It is probably the final most people wanted. Every host nation hopes to reach the World Cup final, and every neutral wants Brazil to be there too. I think the organisers will be very pleased with how this World Cup has panned out. But, in a sense, I think it is sad that the best teams have already gone out of the tournament.For me, Denmark were one of the teams of the tournament, good players performing with that extra ingredient which playing for each other can give you, that special buzz which means you can be almost better than your best. Yugoslavia, Argentina and England were all exciting to watch at times. And of course, Holland.Call me biased if you like, but I actually thought the Dutch were the best team in the tournament. It was a pity they had to face Brazil without Overmars, Numan and Bogarde, and with Bergkamp so obviously drained. On a better day, I think this Holland side could have beaten Brazil, though it is wrong to make excuses. I don't believe in ifs.Brazil have off-days too, andeverybody says they are not as strong as they used to be, but they keep winning their way to World Cup finals and fans of any nation have to give them credit for consistency of achievement, if not always of performance.So while I am sorry for my beloved Holland, and particularly sorry that they had to hang around to play in a stupid 3rd-4th play-off game when everybody just wanted to go home. The bright side is that they definitely had Brazil worried. I have never seen a Brazilian team under pressure like that, and that is a big compliment for the Dutch.That match could have gone either way, but every game was close once the tournament was down to its last eight teams. The margin of Germany's defeat was surprising, but they are an old side who had a man sent off early in the game. Every other game in the last week has been desperately close, which is why we have been seeing so many penalties and individual brilliance does not always come into the World Cup equation.Take Ronaldo, for instance. He hasnot had a disappointing tournament, he has played very well, it is simply the public's expectations have been impossibly high. Just because a player scores hat-tricks or stylish goals at club level does not mean he will automatically do the same in a World Cup.Clubs and domestic leagues tend to squeeze every drop out of their star players during the course of a season, so they come into the World Cup tired for a start. And you can never take it easy in club football and try to save yourself for a World Cup. The fans and the managers and the chairman back home will not tolerate that for a moment. Plus you are literally playing against the best defenders in the world in this competition, and especially in the knckout stages they are concentrating like crazy, knowing that one tiny mistake could send their team home.Brazil might have managed a big score against Nigeria, who have good players but are only just coming to terms with the levels of defensive concentration required for the later stages of a WorldCup, but it is a little unrealistic to expect Ronaldo or anyone else to knock in a couple of goals a game in normal circumstances. When you play more or less all the year round it is hard to peak just for a couple of weeks when the whole world is watching.Look at the goalscoring chart. Unless Ronaldo scores more than once at the Stade de France, it is likely the tournament's top scorer will have managed just six goals, most of them in the group stages. It's the way the competition has been going for decades.France must realise this more than most, their attack has been a bit blunt throughout the tournament and it was a defender whose goals took them to the final, but cometh the hour as they say.
