Scott Walker Column

Published 14 Jul 2010 10:35 0 Comments

THE World Cup final was a big disappointment and I felt it was a shame the Dutch opted to play so negatively.

The Oranje set out to frustrate the Spanish, it seemed they had set their stall out to boot them off the pitch. I read comments from the Dutch manager blaming English referee Howard Webb for making bad decisions which he claimed cost his side, but I felt Webb had a good game and after watching all the bookings he made, believe he got them right, including the sending off.

Spain deserved to be crowned world champions as, aside from their surprise opening defeat to Switzerland, they were consistent throughout.

A lot of the big names didn't perform well in South Africa. Rooney, Ronaldo, Messi and Van Persie were all distinctly average. Other teams would undoubtedly have set out to nullify their impact but you still expect more from guys with that amount of talent.

The Germans were great to watch, they played well in the play-off for third place against Uruguay, a game that turned out to be far more captivating than the final.

Overall though, I found the tournament a bit of a let down, games were almost chess-like to watch, with teams trying to grab 1-0 wins - it lacked excitement.

Having said that, there were individual players who lit things up at times. Muller was awesome and Uruguay's Diego Forlan was a joy to watch. And what an achievement for Uruguay, with a population of 3.5 million, to make it to the semi-final. The SFA should be sending people over there to learn what they are doing at youth level and look at how we can replicate their success.

Scotland will now face world champions Spain - who are also European champions - in the qualifying games for Euro 2012, quite a proposition. But our lads will undoubetdly give 100 per cent in those games, so you never know.

Like a lower level SPL team going to the Old Firm, they always lift their game, and from time to time cause an upset. Let's hope we can do just that against the Spanish. Closer to home, Alloa were in Oban at the weekend to take on some top SPL sides in the Keyline Cup. It was a shame we only won one match, against Oban Saints, but there were some good performances from our lads and we lost some unlucky goals.

Mick Dunlop and David McClune impressed and it was a cracking fitness exercise for the whole squad, but we need more games under our belt before we play Dundee in the Challenge Cup at the end of the month - I think we'd be looking for at least three more before then.

Next week, I'll give you my reaction to Saturday's pre-season friendly against Sauchie and preview our Challenge Cup tie at Dundee.

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