Running Log: 28 October 2010

So I ran the next day during the day (4pm ish) and I guess I am just that out of shape because though I ran a slightly different route and got slightly confused as to my mile marker and therefore ran about an extra 200m on the first "mile", I ran the first mile in 08:32 and the second in 10:03.

The following Sunday I was sick and have been recovering slowly this week so I haven't run again, but Abby and I have done workout videos indoors for some cardio. I'm hoping to get back running soon since I'd really like to get back to where I can easily meet the USSF international fitness requirements one of which is to run at least about a 7 minute mile for 2700m (~1.7 miles). One of the other requirements is to do at least 10 laps on a 400m track alternating 150m sprint in 30s with a 50m walk in 35s. That's a about an 08:45 minute mile on average, but with the sprints at at least a 05:20 minute mile pace.

At this point I could probably last a mile doing the sprint/walk routine, and probably do one mile at the 7 minute mile pace, but not one after the other and I'd likely collapse after either one.

Running Log: 27 October 2010

I've started running again to try and get in better shape for refereeing. Last night I ran 2 miles. The first mile was 08:34 and I finished in 18:08 for a second mile of 09:34. I was tired on the second mile, but I also ran at 2100 (aka 9pm) and the route I took was very dark (very few streetlights) for about 2/3 of that second mile so I was a little more cautious as well.

Cooking

While Abby and Daniel are away visiting family and friends, I've had to fend for myself meal-wise. For me, this is an opportunity to experiment. A couple years ago I found a couple recipes from Mastering the Art of French Cooking and played around. My mom got me the actual book for Christmas and I've since made recipes from it when I can. So last Wednesday I got some steaks and attempted to make Pan-broiled Steak with Bearnaise Sauce.

The steak turned out well, the vegetables were okay,


but the sauce didn't make it.


It actually worked out because after the sauce broke and I tried to recover it, I tasted it near the end to check the flavoring and I found that the vermouth I had used had gone bad. So I ended up using some of the melted butter that hadn't yet been added to the sauce instead.

I really need to work on my timing. The vegetables over-cooked while I was trying to save the sauce and the sauce broke because I was checking the vegetables and steak.

Supremes de Volaille a l'Ecossaise

(or the more correct, but not as google-able "Suprêmes de Volaille à l’Écossaise")

I cooked this recipe from Mastering the Art of French Cooking tonight. The English translation from the book is "Chicken Breasts with Diced Aromatic Vegetables and Cream". It went pretty well despite a few hiccups. The first hiccup was that we do not have a heavy, 10-inch diameter, covered casserole dish. This is a different dish than the glass casserole dishes you are probably familiar with. In fact I used a glass casserole dish and aluminum foil (for the cover) to substitute and it was okay, but definitely not a substitution I would make in the future.

The recipe calls for the venerable combination of carrots, celery, and onion (I substituted shallot) to be cooked in 5 Tbsp of butter in a 400°F oven for about 10 minutes. I forgot to cover the dish and also put it on the middle rack instead of the top which caused the vegetables to be almost spot on (perhaps slightly underdone) for my tastes, but Abby said she preferred her celery to be more well-done while the carrots were to her liking. After cooking the vegetables, the chicken was added to the dish and supposed to be done in six minutes more. I again forgot to cover the dish so the chicken was not done after six minutes. I remembered about the cover, flipped the chicken, and also moved the dish to the top rack for four more minutes. The chicken still wasn't done so I flipped it again and put it in for another four minutes. It was done after this.

While the chicken was cooking, I was prepping the sauce. It was supposed to be made with the vegetables after the chicken was done and removed from the dish. I didn't see how I could make the sauce in the dish using the oven and I wasn't sure Daniel would like the sauce so about mid-way through the chicken's cooking I decided to just make the sauce without the veggies in a saucepan on the stove. My second hiccup was that the recipe calls for one cup of whipping cream. Well, we didn't have any type of cream (unless you count Abby's coffee creamer). So I substituted a half cup of Daniel's whole milk and 3-4 Tbsp unsalted butter. This was a successful substitution. However, my third and final hiccup came when, in the middle of making my sauce, the chicken needed to be turned for the final time. As I was evaluating the done-ness of the chicken and deciding what to do, I neglected my sauce for 30, maybe 45, seconds. This was enough time for it to break. So, my sauce looked odd and didn't have the texture I wanted, but it tasted great. Luckily, this was enough for Daniel to scarf it down (even with the sauce) and Abby to rave about it.

So despite the broken sauce, wrong dish, no cover, and no cream, it was a successful meal. I think the sauce would be a little easier to make with the cream so I would use that if I had it. The chicken was bland (I forgot to add salt, pepper, and lemon juice to it) and looked like it might have boiled in the water from the veggies instead of sautéing in the butter. Abby said she didn't want to say anything about the chicken, but then the sauce came through and saved the day. So I think I would fix this on the stove-top next time unless I had the right dish. That would allow me to monitor the chicken and veggies better, let me put a little color on the chicken, and keep it from boiling.

Family reaction to USA v. Ghana

Daniel says, "US players, you have to keep the ball out of your net to win, here try again with my ball." (Our reaction to Ghana's goal in the fifth minute.)


Our mood the morning after the USA was eliminated from the World Cup.

Referee Rating: 2010 World Cup Final - Netherlands v. Spain

Howard Webb realizes the highest refereeing honor as the center referee for the World Cup Final. Darren Cann and Mike Mullarkey are his assistants as always. All three referees will hope that the talk after the game will be about the play and not their decisions. However neither Webb nor his assistants will be afraid to step up and make a big call if there is one to make.

14' Easy call for the foul on Puyol.

15' It was easily a foul by van Persie, not necessarily a yellow, but the challenge was from behind and ended up two-footed even though it didn't start out that way.

16' That was easily a yellow for Puyol.

18' Good call on the offside by Villa.

22' At least Webb won't be accused of letting van Bommel off easy. Of course van Bommel made that decision easy.

23' The challenge by Ramos was late and high, but not necessarily a yellow. It did look worse at full-speed though.

26' That looked like a foul by Sergio, not on him to me.

28' That was a dumb challenge by de Jong. Probably should have been a red.

31' Good advantage, too bad Pedro did nothing with it.

33' Busquets made no attempt to play the ball, just put a shoulder into Robben.

36' Easy call for the foul on Sneijder.

43' Sergio is really annoying me calling for a card for every foul committed by the Netherlands.

45'+2 Good call by Mullarkey on the offsides. While van Persie didn't play the ball, he did obstruct the view of the Spanish defender covering Kuyt.

First half rating: Good. 7/10. Some might criticize the number of cards shown so far, but it seems like they calmed the game down and all but one of them were easily classified as reckless. As for de Jong's yellow instead of red, I can only assume Webb saw it as reckless instead of excessive because de Jong only had eyes for the ball. It could have easily been a red though and it would be interesting to know what Webb thinks of the challenge now that he will have seen a replay or two of the challenge. I expect he might have second thoughts. It would be nice if I had a DVR so I could see Webb's positioning and de Jong's challenge frame-by-frame, but I have to make due with ABC's replays.

46' Iniesta flopped a bit there.

49' Neither van Bommel nor Xabi looked like they were trying to play the ball nor could they have.

