Arthur de Sloover was sprinting towards the corner, punching the air and yelling like a madman. His teammates, all 17 of them, chased him down and jumped on top of the stocky defender. Shane McLeod, the shy Kiwi who’s in charge of this expressive Belgian squad, threw a bottle of water some 50 yards away in celebration. He teared up and was jumping in joy near the half-line.
The Dutch players, some of them at least, buried their faces in their hands and sank to the ground. The crowd played along and the volunteers appeared on the pitch virtually out of nowhere, carrying the podium with the ‘Champions’ board on which Belgium would stand.
They were the world champions. Or were they?
Amidst the emotionally-charged scenes, everyone almost missed the calm conversation Dutch goalkeeper Pirmin Blaak was engaged in with the umpire. Blaak, once again putting up a heroic performance between the posts, claimed that the ball had touched De Sloover’s foot when the striker was trying to go around him while taking the decisive penalty – a violation of the game’s rules. A TV referral ensued.
