Robben happy to win ugly

Arjen Robben would be delighted to win ugly in the World Cup final on Sunday.

The present Dutch squad is generally regarded as the least attractive of the three that have reached the game's greatest stage.

"I would much prefer to win a very ugly game than lose a beautiful one," said the former Chelsea star. "We can still play attractive football but we can always rely on our good organisation as well."

Their first attempt came in the 'Total Football' era of Rinus Michels and Johan Cruyff, and, as will be the case this weekend, also featured an English referee in Jack Taylor.

But defeat to a technically inferior but tactically more astute West Germany was followed by a similar outcome in Argentina four years later, when Michels and Cruyff were no longer around but legends such as Johan Neeskens and Ruud Krol still were to bring a sense of flair to the 'Oranje'.

So, having won plaudits but no prizes all those years ago, Robben is quite happy to have the workmanlike tag attached to the present side. All he cares about is the result.

He added: "If you are organised, you know one goal could be enough, which has been the case so far.

"The point is, we are in a World Cup final. From now on how you actually play no longer matters. Of course, the intent is there to play good football but the result is far more important.

"We have heard enough of talk about how our football is very nice. But it gets you nowhere. We want to achieve something."

That is not to say Holland are without talent. Wesley Sneijder has enjoyed an outstanding tournament and is now on the brink of emulating Pele's achievement in 1962 by adding the World Cup to a treble achieved on club duty with Inter Milan.