54' That was a yellow only because of the position of the foul. Van Bronckhorst knew what he was doing.

56' Webb tried to play the advantage while Villa made a meal of that.

58' That wasn't "minimal contact" on Sneijder as Ekoku (commentator) said it was. It was a foul, but no more than that.

62' Great run by Robben, he was easily onside. Great save by Casillas.

67' Easily a yellow for that foul on van Persie. It looked like he could have stayed on his feet though.

68' Not sure what happened there with van Bommel. Great call by Mullarkey on a close offsides.

73' Good call for the foul on Iniesta.

78' That was not a foul on Iniesta. It probably should have been a yellow for him for his reaction though.

83' I don't think that was a penalty, but I'll hve to see a replay. Nope, an arm, but that wasn't even a foul by Puyol. That was a good card for dissent by Robben.

88' Easy call for the foul on Villa.

90' Easy offsides call by Cann on van Persie.

92' Fabregas dove. Xavi kicked Heitenga and then dove. What unsportsmanlike play from Spain. I'm firmly rooting for the Netherlands now. It had been half-hearted support since Robben was rolling a bit, but Xavi's insistence on a card for every foul on his team had me on the Dutch side.

96' Not really sure what the foul was on that corner.

102' Good offside call by Cann.

108' Easy call on the ball out of play.

109' Robben should probably watch his protests. Iniesta went down easily there. I'm not so sure that was a foul. If it was, then a red is correct, but I'm not so sure. Seeing the replay, it was a second yellow. I guess that's a more defensible call, but I still think the foul was soft.

113' There was no need for a yellow there, but Robben is on very thin ice. He's basically asking for a second yellow.

115' Webb missed the deflection...I'm not sure how. He's not had the greatest of games. His assistants have been great though.

117' I think Iniesta was offside there. Replay shows I was wrong and Mullarkey was right. Easy yellow for Mathijsen. He was throwing a tantrum worthy of a two year old.

120' Xavi finally gets the card he deserves, but it's actually not for a dive or dissent.

Ratings will come after dinner.

Updated 12 July at 1320 EDT:
Ratings:
Assistants: Excellent. 9/10. Cann and Mullarkey got every call correct even some very close offsides calls.

Game control: Pretty good. 6.75/10. This one is hard to rate because I feel that the game got away from Webb a couple times. That said, both teams, particularly the Dutch, were fouling pretty hard at times. I think the cards did calm the game and were pretty much all given for clearly reckless challenges or tactical (unsporting) fouls.

So, I might be harsh in my rating given the tough time the Dutch gave him. This appeared to be a very hard game to referee and keep under control, but I just would have liked to see Webb handle it better. Maybe no referee would have been able to do that, but given the way he handled the Champions League Final earlier this year, I expected more. I do think an above average World Cup referee would have completely lost control of the game so maybe even a great performance was what Webb put out and it was just a really tough game, but I still would've liked to see Webb excel.

Big decisions: Average. 5/10. I think de Jong's challenge should've been a red. The second yellow for Heitinga was harsh I thought. I guess it is a yellow if you think that's a foul, but I thought Iniesta went down at the slightest touch on his shoulder. I think he missed the biggest call of the game (de Jong), but his cards were mostly right and he was close to play to make the big calls. Even de Jong could been seen as merely reckless (which gets a yellow) instead of excessive or violent (which gets a red), but I still think Webb will see a replay of the challenge and think he may have gotten that wrong. I think some of the diving could have been dealt with, but the biggest flop by Xavi was kind of hidden from Webb from what I could see.

Overall: Above average. 6.5/10. A tough game was mostly kept under control. I think the biggest call was missed, but the yellow instead of red for de Jong is defensible in law. Maybe my expectations were too high for Webb, and my ratings reflect that. Like I said before, it's tough because it was a very difficult game and so maybe Webb deserves at least a "Good" or "Very Good" for giving us a game that was about the game itself and not really about him and his team, but it is what it is. If I can find Webb's thoughts on his performance and his explanations are convincing maybe I'll change it or maybe it'll confirm my criticisms.

So there's my incredibly wishy-washy ratings. I'm still not sure they should be that low, but we'll see.

Edit: After re-watching the final, I don't think there's many referees that could have handled the game as well as Webb.

Revised ratings:
Game Control: Very good-excellent. 8.5/10
Big Decisions: Good. 7/10
Overall: Very good. 8/10

Referee Rating: Germany v. Spain

Viktor Kassai and his team take charge today.

4' Kassai got the restart correct after that idiot ran on the field. Spain were good sports giving the ball back to Germany since they clearly had possession when Kassai had to stop the game.

10' Easy offside call for the far side assistant on Oezil. Replay showed he might have been just onside at the exact moment the ball left his teammate's foot. It looked quite close though and ESPN didn't draw a line like they normally do, but I think that call was wrong if only barely.

22' Good no call on the flop by a Spanish defender as Klose chased the pass back to Casillas.

24' Looks like the near side assistant missed a fairly close offside call himself. I think ESPN drew their line when the ball was still on the passer's foot and not just after it left, but the Spaniard was still onside.

27' Easy call for the stomp on Podolski. Lucky there was no card there on Ramos. He was late and seemed to be more focused on Podolski than the ball.

The pitch looks terribly torn up already.

36' Not sure there. Replay shows the far side assistant got that offsides call right.

39' Easy call for that foul.

41' Another easy call for Klose's foul.

42' That was not a foul by Boateng. Replay shows it was. It also shows that the near side assistant missed a not-so-close offside call.

44' That didn't look like a foul, but then I got the last one wrong.

45'+1 The ball had gone, but that looked like a pretty clear trip. Replay shows that was a pretty clear penalty. Oezil might have gone down easily, but Ramos seemed to pretty much foul his whole left leg.

First half rating: Pretty good. 6.5/10. Kassai hasn't had much to do and his assistants have missed some offside calls. The penalty shout at the end wasn't absolutely clear, and Kassai was right there. I thought it was pretty clear, but I am rooting for Germany so I'm not entirely unbiased. The game will pick up in the second half and Kassai and his team will have to step up as well. I hope they do because they haven't been exactly outstanding so far.

49' The near side assistant might have missed another offside there, but I don't feel like rewinding to find out :)

This is a chess match. It's fascinating that both defenses essentially need only one wrong touch to break down the attack.

54' That looked like a great tackle. At least there was no card. I thought that was two fouls in a row on Germany, but replay showed the referee just got it right I think.

56' Easy call for the foul by Trochowski.

60' Technically that was a foul on Villa, but not really at this level. He went down really easy too which I'm sure didn't help.

63' That probably was a penalty if the other one was. Well replay showed there was very little contact so that was the right call.

68' That was a foul barely, but Iniesta was looking for it and seemed to run himself into Klose.

69' Easy call for the elbow by Ramos on Podolski.

72' That looked like another flop by Iniesta. There was contact though.

74' Good wave off of offsides since the ball went straight through to Casillas.

76' That seemed soft. Replay shows Xabi got mostly ball and little of his man.

84' That again seemed soft. It looked like Xabi got that right. I don't know if he could have made that tackle without taking his man, but it wasn't a foul for me.

85' That was a foul by Puyol, but outside the box.

Good game, okay referee.

