down a little too easy after a collision with Heitinga, and, again, the Spaniards demanded a penalty. Again, they didn't get it. Apparently, their reputation preceded them. Fàbregas had come on as a substitute for Alonso, and had a shot in the 95th, saved by Stekelenburg. In the 101st, Navas fired a shot that had the stadium roaring, thinking it was a goal, but it only hit the side netting. In the 104th, Fàbregas just missed, slightly wide of the goalpost. Still 0-0 as the match headed into the 2nd half of extra time.

In the 109th, Xavi was brought down by Heitinga. This earned him a 2nd yellow, equivalent to a red. Neither of his yellow card offenses was especially bad, but there were 2 of them, and, given the rules, he, rather than the much rougher de Jong -- or any of the Spanish players -- was off, and the Dutch were down to 10 men.

In the 115th minute, Webb made a call that may have changed the outcome of the game. He rightly awarded the Netherlands a free kick, which Sneijder took, and Casillas tipped it behind the goal. That should have resulted in a corner for the Netherlands. Instead, Webb awarded Spain a goal kick.

Torres took the kick, took the ball up the pitch, and passed it to Fàbregas, who passed it to Iniesta, who scored. His goal in the 116th minute remains the latest ever scored in a World Cup Final. The Dutch complained to Webb about his decisions, both the awarding of the goal kick and his failure to call a foul on Elia. Mathijsen slammed the ball on the grass in anger, and Webb booked him instead. But Spain held on for the 1-0 win.

Two days later, on July 13, Spain held its World Cup celebration in the capital of Madrid. Barcelona players pull an FC Barcelona shirt over the head of Fàbregas, calling him "The future of Barcelona, the future of Spain," as if he were only on loan to Arsenal, and that he had to be sent back to his boyhood club.

He did not immediately remove the shirt and tell his national team mates to respect his contract. A year later, he proved that he didn't respect his contract, either: He went on strike and faked an injury. Soon, he was sold back to Barcelona.

Had I been the manager of Arsenal, I would have sold Fàbregas to Real Madrid, Barcelona’s arch-rivals, the next day. For one pound. It would have sent multiple messages. To Fàbregas: You are a traitor, and are being punished for it. To Barcelona: Do not mess with The Arsenal. To the Arsenal players: No one is irreplaceable. And to the Arsenal fans: I know you love him, and that I didn't get any money for him, but there are things more important than money. Alas, the manager of Arsenal was Arsène Wenger, and he had too much class to do this.

Howard Webb retired from refereeing in 2014. In 2022, he was named the head of the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) is the body responsible for refereeing games in English soccer. He replaced Mike Riley, who had also been known for calls favoring Manchester United, both as a referee himself and in upholding the calls and cards of the referees he governed.

An article for ESPN.com, published after the 2026 World Cup, ranking all 23 tournaments, rated this one 17th, citing the rough play, the cheating, and those damn vuvuzelas.

*

July 11, 2010 was a Sunday. These Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Seattle Mariners, 8-2 at Safeco Field (now T-Mobile Park) in Seattle. CC Sabathia was the winning pitcher. Marcus Thames hit a home run. Mark Teixeira went 4-for-5 with an RBI. Derek Jeter went 1-for-5 with 2 RBIs. Alex Rodriguez went 0-for-5.

* The New York Mets beat the Atlanta Braves, 3-0 at Citi Field. Johan Santana allowed 5 hits over 7 innings, and Bobby Parnell and Francisco Rodríguez completed the 5-hit shutout.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Cincinnati Reds, 1-0 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. Cole Hamels allowed 6 hits over 7 2/3rds innings, and José Contreras, J.C. Romero and Brad Lidge finished the 6-hit shutout. The only run came in the 3rd inning, when Jimmy Rollins singled Carlos Ruiz home.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the Washington Nationals, 6-2 at Nationals Park in Washington.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 3-2 at the Rogers Centre in Toronto. David Ortiz * and Darnell McDonald hit home runs.

* The Tampa Bay Rays beat the Cleveland Indians, 6-5 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. Jason Bartlett singled Carl Crawford home with the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Detroit Tigers, 6-3 at Comerica Park in Detroit.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Kansas City Royals, 15-5 at U.S. Cellular Field (now Rate Field) in Chicago.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 6-5 at Miller Park (now American Family Field) in Milwaukee.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Texas Rangers, 4-1 at Rangers Ballpark (now Choctaw Stadium) in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Houston Astros, 4-2 at Minute Maid Park (now Daikin Park) in Houston.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Colorado Rockies, 9-7 at Coors Field in Denver.

* The Florida Marlins beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 2-0 at Chase Field in Phoenix. How many Marlin pitchers does it take to pitch an 8-hit shutout? This time, 6: Alex Sanabia allowed 5 hits over 3 1/3rd innings, Burke Badenhop none in 2/3rds of an inning and credited as the winning pitcher, Brian Sanches none over 2, José Veras none in 1, Clay Hensley 2 in 1, and Juan Carlos Oviedo 1 in 1.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Chicago Cubs, 7-0 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Vicente Padilla allowed 2 hits over 8 innings, and Hung-Chih Kuo completed the 4-hit shutout.

