FIFA World Cup 2006 is over

What an exciting month it has been, and with school holidays coinciding with the knockout stages I've been able to take in this World Cup like none other. The final was worthy of the occasion, with France and Italy both clearly deserving to be there and playing attacking football for nearly all of their 120 minutes. Sadly, it was decided by a shootout, and even then there was a bee's dick between the teams. Neither team clearly outplayed the other, though both had their moments. There can be no complaint with Italy's victory. I was supporting France, but Zidane ruined that by headbutting Materazzi and consequently being sent off. No doubt Materazzi deserved it: look into his past and he appears to be a prick of the highest order, right up there with Christiano Ronaldo. But Zidane clearly couldn't go unpunished for his assault. A tragic way to end a wonderful career, but I don't think it will overpower it.

The Socceroos, Australia's team, impressed the world with their skill, teamwork, and brave spirit that saw them gain two crucial results from behind (3-1 over Japan and a 2-2 with Croatia to progress to the round of 16). The matches they played provided incredible excitement for us fans and inspired genuine pride. Harry Kewell should have been punished for his verbal abuse of the referee after the Brazil game, and Brett Emerton let himself and his team down by collecting three yellow cards, but both of those players made great contributions. I hope that next time Australia makes the finals there are no such bad news stories.

Our game against Italy in the round of 16 will always be considered controversial because Italy won it in the dying seconds with a slightly dodgy penalty. However, the Socceroos never showed during the game that they were the better team, whereas Italy did. An Italian was incorrectly sent off which gave us 40 minutes with a one man advantage. It was only then that we dominated play, but we didn't get a goal, which is, more or less, all that counts. Italy didn't score a goal in general play either, but created several chances in the first half, and often looked very dangerous. I can't imagine the score would remain 0-0 after 90 minutes if Materazzi hadn't been sent off.

And the penalty? If a defender goes to ground, he'd better make sure he gets the ball. Neill went to ground, not for a tackle but to block a potential shot or cross. The problem is that he was never in the hunt for the ball, but he ended up too close to the player. Grosso was playing for the penalty, no doubt, but I don't consider that he dived. His path towards the goal was illigitemately obstructed by this defender laying on the ground. Neill didn't trip Grosso, but he got in the way and didn't leave enough room for Grosso to continue his play. Fall, foul, penalty, goal, game over. It was a cruel way to end the game when extra time was seconds away, but Italy's attack in the dying seconds did leave the Australian defence desparate, which is why Neill – one of the best defenders of any team in the tournament, except for that moment – did what he did.

There were plenty of positives in that game for Australia, starting with the very fact of competing against a world class team (the eventual champions, no less) in a knockout game. That in itself ensures Australian football will be taken seriously from now on. The way the players stamped their style on the game instead of playing reactive football was also very impressive. But with Kewell out injured, we didn't have a playmaker capable of penetrating the penalty area. And the few opportunities we had needed a better striker to make them count. Australia were very well coached, very fit, and very committed. None of these can be taken for granted in the next World Cup. If we are fortunate enough to obtain a suitable replacement for Hiddink, there are obvious areas that need to be improved. South Korea crashed out in this World Cup after a spectacular run last time. We'd better not do the same!

The future of Australian football is bright: we're now in the Asian confederation instead of Oceania. This means better competition, regularly. Playing against Japan and Korea, and other good teams, to contest the Asian Cup will stimulate the Socceroos much more than playing against Fiji and their ilk. This will also make it easier to get into the World Cup finals in future. It's a shame that several Socceroos are tipped to retire now that they've shown us how well they can play, but with more meaningful opportunity to wear the green and gold, I'm sure that good quality players will be coming through to take us forward.

The refereeing generated more headlines than the real action at times, but this was only sometimes deserved. Referees are supposed to enforce the rules, but players have a responsibility to play by the rules as well. In most games during the tournament, I think the refs did the best they could be expected to do, and I think that the spotlight should be put on players who don't hold up their end of the bargain. The amount of cheating in this tournament has been dispiriting, and the onus is on FIFA to do something about it next time. It's entrenched in high-stakes European and South American domestic leagues and even, sadly, cultures, but that doesn't mean it should be tolerated in international play. Video review by the fourth official during the game (with information being fed to the referee and without pausing the game) would help, or post-match video review by a panel. Blatant diving should be a red card, but the on-field referee simply cannot make such a bold call. With definite evidence and consequences, the players will pull their heads in.

There's some relief that the World Cup is over now: the kick-off times have been punishing on the body clock, and I can't afford all of my holidays to be consumed by sport. But it's been a great spectacle with many tense games, and the achievements of the Australian team are fantastic.

Tomorrow I can finally go to the dentist to replace the filling that came out about four weeks ago...