Holland's Dirk Kuyt blamed referee Howard Webb for his team's failure to win the World Cup on Sunday night.
The English official brandished 14 yellow cards and one red - for Johnny Heitinga in extra-time - in a fiery encounter that did nothing to get neutrals on the side of the Dutch.
Webb was booed by a section of the crowd at the end of the game and Liverpool forward Kuyt believes Webb's trigger happy nature contributed to their defeat.
"We are angry that we lost because we came so close. I know you cannot blame others, but the referee favoured Spain," Kuyt said.
"We had many more yellow cards than we deserved. That ultimately cost us the cup."
Dutch coach Bert van Marwijk, meanwhile, believes criticism from Spanish supporters after Webb refereed their defeat to Switzerland at the start of the tournament may have been playing on his mind.
"I don't think the referee controlled the match well. But let me be clear about this: the best team won the match," he said.
"I'm trying to analyse the match as best as possible. But I read a few things today about how angry Spain were at the refereeing in the first match against Switzerland.
"If you view the performance (of the referee) today, you'd almost think now that that first match had an influence on this game now."