* And the Oakland Athletics beat the Los Angeles Angels, 5-2 at the Oakland Coliseum.

March 17, 2012: The Fabrice Muamba Game

March 17, 2012: One of the scariest moments in the history of sports occurs, leaving fans around the world on edge for hours. It was one of the earliest such moments spread worldwide by social media.

Fabrice Ndala Muamba was born on April 6, 1988 in Kinshasa, Zaire -- now the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In 1994, the family fled the civil war-torn country and moved to England. In 2005, Fabrice signed to play for North London soccer team Arsenal as a midfielder. But, with the team having a surplus of midfielders, he made only 2 first-team appearances, and was sent on loan to Birmingham City in 2006, and they took him on full-time in 2007. In 2008, they sold him to Manchester-area team Bolton Wanderers. In 2009-10, he was named the club's Player of the Year.

On March 17, 2012, Bolton were playing an FA Cup Quarterfinal against Tottenham Hotspur, at White Hart Lane, the North London home of "Spurs." The game was level, 1-1 in the 41st minute, when Muamba suffered a cardiac arrest and collapsed on the pitch.

Referee Howard Webb stopped the match, and medical personnel surrounded Muamba, including Dr. Andrew Deaner, a cardiologist attending the game as a fan. At first, the stands were nearly silent, with a low murmur from the fans, as most were not sure about what had happened, as the attendees to Muamba's condition blocked their view of him.

Within 4 minutes, the home fans began chanting his name, a rare tribute from Spurs fans to any opponent: "FAB-rice Mu-AM-ba!" This was a traditional one-minute tribute, and the alternating of near-silence and the chant, minute-by-minute, made for compelling TV viewing.

Finally, with Bolton manager Owen Coyle and Captain Kevin Davies riding with him, Muamba was taken by ambulance to the London Chest Hospital. It was estimated that he received cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) for 45 minutes before his heart resumed beating on its own.

Because it seemed like he had died on worldwide television, and then because he'd been saved by the emergency medical technicians (EMTs) and the doctors after all, the whole world came together through social media in support of someone most of them had never heard of before -- a black immigrant from Africa to a mostly-white country, no less.

Webb finally ordered the match abandoned. The game was made up on March 27, with Tottenham winning, 3-1. They lost the Semifinal to Chelsea.

Bolton asked the Premier League to postpone their next game, at home to Birmingham team Aston Villa, set for 3 days later. The League contacted Villa management, which graciously raised no objection, and the postponement was made.

By March 19, Muamba's heart was beating without medication. He was released from the hospital on April 16, with an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD). Advised by his doctors to retire from playing, Muamba became a TV analyst for his sport. As of 2022, he is a coach in Bolton's academy. He has only played once since, in 2015, in a testimonial match for a friend, Ian Goodison.

*

March 17, 2012 was a Saturday. Baseball was in Spring Training. American-style football was out of season. There were 8 games in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks beat the Indiana Pacers, 102-88 at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse (now the Gainbridge Fieldhouse) in Indianapolis.

* The New Jersey Nets lost to the New Orleans Hornets, 102-94 at the Prudential Center in Newark.

* The Charlotte Bobcats beat the Toronto Raptors, 107-103 at the Time Warner Cable Arena (now the Spectrum Center) in Charlotte.

* The Dallas Mavericks beat the San Antonio Spurs, 106-99 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.

* The Chicago Bulls beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 89-80 at the United Center in Chicago.

* The Denver Nuggets beat the Boston Celtics, 98-91 at the Pepsi Center (now the Ball Arena) in Denver.

* The Utah Jazz beat the Golden State Warriors, 99-92 in overtime at the EnergySolutions Arena (as the Delta Center was then known) in Salt Lake City, Utah.

* And the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Houston Rockets, 95-91 at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles.

And there were 11 games in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers lost to the Colorado Avalanche, 3-1 at Madison Square Garden.

* The New York Islanders bear the Montreal Canadiens, 3-2 in a shootout at the Bell Centre in Montreal.

* The New Jersey Devils lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins, 5-2 at the Prudential Center in Newark. Yes, it hosted the Devils and the Nets on the same day. A month later, that would no longer be a problem, as the Nets finished their regular season, missed the Playoffs, and moved to Brooklyn.

* The Boston Bruins beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 3-2 in a shootout at the TD Garden in Boston.

* The St. Louis Blues beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 3-1 at the Tampa Bay Times Forum (now the Benchmark International Arena) in Tampa.

* The Florida Panthers beat the Buffalo Sabres, 3-2 at the BankAtlantic Center (now the Amerant Bank Arena) in the Miami suburb of Sunrise, Florida.

