Play Video

The second-place team from the Netherlands is home, too. Dutch coach Bert van Marwijk brought his defeated World Cup final players back on Monday.

The returning squad received a low key reception from airport staff in Amsterdam after their plane arrived from South Africa. Van Marwijk made no apologies for the way his side used rough-arm tactics to try to knock Spain off its stride.

Statistics show the Dutch will have to shoulder the blame, after one of the roughest World Cup finals on record produced 47 fouls, 13 yellow cards and one red card.

Bert Van Marwijk, Dutch Coach, said, “We haven’t worked out our disappointment yet, as we gave away a World Cup three minutes before the end of extra time. We were confident for the penalties, unfortunately it didn’t take place. But we understood that something happened in the Netherlands, we gave people a lot of fun the last few weeks and we can be very proud that such a small country came second in the World Cup.”