your dislike of the dutch team is clouding your analysis, C.O. robben was the single best player on the pitch, by a mile. none of the spanish defenders could deal with him; if it weren't for casillas, he might have singlehandedly won the game. too bad for his country that he was the only one doing anything attacking-wise. sneijder and the others couldn't do squat against spain's defenders. that doesn't mean they were bad, it means spain's defense is good. really, really good.