Los Meringues made to look like Puddings

With only hours to go until FIFA’s vote over the destination of the 2018 and 2022 world cups, Spain delivered their ‘ace up the sleeve’ on Monday night which may sway the panel to vote ‘Iberia 2018’.

The venue was the iconic Nou Camp stadium in Barcelona, one of the centre pieces of the joint bid, where the hosts took on fierce rivals Real Madrid in a league encounter. Pep Guardiola’s home grown Catalonian’s showed not just La Liga what they were made of, but the rest of Europe as they destroyed and outclassed Jose Mourinho’s hapless Real Madrid in a 5-0 romp.

It would be hard to find anyone who wasn’t impressed by the sort of spectacle Spain’s top two provided. No doubt FIFA president Sepp Blatter will have been salivating as Argentine Lionel Messi orchestrated Barca’s dominant midfield that included unsung maestros Xavi and Andres Iniesta. David Villa was the cherry on top of the cake as he chipped in with a brace to cap a performance that will long be remembered. At times Barcelona had up to 72% possession - a phenomenal statistic when considering the opposition.

Ok, so there isn’t much competition to be had in the league and it’s certainly a two horse race for the title as both sides have only dropped 12 points combined in 26 games. The lack of contests could perhaps work against them, as the English equivalent, the Premier League has never been more entertaining. Yet this is an unfortunate reflection of the lack of quality in an ever deteriorating league where one of the poorest Manchester United sides in recent history remains somehow unbeaten sitting top of the pile after defeating Blackburn Rovers 7-1.

The passionate number of fans in England has often been the nub of our bid. However, this is the same in Spain and emotions can even run high on the pitch as Sergio Ramos proved when getting sent off (again) for a cynical foul on Messi. It resulted in a spectacular yet ugly brawl including national team goalkeepers Iker Casillas and Victor Valdes eyeballing one another on the half way line with only seconds remaining in the game.

The unsavoury scenes are a hindrance admittedly and Russia, another contender for the bid has its problems too. There have been instances which infuriate many English fans, from racist banners to hooliganism on the final day of the season as Zenit St Petersburg strolled to the title. The bid wouldn’t be looked at twice by FIFA if these issues were prominent (as it used to be 25 years ago) on these shores.

The FIFA vote ultimately rests on 22, not 24, men who have been shown the strengths of respective bids and claim to know the weaknesses of each. If they go with their head, we shall rejoice from Brighton to Barnsley. If, as I fear, they go with their hearts, it’s siesta and sangrias galore from Braga to Bilbao.