This time, the world got to see quite a show

This was probably the best World Cup since 1986.

Goals were up after the first round, the four quarterfinal games were as good as you get at this level, only two games were decided on penalty kicks in the later rounds, there was an attractive matchup for the final.

And then Spain and the Netherlands played that final, and an Italian intersquad game broke out.

Yo, Oranje, Spain has lost two games in 3 years - to the United States and to Switzerland in the first round of this tournament - and the Spanish fell behind in both games. So why didn't you at least try for a quick strike?

And don't blame the referee. Both teams earned all those yellow cards. This was an English referee who has seen all the dumb tricks Premier League players have to offer, not some guy from Mali.

Still, there were dramatic finishes, some great individual performances, controversy, and Diego Maradona. All of which were there in 1986 when Maradona combined with God to score a goal and led Argentina to a 3-2 championship-game victory over West Germany.

And South Africa had Desmond Tutu doing the hully gully in the stands during the opening ceremonies, vuvuzelas, Nelson Mandela making an appearance during the closing ceremony, and all those smiling kids who walked out with the starting lineups reveling in the biggest moment of their lives.

And there was France.

Every 4 years there are player revolts against coaches, even the one U.S. players attempted against Steve Sampson in 1998 during the World Cup in France. But this was so beautiful that new French coach Laurent Blanc has made the statement that he feels like he's going to the guillotine.

Thank you, France.

Uruguay's Diego Forlan stole the show, from the opening 0-0 tie with France to his shot off the crossbar on the third-place game's last play with Germany. He tied for the Golden Boot with five goals scored, and whenever he had the ball, everyone watching expected something brilliant.

After scoring 10 goals in four seasons with Manchester United, starting when he was 22, he has earned another shot at the Premier League.

Diego Forlan's curving shot off a setpiece into the upper right corner during Uruguay's 2-1, second-round win over South Korea. Or was it his 35-yard bomb over the Dutch keeper in the semifinal game? Or any of his other goals?

Spain's Iker Casillas getting a foot on a shot by the Netherlands' Arjen Robben in the second half of yesterday's game kept it scoreless.

Give it a C. Our boys fell behind early in three of their four games, tied England because of a goalie's blunder, beat Algeria on a miracle play, and lost to Ghana for the second consecutive World Cup. Individual players have shown they can step up on big clubs, but the team still comes up short outside of North America.

Portugal. Another World Cup, another joke of a performance. If you don't want to be there, let somebody else go, like Luxembourg. And take Cristiano Ronaldo, please. The idea is to try when you're on the biggest stage.

If there are any players under 23 years old in England or Italy, please step forward. One look at their rosters told you that these guys were in trouble. Germany used several of the under-21 players who won that age-group European championship in 2009. The final score then was 4-0 over England. The final score in this year's quarterfinal was 4-1.

. . . In 2014, and then look for Russia or England to host the 2018 World Cup, and the United States to get the 2022 event.

Don't hold your breath waiting for FIFA to approve goal-line technology. It makes too much common sense, and FIFA executives don't have much of that stuff.