Overall rating: Okay. 6/10. Kassai and his team did alright. There wasn't a whole lot for them to do and I thought they missed more than they should have. The game was kept under control, but I don't feel Kassai had a whole lot to do with that. Both teams were pretty reserved and cautious. There weren't really any hard tackles or any dirty play by either side.

Referee Rating: Uruguay v. Netherlands

Ravashan Irmatov is the referee for this match. He has been great this World Cup and I expect he and his team will continue to well.

13' The far side assistant has gotten some very close offside calls correct so far.

14' Irmatov was well-placed to deny the deliberate hand ball claim by the Dutch.

17' Great tackle by van Persie, good positioning by Irmatov to see it as a fair tackle and then call the later foul by van Persie.

18' What a shot!!! That was incredible.

19' Easy call for the hold by Uruguay.

21' Easy yellow for Pereira for his foul on Robben. He had little chance to get the ball and there was no need to take Robben from behind with both legs.

23' I wasn't sure on my first look about the foul by van Persie, but replay showed a well-spotted shove with his forearm.

27' Irmatov is handling this fracas well. De Zeeuw just got clocked, but Caceres only had eyes for the ball. You could make a case that it was reckless and therefore deserving of a yellow, but I think no card is the correct decision. Good spot for the yellow for Sneijder's reaction to Caceres.

31' Great tackle by Caceres and good positioning by Irmatov.

32' What a dive by Cavani. I know FIFA say if there's contact, it can't be simulation, but a card for exaggeration as unsporting behavior would have been just fine by me there. Not totally necessary though and it's probably better to ignore that sort of thing since that seems to be FIFA's position on it. Unfortunately referees have to do exactly as FIFA say even if it might be better for football to do otherwise. It tends to make calls a little more consistent, but I don't think it's worth it myself.

41' That looked like less of a great shot by Forlan and more of a mistake by Stecklenberg.

45'+2 Missed call by the near side assistant and missed header by Kuyt. It was a closer call than the replay showed thanks to Kuyt's perfectly timed run, but the benefit of the doubt should go to the attacker according to FIFA.

46' Good call by the far side assistant.

51' Good advantage and great save by van Bronkhorst

53' Good advantage. That was somewhat of a dive by Forlan.

59' Not sure what that was. That was kind of a dive I thought. A good tackle there on van der Vaart.

62' That looked like a bit of a flop by van der Vaart.

65' Easy call for the foul on Caceres, but I think he made the most of it. Replay shows he had the bottom of his spikes hit...So it was a foul, but there was no need for his yell and roll.

70' Looked like a good call on no offsides. It didn't look like Sneijder's shot was touched by van Persie. He wasn't in the keeper's line of vision despite what Ian Darke (commentator) says. Replay shows that this was the case. Great job by the far side assistant.

73' What a great header by Robben on a good cross by Kuyt.

75' Looked like that ball might've gone out, but then there have been a few called this World Cup that I thought were definitely in that were called out. The near side assistant hasn't been at his best, but the far side assistant has been outstanding.

77' Another good call by the far side assistant.

78' Easy yellow for Boularouz. Hmmmm. Replay shows he got all ball and it was a clean tackle for me. I think Irmatov missed that one.

89' It looked like a lot of the Uruguayan players were offside there. My own DVR-enabled replay looks like the near side assistant got that one right on.

90' That looked like a decent tackle by von Bommel, the early contact might've been a foul. Replay showed it was easily a foul by van Bommel.

90'+3 Not sure what van Bommel's yellow was for.

Not sure why an extra two minutes were added. The goal and van Bommel? Probably.

Ratings:
Assistants: Very good. 8/10. The near side assistant started off a bit shaky, but pulled it out. The far side assistant was outstanding all game.

Overall: Very good. 8/10. Irmatov kept the game under control and didn't fall for any diving. He missed only a couple small incidents and got all the big decisions correct except probably the booking for Boularouz. A great showing from a refereeing team that has done excellently this whole tournament.

Referee Rating: Netherlands v. Brazil

Yuichi Nishimura from Japan centers this match. I wasn't impressed by him in Uruguay v. France, but by all accounts he's been better in his other two matches (Spain v. Honduras and Paraguay v. New Zealand).

3' & 4' Some easy early calls to settle the game a little.

8' Good call on the offsides on Alves.

9' Great ball, easy call, Robinho was yards onside.

14' Easy yellow for Heitinga. He just reached out and kicked Fabiano. It was nowhere near the ball.

16' Robben exaggerated that quite a bit, but it was clearly a foul. Glad there was no booking there.

18' I'm not sure why Robinho is yelling there, he clearly pulled de Jong over.

22' Easy foul on Lucio.

24' That was a push by Bastos on Robben, but it wasn't anything that for me was at the level of a foul, Robben just made the most of it.

25' Great tackle by de Jong.

26' I didn't see the offside, but the far side assistant has already got several decisions correct and that was probably pretty easy given it came from a long clearance.

28' A little weak, but Kaka was clipped.

30' van Bommel made a good tackle but it wasn't a foul on either side for me or Nishimura.

31' Good advantage and a great shot and save.

32' The Dutch seem to be getting frustrated and are asking for nothing fouls.

33' Kaka looked like he tripped himself when I first saw it, but the replay shows it was a foul.

33' The call on the push by Robinho should calm the Dutch a bit.

34' Did the near-side assistant get that right? Yes he did. Kuyt did great to hold his run. Good awareness by Nishimura and Alves on that "trick" corner.

35' Juan had his hands all over van Persie. I think if he'd kept his hands down he might not have been called for the jump into/over van Persie's back.

37' Not sure why that was a foul, but if it is then it's an easy yellow for persistent infringement. That was a push and maybe a little kick too. Robben seems to be going down easily, but there he got hit decently hard from behind. Robben was braced and low and his reaction to the contact looked genuine so I think it was a good call.

39' Fabiano's time to go down easy. That was a blatant shove by Maicon. He tried to hide it from the ref and assistant, but the assistant still spotted it.

40' Good non-call for Fabiano's roll, but it looked like he kicked out at his defender. Maybe it was just part of the fall. Replay shows van Bommel had an elbow on Fabiano, but that Fabiano did kick out deliberately at van Bommel's nether region.

43' Easy call for the foul on Maicon, but he went down before contact and rolled a bit theatrically.

45' Some good non-calls in a row.

45'+1 Not sure why Robben didn't have a shot when he was ~22 yards out...

45'+1 It was a corner, but I always find it funny when players whine about those calls yet lie blatantly about them any time they can.

First half rating: Slightly above average. 6.5/10. He's done fairly well, but the game has gotten a little out of hand at times and it's not been completely handled at least as far as player reactions and attitudes are concerned. He's gotten somewhat better as the game has gone on so I hope he picks it up in the second half as the players and his team get more tired and the Netherlands get more desperate for an equalizer.

47' That was a good yellow for diving.

49' Not sure how that was a foul on de Jong.

51' That was a foul on van Bommel, but it was 50/50 and asking for a card is unnecessary. That tackle wasn't reckless and it was at midfield.

52' That was a foul, but never a yellow. van Bommel is really annoying me. He's asking for cards for everything.

53' What a mistake by Cesar and his defense.

55' Good offside call by the far side assistant.

