Sir, – I agree with Ken Early’s analysis of the World Cup final – the referee didn’t want to spoil the game, so he let the players play by their own rules. Any chance that when the next time 1.8 billion people are watching a boring soccer match, the referee might be substituted at halftime? – Yours, etc, DERMOT O’ROURKE, Lucan, Dublin.Sir, – Just before sitting down to watch the eagerly anticipated World Cup final between Spain and Argentina on television, I had applied the final coat of paint to the kitchen ceiling.During the course of the game – a lamentably mind-numbing affair – I occasionally glanced up at the ceiling to see how the paint was drying.It would be no exaggeration to say that I got marginally more satisfaction out of watching the paint dry than I did from watching the actual match. What an anticlimax. – Yours, etc,PAUL DELANEY,Dalkey,Dublin.Sir, – Why don’t the soccer authorities do what they do in Croke Park when there is an injury or whatever stoppage? Stop the clock? It’s a no-brainer. – Yours, etc,PAUL DORAN, Clondalkin, Dublin 22.Sir, – Quote of the day should go to RTÉ commentator Darragh ”I know” Maloney before the final. He said: “This place is packed to the rafters.” There was no roof on the stadium. If Ray Houghton pointed this out to him, he no doubt would have said: ”I know.” – Yours, etc,DERMOT FOLEY,Kimmage Road West,Dublin. Sir, – Regarding the article: Rating the World Cup pundits: the mad, the bad, and the Roy Keane ad, July 20th: Mary Hannigan 10/10. – Yours, etc,HELEN NOONAN, Ranelagh. Dublin 6.