* The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Ottawa Senators, 3-1 at Scotiabank Place (now the Canadian Tire Centre) in Ottawa.

* The Carolina Hurricanes beat the Minnesota Wild, 5-3 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota.

* The San Jose Sharks beat the Detroit Red Wings, 3-2 at the HP Pavilion at San Jose (now the SAP Center). Martin Havlát scored the winning goal with 1:37 left in overtime.

* The Los Angeles Kings beat the Nashville Predators, 4-2 at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles.

* The Vancouver Canucks beat the Columbus Blue Jackets, 4-3 at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver.

* And the Chicago Blackhawks, the Dallas Stars, the Calgary Flames, the Washington Capitals, the Edmonton Oilers, the Arizona Coyotes, the Anaheim Ducks and the Winnipeg Jets were not scheduled.

February 25, 2007: Abou Diaby Kicks John Terry

February 25, 2007: The Final of the Football League Cup -- then known as the Carling Cup for sponsorship reasons -- is held at the Millennium Stadium (now the Principality Stadium) in Cardiff, Wales between London clubs Arsenal F.C. and Chelsea F.C.

Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger started 2 of his usual starters, Kolo Touré and Cesc Fàbregas. Otherwise, he started his younger players, who had gotten the team through the tournament to this point. In contrast, Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho started his usual starting 11.

Arsenal took an early lead on Theo Walcott's goal, his 1st of what would be 108 for the club. But Didier Drogba, Chelsea's diving forward, scored twice to give Chelsea a 2-1 win.

The game is remembered for a moment in the 57th minute, in which Arsenal's Abou Diaby went for the ball, and instead mistakenly kicked Chelsea's despicable Captain John Terry in the face, knocking him out. Diaby, born in Paris of Ivorian descent, is black; Terry had already been accused of racism, and there would be more such incidents in his career. So the moment was seen as symbolic by anti-racism activists in soccer.

The referee was Howard Webb, considered by some English soccer fans to be one of the best in the business, and by others as one of the worst. He recognized that it was an accident, not an intentional foul, and did not give Diaby a card. He did, however, give straight red cards to Arsenal's Kolo Touré and Emmanuel Adebayor, and Chelsea's Mikel John Obi, for a fight in stoppage time.

I didn't think Diaby was a good player, but he remains beloved by Arsenal fans for this one act. Which was an accident: If he'd tried it on purpose, he would have missed. (The other player in the photograph is Julio Baptista, whom Arsenal had gotten on loan from Real Madrid, and had scored 2 goals against arch-rival Tottenham Hotspur in the Semifinal.)

*

February 25, 2007 was a Sunday. Baseball and American football were out of season. There were 8 games played in the NBA:

* The New Jersey Nets beat their arch-rivals, the New York Knicks, 101-92 at the Continental Airlines Arena at the Meadowlands. Vince Carter scored 40 points.

* The Phoenix Suns beat the Atlanta Hawks, 115-106 at the Philips Arena (now the State Farm Arena) in Atlanta. Amar'e Stoudamire led all scorers with 43 points, and also had 16 rebounds.

* The Houston Rockets beat the Orlando Magic, 97-93 at the Amway Arena in Orlando.

* The Miami Heat beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 86-81 at the American Airlines Arena (now the Kaseya Center) in Miami.

* The Detroit Pistons beat their arch-rivals, the Chicago Bulls, 95-93 at The Palace in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills, Michigan.

* The Sacramento Kings beat the Indiana Pacers, 110-93 at the Conseco Fieldhouse (now the Gainbridge Fieldhouse) in Indianapolis. Kevin Martin scored 35 points.

* The Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Washington Wizards, 98-94 at the Target Center in Minneapolis.

* And the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Golden State Warriors, 102-85 at the Oracle Arena (as the arena at the Oakland Coliseum complex was then known). The Warriors consider the Lakers their arch-rival, but not vice versa.

And there were 7 games played in the NHL:

* The New Jersey Devils beat the Washington Capitals, 3-2 at the Verizon Center (now the Capital One Arena) in Washington.

* The Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 5-1 at the St. Pete Times Forum (now the Benchmark International Arena) in Tampa.

* The Dallas Stars beat the Vancouver Canucks, 2-1 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas. Jere Lehtinen scored the winning goal with 43 seconds left in overtime.

* The Nashville Predators beat the Columbus Blue Jackets, 4-3 in a shootout at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus.

* The Chicago Blackhawks beat the St. Louis Blues, 5-1 at the United Center in Chicago. The Blues consider the Blackhawks their arch-rival, but not vice versa.

* The Minnesota Wild beat the Edmonton Oilers, 4-1 at the Xcel Energy Center (now the Grand Casino Arena) in St. Paul, Minnesota.

* The Anaheim Ducks beat the Colorado Avalanche, 5-3 at the Honda Center in Anaheim.