61' Not sure whether that contact on Kaka was a foul, but he went over.

63' That hit

64' Easy yellow on de Jong, that's his 4th or 5th foul this game.Lucio's arm, but I think it would have been harsh. He was only a few feet from the ball and had his arm up to try and clear the ball not make himself bigger. A good non-call and good positioning by Nishimura.

68' What a great corner! Good flick by Kuyt and Sneijder was left alone to have a free header. Bad defending again by Brazil.

70' A foul by Alves, but I'm not sure why Nishimura called it back. He didn't seem to signal for the Dutch to wait for a whistle and they're entitled to take it quickly otherwise.

72' Kaka fell over very easily on the arm by Ooijer. He was loooking for a call I think.

73' Melo got a slight tap, but his reaction was dissent for me. Wow. That was a blatant stamp by Melo. An easy red card for that despicable act. I hope he gets banned for more than 3 games for that. Brazil are probably out at this point anyways, but he needs to have serious consequences for that. He was trying to hurt Robben by stamping on his knee. I have other things I'd like to write about that, but they're not appropriate here. That type of blatant disregard for an opponent needs to be eradicated from football. Emotions run high in these games, but there is no excuse for going after another player's knee while he's on the ground.

75' It was a foul on Robben. Robinho needs to watch himself. Lucio does well to get his players away before they get booked.

76' No need for that from Ooijer and we see why some refs keep their cards in separate pockets.

78' This game has gotten away from Nishimura a bit. He's not really had much control in this half.

84' Everyone is asking for fouls for every type of contact now.

87' Great tackle by Juan. Everyone's asking for cards for every actual foul now...

88' That's van Bommel's 5th or 6th foul I think. I'm not sure why he hasn't got a yellow yet. None of his fouls have been terrible, despite Lucio's theatrical fall on the last one, but he has been committing quite a few fouls.

90'+1 Even the normally cool Kaka is yelling at Nishimura now. It's pretty clear that Nishimura does not have any control over this game.

90'+2 Another foul by van Bommel and no card.

90'+3 What a wasted chance by the Dutch.

Second half rating: Average. 5/10. As expected, the game picked up in the second half, but Nishimura didn't step up.

Positioning: Good. 7/10. He was where he needed to be, which makes some of his decisions and non-decisions puzzling.

Game control: Poor. 3/10. This game got away from Nishimura and everyone, especially the players, knew it.

Overall: Average. 5/10. This game needed a great performance from the refereeing team and they gave an average one. Nishimura got all the major decisions right, dismissing the handball call on Lucio, the red for Melo, and other cards. He should have booked van Bommel though. He started losing control of the game late in the first half and completely lost it in the second half. He seemed to be a bit inconsistent in his foul calling and whether he saw through dives or not. I can't blame Nishimura too much, this was a very tough game. It will probably be the toughest Quarterfinal to referee though we'll have to see how Argentina v. Germany goes. Only the best will be able to step up in these types of games and Nishimura showed he was good by getting the big decisions right, but that he wasn't great by losing control of the game.

Referee Rating: Spain v. Portugal

Hector Baldassi takes charge of this match. I thought he was very good in Netherlands v. Japan so I hope he does well here. Good luck!

I've come in a bit late commenting-wise, but did watch the first 4', but didn't see anything major to comment on. I'm also going to leave some of the more mundane fouls uncommented on and concentrate on the game more with less pausing to replay on my own.

6' Coentrao was lucky to not give up a penalty there. That was pretty blatant off the ball shielding.

15' Easy call there, Xabi just needs to watch his cleats.

16' Ronaldo went down a bit easy there.

17' Easy call on the unnecessary kick to the shins by Puyol.

22' Easy call for the foul by Xabi.

24' Another foul on Iniesta. He was a little lucky to get the call I think.

26' Torres just held his defender.

27' Xabi needs to watch it. That's a few fouls pretty close together. He's not really getting close enough to the ball, he's pretty late.

31' Merieles was looking for a call there and there wasn't much in it.

35' That probably was a foul on Ronaldo, but he's not helping himself at all. The more petulant he becomes, the less likely it is that he'll get a call. Not deliberately, but Baldassi will notice those little dissents and it could affect him subconsciously.

37' It was a foul by Puyol, he wasn't playing the ball at all, but Almeida doesn't need to go down quite that theatrically.

38' Almeida was somewhat high with his boots, but Puyol made the most of that.

44' Easy offside call by the far side assistant.

First half rating: Above average. 6/10. This rating isn't really all that fair since Baldassi hasn't had to do much, but he is generally where he needs to be and is keeping the game under control. The possible penalty for Spain for the block on Torres is the only possible slight against him, but that's not a clear-cut penalty for everyone. The ball's already being collected by another defender and Torres was never really going to get to it. Technically that shouldn't matter, but in practice it seems that most top referees only give penalties about which there is no question in their minds and is fairly clear cut. You always want to be absolutely certain about your view of a penalty. But the "clear cut"-ness is different. I think this is generally a good practice at this level since diving and exaggeration is so prevalent. You could make an argument that Baldassi should have given a penalty there, but I think most international referees (and FIFA) would agree with no call.

48' Good spot on the shouldering off of the ball by Almeida on Puyol.

50' Puyol was looking for the foul there, not sure there was one.

53' That looked like more dive than foul when Busquets went down.

54' Almeida was kicked there, but again he went down with a little added flair.

57' Villa went over looking for something. I'm surprised there haven't been any cards for diving yet. There have been some players very close to simulation.

59' Easy offside call despite Portugal's protestations.

63' It looked like someone was offsides in that ricochet. Replay shows Xavi (who I suspected) was onside. However, my own replay is inconclusive for Xavi to Villa. I need a line on a replay from ESPN to see. My first instinct is that he was *just* offsides. Certainly not as bad as Tevez in Argentina v. Mexico, but it still might be another missed call in the Round of 16.

67' Easy call for the foul on Capdevila. Despicable that he goes down clutching his face though, he slightly hit his head, no need to try and exaggerate it into contact with the face.

74' Dumb foul by Xabi, easily a yellow.

75' Not sure why that was a foul *on* Llorente and not one *by* him.

76' Good tackle by Puyol. Baldassi was right there too.

80' Late unnecessary foul by Tiago on Villa. Not sure it's necessarily a yellow, but no real complaints.

85' Capdevila got away with that. Baldassi was pretty far away, but his assistant was close.

89' Not sure why Costa got a red card there. The incident was on the edge of the screen. Finally got a good angle and it was an elbow to the face of Capdevila. Good catch by Baldassi.

90'+2 Baldassi does well to step in between Alves and Capdevila.

Overall rating: Good. 7/10. Baldassi didn't have a lot to do, but he kept the game flowing, ignored flopping, and kept the game under control. He got the red card and his other bookings right. The goal was iffy as far as offsides goes, but very, very close even the replay was not totally conclusive for me. I think Baldassi made a case today for refereeing another game.

Referee Rating: Brazil v. Chile

Howard Webb centers with his assistants Darren Cann and Michael Mullarkey. England are out of the World Cup and while I'm sure Webb will be upset, he now has a chance at refereeing the final if he does well here. Hopefully they can avoid missing any goals or offside calls. Good luck!

