Nigel de Jong has admitted he was lucky not to be sent off in the World Cup final.
Referee Howard Webb has been roundly criticised for not showing De Jong a red card for his woeful chest-high tackle on Xabi Alonso during the first-half of Spain's 1-0 win.
The incident has been viewed as the height of the thuggish tactics that were employed by Holland in a bid to stop their opponents' stylish passing game.
Tackles from Mark van Bommel and Wesley Sneijder have also been highlighted, whilst of Holland's starting line-up, only Dirk Kuyt, Sneijder and goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg were not yellow-carded.
Everton's John Heitinga eventually became the fifth player to be dismissed in World Cup final history.
But De Jong accepts he is fortunate not to have preceded him.
"Yes, I was concerned it might be worse than a yellow," said the Manchester City midfielder.
"It looked worse, although to be honest I didn't see the opponent coming in from the side.
"I was really focused on the ball and I caught him on his chest.
"It was a bit curious but he gave the yellow card so for me it was a little bit of luck."
Maybe that knowledge is why De Jong was not as condemnatory about Webb's performance as some of his Dutch team-mates.
The 25-year-old claimed Webb did not have a great game. However, he has seen enough of the Rotherham official to feel he is better than one single performance suggests.
"It is easy to blame the referee," he reflected.
"There were some strange decisions and everyone, in the stadium and on TV, could see we should have had a clear corner when he gave a goal-kick to Spain. On the next attack they score. What can you do about that? He will realise what he did when he sees the replay.
"But I am not saying the biggest fault was with the referee.
"I know him from the Premier League and have never had a problem with him.
"He refereed the Champions League final at the end of the season so he has a lot of experience.
"I like the referees in the Premier League. Howard is not a bad referee. But sometimes you don't have your luckiest games. Unfortunately, in the final, he did not have his luckiest game."
And, while it came alongside a complaint, De Jong actually expressed some sympathy for the man in the middle.
As a combative, tigerish player, prone to the odd suspension or two - he missed the semi-final win over Uruguay after picking up a couple of cautions previously - De Jong feels football's law-makers have gone too far in taking the physical element out of the game.
"Nowadays the pressure on the referees is so big," he said.
"There are so many rules from FIFA telling them what to do.
"It would be easier if they could concentrate on the basics and referee the game.
"Maybe I am a little bit old school. But when you see how football used to be, there were worse fouls then and no-one even whistled.
"It is part of the game. Now FIFA come out with all those rules and the game is not exciting for the players any more.
"Let football stay as football."
De Jong certainly has no complaints at how Sunday's game unfolded, even if the 14 yellow cards and one red smashed the previous record of six yellows from the 1986 final.
"It was a final. Everyone is trying to survive," he said.
"You have to win the game no matter what. Everyone had aggression and emotion on the pitch to win because it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."
That opportunity has now passed for De Jong, who will have a short break before returning to City and the fight for a first-team place following the arrival of Yaya Toure from Barcelona.
It has been suggested Barca could ask for De Jong as part-exchange for the release of another high-profile player, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, although the former Hamburg star cannot even begin to think about domestic matters at present.
"I will have three or four weeks off and we will see when I come back," he said.
"To lose a World Cup final is hard. I am really disappointed.
"But in a couple of days I know I will be happy with our achievements."
