Bert van Marwijk plays his cards close to the vest
Reporting from Johannesburg — This whole world championship thing is nothing new to Dutch Coach Bert van Marwijk. Sure, Netherlands has never won a World Cup. Neither for that matter has Spain, its opponent in Sunday’s World Cup final.
But during his only year as a player with Holland’s national team — he appeared in part of one game — Van Marwijk and his father teamed to win a world championship at the Dutch card game Klaverjassen.
“You know your stuff,” Van Marwijk complimented a questioner who brought up that fact at Saturday’s news conference, which followed a brisk but relaxed hourlong workout by the Dutch team. “It was great fun, by the way.”
And clearly, Van Marwijk hasn’t forgotten the skills he honed while playing cards. Like how to bluff even when you’re holding a full house and how to keep others from knowing what you’re thinking.
Van Marwijk is carrying some high cards into the final. The Dutch haven’t lost in this World Cup — not even in qualifying — and come into the final riding a 25-match unbeaten streak. Yet the youthful 58-year-old said he spent the day before the biggest match of his career walking around a Johannesburg zoo.
Asked repeatedly how he planned to attack Spain’s ball-control offense, Van Marwijk bluffed his way around the questions. But he did show his cards at one point when asked about the importance of the match for the Netherlands.
“It’s unbelievable,” he said. “It’s the most important match in my football career. And it’s the same for all the players.
“No Dutch player has ever become a world champion in football. That’s something special. But still we have to approach it as any ordinary game.”
Happy camper
Spanish Coach Vicente del Bosque has such a dour countenance, he makes Alabama Coach Nick Saban — from that other football — seem positively giddy by comparison.
But asked Saturday whether a Spain win in Sunday’s World Cup final could make him smile, Del Bosque actually managed a laugh.
“Certainly,” he said between chuckles. “The emotions are there, they’re just kept inside. But in that instance, I’ll tell my body to let it out.”
And the other 4%?
Remember the botched goal calls that cost the U.S. and England important scores? Or the missed offside and handball calls that gave Argentina and Brazil scores they didn’t deserve?
Apparently FIFA doesn’t. On Saturday, Jose-Maria Garcia-Aranda — said an analysis of the first 62 World Cup matches showed referees got more than 96% of their decisions right.
“It is a big success,” he told a news briefing. “We have to say it is not an opinion [but] facts.”
FIFA acknowledged that referees made errors, though in “only a few” matches. Overall, Garcia-Aranda said, “The refereeing in this tournament has been more than good.”
Platini to attend final
UEFA president and French former World Cup star Michel Platini was released from the hospital Saturday morning and is expected to attend Sunday’s final.
Platini was hospitalized overnight after collapsing in a restaurant Friday evening. A FIFA spokesperson told the Associated Press that “all the medical tests conducted were normal.” A person close to Platini blamed the fainting on flu-like symptoms and South Africa’s cold winter weather.