5' Poor shot by Fabiano, but a good start to the game by all three teams. Not much for Webb's team to do yet though.

12' Didn't see the foul by Silva, but it looked like it was probably a push-off.

18' Easy call for the foul on Robinho by Carmona.

20' Good non-call on the fall by Beausejour. No protestations from him either. I don't know whether the teams know that Webb and his team are unlikely to fall for dives and exaggeration or whether the teams just haven't had good opportunities to try their acting.

22' Good advantage played for Kaka.

24' Easy call for the corner, but Beausejour was lucky his errant shot happened to flick off of Maicon.

25' Good spot on the push by Isla on Lucio. Webb also asserts his authority well in not letting Lucio whine at him too vigorously.

26' Easy call for the over-the-back foul on Alves. Webb asked them to wait for the whistle and they didn't.

27' Lucio went down very theatrically and I would imagine that is the reason a penalty wasn't given. There wasn't much in that contact either. I think the best argument for it not being a penalty is that Lucio didn't whine and moan like he normally does.

29' Good advantage. Bad striker's challenge. Late and nowhere near the ball. Easy yellow there for Kaka.

32' No foul on Bastos there, he just lost the ball. Good (non) call.

33' Easy call for the late kick on Alves. Maicon was lucky he didn't get carded for diving. He started going down well before he got to the Chilean sandwich.

36' Easy call for the push by Bastos. Webb did well to deal with Ramirez walking away with the ball too, "no more" is pretty clear and the hand gesture needs no translation.

37' What a flop by Beausejour.

38' Uh oh. That looked like Fabiano was offside. Nope, easily onside. Great call by the near side assistant. Daniel even clapped for the replay of Fabiano's goal.

41' Good spot on the jersey pull on Kaka.

42' Easy call there even if somewhat accidental.

43' Robinho was all over Vidal there.

45' Good advantage.

47' Easy yellow for Vidal. He got beat and just blocked Kaka off a good attack.

49' Fabiano just fell over. I'm not sure if he was looking for a call or not.

51' That was a foul by Gilberto on Valdivia, but the extra acting on the reaction was unnecessary. Webb was well placed and didn't look to be influenced by the acting.

53' Gilberto put his hands on Sanchez, but he went over quite easily. Could've gone either way.

54' Fabiano whines a lot. No replay to see if there was anything there, but he makes the most of every bit of contact which works against him. Since he whines at everything, even if there was something in that aerial challenge, it's a "Boy Who Cried Wolf" situation.

57' Good call by the near side assistant for the foul by Suazo on Juan. His arm came out ever so slightly and the assistant did well to spot it.

59' Easy call for the tackle from behind on Alves.

63' Millar got up quickly and didn't roll around which benefited him and Chile.

65' That could have gone either way. It did look like Fabiano started it off with Millar responding by holding his jersey.

68' Easy call for the foul by Fuentes on Fabiano. Didn't see the yellow at first, but replay shows a well spotted elbow in that interchange.

71' That was a dumb foul by Ramirez and an easy yellow. Sanchez' rolling around was, again, completely unnecessary.

74' Good close call Robinho was onside.

76' An easy call, Robinho was clearly offside on that play.

78' Sanchez says he took that on his chest, but he clearly handled that ball deliberately and Webb was right there to spot it.

80' Easy call for the foul by Millar and the yellow. Nilmar didn't need to react like he did though.

81' Webb does well to have a word with Nilmar as that might have been a little bit of retaliation.

86' It was a foul by Alves.

87' Sanchez should probably watch his mouth. He keeps jawing at Webb over every call, but then, he's not going to be playing anymore and any card he gets won't bother him.

88' Easy call for the foul by Vidal.

89' Sanchez looks like he has a hot temper. Bastos wasn't doing anything terrible. There's no reason for Vidal and Sanchez to push him.

Overall rating: Excellent. 9/10. Webb and his team were in great form. They got all the offside calls correct and did well for the throw-ins and corners/goal kicks. Webb did well to ignore flopping while calling actual fouls regardless of the fouled player's reaction. I would be very surprised if Webb didn't get another game, possibly the final, but I'm not sure the procedure for refs from here on out. Would they have him do a Quarterfinal and then the final? Surely they wouldn't have him do a semi-final and the final. Good luck to Webb, Cann, and Mullarkey!

Referee Rating: Argentina v. Mexico

Roberto Rosetti is will be roaming the pitch for this match. I gave him an 8.5/10 for the Ghana v. Australia game so I have high hopes for a great game with great refereeing.

1' Bautista looked like he added a little bit to that fall. No foul for me.

2' Rosetti's letting these two Spanish-style sides know early that he won't fall easily for their theatrics. Di Maria just flopped. I'm not sure why he even appealed to Rosetti there.

3' That was a great tackle by Osorio. To be fair, Messi didn't look like he expected a call.

5' Di Maria went over easily again, but that one was a foul. Rosetti was right to have a word with the Mexican player who kicked the ball away in dissent.

8' What a shot!

9' Mexico are attacking well.

10' Rosetti is managing this game well. His warning to Torrado was clear.

11' Rosetti makes it clear to Mascherano that he is not just watching for fouls on Argentina's players.

16' Rosetti is getting very close to play as he keeps this game under control. As such that was an easy call for the foul on Messi.

19' Rosetti is communicating clearly with the players. I think he's managing the early part of this game very well.

22' Marquez did touch Heinze, but he made the most of it. Not a foul at this level.

24' Easy call for the foul on Messi.

25' Good call on the intial pass from Messi to Tevez, he was onside. Bad call on the second offside.

27' Rosetti needs to get people away from his far side assistant. The crowding is ridiculous.

28' Yellow for Marquez is easy. It's the fifth foul on Messi and seemed to be just frustration. Not really a yellow in and of itself, but a yellow for persistent infringement by the Mexican team is easily justified.

30' Messi was all over Juarez' back there. Tevez doesn't need to roll around like that.

31' Easy offside call by the near side assistant.

33' Well Higuain may have saved Rosetti's far side assistant there. What a terrible touch by Osorio.

35' Good tackle by Otamendi. Good off the ball management.

36' I'm going to give Higuain the benefit of the doubt and say that he hit the ground in frustration at himself and not at a foul not being given, but his look up at Rosetti as if for a call seems to disagree with that.

36' Not sure why that was dangerous play by Dos Santos. He and Di Maria had their legs at the same height.

37' First glance looked like a foul on Messi by Bautista.

38' That foul on Bautista looked less of a foul than the one not given that was committed *by* him.

Why are the MLS even playing during the World Cup? They did this last Cup and I still don't understand it.

40' Di Maria was fouled, but he's rolling around a lot.

43' Didn't see the foul due to replay. Harkes (commentator) didn't seem to have any problem with it, not that that really means anything.

44' Rosetti is calling those off the ball fouls both ways.

45' A foul but Heinze doesn't need to roll around...

45'+2 That was a dumb push by Hernandez, but Heinze needs to get on with it.

Rosetti does well to get in between the teams and manage this chaos. One of the Mexican subs is lucky he's not carded for sarcastically applauding Rosetti to his face. He's probably lucky Rosetti had many other things to deal with at the time.

First half rating: Above average. 6/10. This is again hard to rate. Rosetti on his own gets an 8/10 for me, but he's let down by his far side assistant. A terrible non-call knocks off 2 points for me.

I was playing with Daniel for the first four minutes of this half, but didn't see anything missed by Rosetti.

51' Good (non) call for the great tackle by Marquez to dispossess Messi.

52' What a shot by Tevez!

55' Good job just talking to Torrado there. Easy call for the butt-check on Guardado.

56' That looked suspiciously like a back pass, but replay shows it was more of a deflection from a tackle.

62' ***and break time since we have early home group to say goodbye to the Millers***

70' Good play by Heinze to head that out before it crossed the line. The far side assistant got down the line quickly and was in a good position to call that. Veron just pushed his opponent over.

71' Argentina's defense looked like they didn't really care for the last minute there, but Romero (the goalkeeper) just froze.

74' Good call, that wasn't handball by Messi.

75' Good call on the completely unnecessary push by Salcido.

76' Definitely a foul by Torrado, but not a yellow for me (or Rosetti).

78' No foul on Messi and no request for a call by him either.

80' Higuain probably was held, but no one but Perez (the Mexican keeper) was ever going to get that ball.

81' Good spot on the push-off by Higuain.

83' Good spot for the foul by the dirty-playing Marquez. He always seems to be really nasty when playing for Mexico and not so much when playing for Barcelona. He's lucky that wasn't a yellow I think.

85' Rosetti is doing well to get Rodriguez off the field. He may have a cramp, but he was insisting on staying down just two yards from touch.

87' Simple call on the foul by new sub Pastore.

90' Good spot for the foul on Burdisso. Again though, the Argentinian didn't need to go down like that.

90'+1 Torrado is lucky that's not a yellow for the foul on Pastore or for persistent infringement.

90'+2 Again, a foul, but Otamendi had no need to flop about like a fish out of water.

90'+3 Rodriguez was a little chippy with that push after the foul. I'm guessing Rosetti ignored it because there were only 30 seconds left in the game.

Rating: Above average. 6/10. Again, 2 points off for the offside goal given. Rosetti did well to keep the game about football and not cheap shots, especially later in the game when Mexico were getting frustrated. However, for the first goal, Tevez was well offside and it should have been spotted. I hope, like with Larrionda, Rosetti's assistant's mistake doesn't cost him a chance at another game and possibly the final (I'd rather have Rosetti in the final at this point, but Webb hasn't refereed in the Round of 16 yet).

Referee Rating: Germany v. England

Jorge Larrionda of Uruguay takes charge of this match. He was the ref at USA v. Italy in 2006. He's regarded as a top referee, but I'm not totally convinced. FIFA are since this is his fourth game of the tournament. He's already done Ivory Coast v. Portugal, Cameroon v. Denmark, and Australia v. Serbia.

4' I'm not sure about that offside call on Rooney. Lahm looked like he was trying to pass that back. It wasn't just a deflection for me.

18' Easy call for the foul on Podolski. Another good call for the foul on Lampard. Not sure why Khadira is complaining, he and Schweinsteiger sandwiched Lampard and Schweinsteiger got little of the ball. He got Lampard's knee first too it looked like.

20' Terrible defending nets an assist for Germany's goalkeeper Neuer on his goal kick to Klose. It's a bit of deja vu considering Ghana's first goal yesterday.

24' Dafoe went down easy there.

26' I'm not sure that was a foul by Klose.

30' Could have been offside there, but I doubt it. Yup, replay shows Klose was clearly onside.

31' I'm guessing Dafoe was offside. Again replay shows the referees are correct.

32' Wow. That was quite an angle on Podolski's shot.

34' That was a soft foul on Boateng.

36' Good tackle by Johnson.

37' Bad defending by Boateng. He just stood by while Upson had a free header.

38' I need a replay there, but I don't think the ball went over the line. Wow, that was clearly a goal. I wasn't completely paying attention, but I should have known from the spin of the ball and so should the assistant. You can't call what you can't see, but if ever there were a case for instant replay, this is a great example. Just saw another replay and the assistant was only 7ish yards away. He should have seen that. It wasn't even close.

45'+1 If the far side assistant thought that ball was over the line, it's baffling he didn't see the goal...Rooney was pushed, but went down a bit late looking for the foul. Good non-call.

47' Easy yellow for Friedrich on Dafoe. He was never going to get the ball.

51' Good advantage and call on the foul on Rooney.

53' Easy offside call on Klose.

54' I don't think Neuer was actually trying to waste time...I guess a warning doesn't hurt though.

57' My own replay had a little bit of a bad angle, but I don't think that ball went all the way over the line. This time the near side assistant called it over.

59' Mueller squibbed that shot. That was terrible defending and he should have done better. It was deflected and should have been a corner too.

62' That was a bit of theatrics by Mueller.

63' It looked like Johnson was fouled there.

66' Rooney certainly made the most of that block.

67' Not really sure why James went to his right when Terry was coming across to cover that side.

69' Again Mueller should do better. He could easily have gotten his second goal in as many minutes.

70' What terrible defending. Barry should have stayed more central and Cole could have then picked up Mueller and Upson might have had time to get back as well.

73' Easy call. Boateng wasn't playing the ball there, just blocking.

74' Easy call for the foul on Oezil. Rooney needs to be careful though his picking up of Oezil was hilarious.

75' Another foul by Johnson. That's at least three I think and two pretty close together.

81' That was a soft foul and Oezil went down easy, but if it's called a foul then it's Johnson's third in the last 5-7 minutes and fourth or more for the game so a yellow for persistent infringement is an easy call.

87' Easy offside call there.

90' Interesting call for the assistant to just see that ball out since, while Kiessling was offside, he never got to the ball. Though, he was the only one that was ever going to get to it so it could have been called. Either way it doesn't really matter.

Assistants: Above average. 6/10. The far side assistant missed the goal, and a few ball in/out of play calls I thought were wrong, but they got every offside call correct. It's tough rating that because of the disallowed goal, but I thought they were very good otherwise so I took off ~2 points for that missed call.

Overall: Very good. 7.5/10. Larrionda didn't have much to do in the second half thanks to the Germans, but he kept the game under control, was well positioned, and didn't go to his pocket unnecessarily. Despite my feelings about '06, I hope his assistant's missed call doesn't cost him another game in the World Cup, but given that there are only 7 games (that matter) after this round, I wouldn't be surprised if that kept him out if other referees have better games for the remaining Round of 16 games.

Referee Rating: USA v. Ghana

Again I'm not going to rate the ref live as I want to be fully focused on the game.

Viktor Kassai of Hungary is doing this game. He's already done Mexico v. Uruguay and Brazil v. North Korea.

Bleh.

Kassai did a good job. In my biased opinion he missed a couple other penalties. One in the second half and one in extra time (the push on Edu). Overall a good game though by the ref, Ghana, and the US in the second half. Our defense was always the weak spot, but I'm happy with the USA's performance this World Cup. We did much better than last Cup (though that wasn't terribly hard to do, almost anything we did would be better than '06) and fought hard.

Referee Rating: Uruguay v. South Korea

Wolfgang Stark aus Deutschland is doing this game. He's a very good ref and has already done well this World Cup in the Argentina - Nigeria and England - Slovenia matches.

4' Easy call for the foul on Ji Sung. Stark is managing this kick well getting in early and setting the tone for future free kicks. What a shot! I'm very impressed. I think that would've been the first goal scored directly from a free kick in the tournament had it curved 18 inches less.

7' Easy call for the foul by Perez.

15' That ws a dumb block by Jae-Sung.

16' If Perez had gone straight for the ball without pushing off he probably still would have won the ball there.

20' Not sure why Stark gave the advantage signal there. My own frame by frame replay shows Suarez being hit by something before the ball gets to him. I don't know if it was a coin or what. It would have to have been a tremendous throw 2/3 of the way across the field to hit him in the back of his head as it did. I wonder what it was.

26' Easy call on foul by Perez. He was unlucky to get a boot to the knee on the follow-through, but really, he caused it.

27' Easy offside call. Whoops. Replay shows I and the near side assistant got that one wrong. If the line ESPN put up is accurate, the assistant is a couple yards out of position for that call.

29' Logano looked like he might have hit feet with the attacker, but it's one of those where tripping is a foul, but an accidental trip like that isn't always given. I'm on the fence about whether it should always be given. Technically it's a foul, but then holding and pushing are technically fouls, but a low to moderate amount is tolerated lest the game become completely non-contact.

32' I'll have to see a replay on that tackle outside Uruguay's box, but it looked like Stark got it right to call no foul. From my own replay it looked like Pereira just barged the attacker over. I think Stark missed that call. He probably thought the attacker went over easily.

33' Easy call for the trip on Jung Woo.

35' I'm not sure Jae Sung did anything there. I need a better replay than just playing the incident back via DVR.

37' Easy advantage, but I'm not sure that push was anything different from others that haven't been called.

38' Good yellow on Jung Woo. He had his studs up and on Cavani's ankle. Getting the slightest of touches on the ball does not take away the recklessness of the tackle.

39' That was a great tackle to take the ball from Ji Sung.

40' Unnecessary push by Pereira and a little bit of theatrics from Jae Sung.

44' Lugano fouled Ji Sung, handled the ball, and then played dangerously. Pretty esy call I'd say.

45' That definitely didn't hit Sung Yong's right arm, but I don't know what it did hit. Replay shows it hit his left elbow. Stark was well placed for that. For me, Sung Yong raises his arm knowing he probably can't get his head or body in front of the shot. I think Stark missed that one. That's a penalty and a one-on-one with the keeper that the refereeing team have denied so far.

First half rating: Slightly above average. 5.5/10. Stark controlled the game well and let it flow. His near side assistant missed a close, but clear onside run by being out of position. Stark himself missed a deliberate hand ball in the box that should have been a penalty for Uruguay. He hasn't painted himself in a corner with cards. I think he only issued one this half. Were it not for the missed penalty call and the wrong offside call, this would be a very good rating. I expected more for those big decisions though. They mean so much more in football as opposed to basketball or other higher scoring sports. I hope those missed calls don't influence the final result. Though since the USA could play the winner here, I *would* rather we play South Korea than Uruguay based on the performances so far.

53' Easy call for the foul on Sung Yong.

56' Easy call for the foul by Perez. The ESPN commentator (Robbie Mustoe) is right, by my count that is the fourth foul by Perez. I'm not sure Perez needs the yellow nor does the game, but four fouls at this level normally would net you a caution. I think Stark is fine not issuing a card, but for consistency across refereeing at the tournament you could argue for one.

64' That was a foul on Chu Young, but those types of off-the-ball fouls are rarely called in the box and I think the unsignalled advantage played by Stark is consistent with international refereeing standards. Whether it's right or not is another question. Perez is wasting time here and Stark does well to let him know he's watching that.

66' Not sure how that was a foul by Dong Gook. It looked like he was being held. The assistant was right there too.

67' Good non-call on Suarez' search for a free kick in a dangerous area. Lugano jumped into and over Ji Sung there. Easy call.

69' Not sure about a booking for Du Ri. Nevermind, replay shows his studs were up and he came in slightly late and high on Pereira's ankle.

70' Stark did well to catch Lugano's pushing before the kick. I'm pretty sure Sung Ryong didn't carry the ball over the line, but it was a dangerous step backwards. Good education from Derek Rae on the fact it is the position of the ball that matters. The position of the player is irrelevant unlike most other major American sports.

72' Looked close on the Suarez offside. Replay shows he was offside by about a half-yard (if the lines on the field are actually straight). The assistant is in line with Suarez and leaning to break down-field. It was tough since the ball was played from close to that far side and switching between the ball and offside is very difficult. I can only assume the sound of the ball being kicked was somewhat drowned out by the vuvuzelas. A tough call, but I think the far side assistant got it wrong.

74' Much easier onside call there on Suarez.

80' What a great shot by Suarez! Stark may have been saved with that strike.

82' Good non-call on the tackle by Perez.

83' Easily a yellow for a series of fouls by Yong Hyung on Perez.

87' Dong Gook was onside, good job by the near side assistant.

89' Dong Gook had a good hold of Lugano's shirt. Good decision. Definitely not a penalty.

90' Not sure why Stark didn't call the push on Forlan. He was right there. He seemed to play advantage, but gave no signal. I think he called hand ball there at the end though.

Ratings:
Second half: Above average. 6/10. A couple missed offside calls and fouls, but Stark got the big decisions right and exerted just the right amount of control to give us a good, flowing game.

Assistants: Average. 5/10. The near side assistant was out of position and called an offside that wasn't. The far side assistant was slightly out of position, but not by much though it was enough that he missed a tough, close, but clear offside call. There were also a few fouls missed or called what I think was the wrong way.

Big decisions: Average. 5/10. I think the hand ball in the first half clearly was a penalty. Stark did get it right for the foul on Lugano. At the very least it wasn't a penalty. His cards were correct.

Positioning/fitness: Great. 8/10. Stark was right where he needed to be all game. So it's odd that his decision making let him down some.

Game control: Great. 8/10. Stark let the game flow and kept the players under control and generally playing within the laws of the game and punished them when they didn't.

Overall: Average. 6/10. Stark picked it up in the second half and got the big decisions right then, but he had already missed a big one in the first half. If not for that blown call and a few wrong offside/onside decisions, this would have been a great game rating.

Referee Rating: Chile v. Spain

Marco Rodriguez from Mexico takes the center of the field for this matchup. Let's hope he learned from his colleague's first half performance and has a good game from the get-go. Something on the level of Archundia's second half or better would do just fine.

I didn't think Rodriguez had a great game in Australia v. Germany. Cahill's red card was harsh and it was a very Mexican-style of refereeing which clashes with my own refereeing philosophy. FIFA were apparently happy with his performance since he's refereeing again.

3' Pretty easy call on the sandwich. Hmmm. Looks like there was another foul I missed due to replay before that. Not sure why no advantage signal was given.

5' Easy call for the foul on Puyol.

7' Good call for the holding on Busquets.

9' Not sure why the word with Bravo was necessary, but at least he got a warning...Puyol was never going to get that ball without completely taking his man out which is what happened. Good call.

14' Valdivia went down easy, but he did get stepped on.

15' The yellow on Medel was harsh I thought. It was a foul, but nothing more than a talking-to was needed there.

17' That was never a foul by Torres. Vidal put himself between Torres and the ball and was already falling over in doing so. Both Rodriguez and his far side assistant called it...

19' Capdevilla's throw was fine, I'm not sure why that wasn't a free kick to Chile for his playing the ball after it came into play. A yellow for Ponce for a stupid kick at Torres' knee. He's lucky the ref didn't see more in that. It could easily have been a red.

21' That was easily a yellow for Estrada. It was a stupidly late challenge. Other than Medel's, the cards so far have been easy calls.

23' Ramos didn't make a play for the ball. If he had run towards it he might've gotten the result he wanted without foul.

24' Wow! The keeper had to come, but might've done better on his clearance. All he had to do was put it into touch. A great long range pass into the goal by Villa.

27' Easy call for the foul on Iniesta by Estrada. He would have been booked if he hadn't been already. I think that was a bad decision by Rodriguez.

29' Villa just pushed Sanchez from behind.

36' That was a penalty. Vidal made little attempt to play the ball. His primary concern was putting a shoulder on Torres and he did so with more force than necessary. To his credit Torres appeared to try and absorb the charge and stay on his feet.

37' I'm not sure about the second yellow for Estrada. He was watching the ball and seemed to merely accidentally trip Torres. Rodriguez failed to book him a second time for his foul on Iniesta in the 27', but two wrongs don't make a right. So far this has been another lackluster first half performance by a Mexican referee today.

40' First glance says Ramos was offside and the far side assistant was out of place to make the call. My own DVR-enabled replay confirms this.

43' Easy call for a foul on Busquets. Good gosh Rodriguez blows the whistle too much. That was a foul, and he needs to stop play, but it's gotta be the vuvuzela's influence I guess.

44' That was kind of a soft foul on Villa there.

45' Vidal did foul Iniesta there. He misplayed the ball, Iniesta got his body between the ball and Vidal, and Vidal just pulled Iniesta towards himself.

45'+2 Ponce is lucky there. I think Rodriguez is too close to see the stamp on Alonso's ankle or Ponce could have been sent off for a second yellow.

First half rating: Poor. 3/10. Rodriguez got almost every big decision wrong and let the the game get a little out of hand late on.

47' Spain's defense looked happy to let Chile get right up to the box. They deserved to be scored on there, but were unlucky that was what happened.

48' The foul on Beausejour was bizarre. No one else but Rodriguez seemed to think it was a foul. It certainly didn't look like much.

52' Good advantage played. Accidental arm by Paredes, not even sure that was a foul. Puyol put his face low. I'm iffy on that one. Parades had to know Puyol was back there, but he didn't look back and aim at Puyol. His eyes were always on the ball.

60' Easy call for the push on Ramos.

80' Very easy offside decision.

Man this is boring. For the last 25' neither team has done much. Spain had a couple of attacks early in that period, but the last 15' has been completely uneventful. The commentators' comparison of this play to the Germany - Austria in the 1982 WC is pretty accurate I think.

Second half rating: Average. 5/10. Rodriguez didn't have much to do this half.

Overall: Below average. 4/10. Rodriguez had a poor first half and never got a chance to redeem himself in the second half thanks to the dull "football" played by both teams. I would be surprised if Rodriguez got another game, but I've already been surprised in that regard with some of the referees that have done the 3rd group matches.

Referee Rating: Portugal v. Brazil

Benito Archundia from Mexico centers this match. He did the Italy - Paraguay match and was about on par with the refereeing to that point in the tournament.

5' Fabiano looked justified in having a word with Pepe. It looked like he kicked Fabiano as much as he was kicked, but flopped around. Archundia's intervention was good.

10' Easy call for the foul on Fabiano. Same for the foul on Tiago.

15' Yellow for Fabino's foul on Pepe seems harsh. Pepe really played that up. It was the second foul by Fabiano on Pepe (though I'm not convinced the first really was) and Pepe has made the most of both. I'm not surprised that a Mexican referee gave into the acting.

21' Tiago's foul was a bit unnecessary. As was Pepe's whining to Archundia when he's the one that kept going at Melo after the whistle. I was not impressed by his holding his arm and getting in Archundia's face like a child telling on a sibling. Melo's foot was unnecessarily high there. Archundia needs to make sure he manages this game and not just with cards. He did okay there, but seemed to miss the Melo/Pepe interchange. If he'd seen it clearly I think he would have talked to both players more.

25' Easy yellow on Juan. Given the direction of the ball and distance from goal, I think a red would have been harsh, but it probably could have been justified. I can only assume Duda said something rash because even an animated pleading would surely be easy to look past given the red/yellow question. He was following Archundia down-field, but he didn't seem to provide any huge public signs of dissent. It seemed an emotional reaction from Archundia. I get the feeling if Duda had said the same thing after Archundia had pocketed his card Duda wouldn't have been carded, but then, players do say stupid things.

26' Nilmar's challenge on Dude was stupid and an easy call.

30' Silva's push was a easy call especially due to Ronaldo's comical arm circles.

31' Excellent call on Tiago's dive and the card for it. Archundia was very well placed. That was a terrible dive and I'm glad he caught it.

33' Easy offside call on Ronaldo.

35' Baptista looked like he was trawling for contact but it probably was a foul. I don't like those types of fouls since the attacker could easily avoid contact most times, but there is contact. I consider it diving though because the attacker causes the contact. You could argue whether he has a duty to avoid contact, but in this case I think Baptista made something from almost nothing.

40' Melo made the most of that, but Pepe's stamp was only ever directed at Melo's ankle. I'm not sure I'd characterize it as violent, but given the earlier incident, it's treading the red/yellow line for me. He could easily have broken Melo's ankle and a red would not have been harsh at all. Not surprisingly Archundia had no word with Pepe. He seems to be losing control of this game minute by minute.

41' Melo is lucky he didn't get booked there. He went around the ball at Tiago's leg. I know the attacking team has a right to take a quick kick, but game management demanded at least a stern word with Melo there. As it is, it's another poorly dealt with situation and the game falls further out of Archundia's grasp.

43' And Melo is finally booked for his rugby hit on Pepe. For me that was excessive force and therefore a red. It's a foul born out of frustration and the knowledge that Archundia has lost the game. It was retaliation pure and simple and Melo should be off the pitch. In fact, it was so hard that even Pepe could not play it up with theatrics.

45' Dunga is wise to see what is going on. Melo is lucky to still be on the pitch and is a liability. Even waiting to half-time to sub him is a huge gamble.

45' Apparently Archundia's game control methods have devolved to showing cards for everything. Coentrao didn't deserve a yellow for that foul. The free kick was all that was needed. If anything else, just a talking to.

45' Juan flops in the box and Archundia sees through it. It could have been seen as a foul, but not by me. That's been regular contact this World Cup. Holding and pushing have been called a bit more (though not in US - Slovenia), but that was a well timed shield for me. Carvalho had a right to his position and Juan had no right to try and go through his back.

45'+1 Ronaldo is awfully selfish there.

First half rating: Below average. 4/10. This could have been a classic match between world powers, but Archundia's inability to step up and control the game when he needed to just isn't good enough. I hope he reviews some video during the break and steps it up in the second half.

46' Easy call on the over the back by Bastos.

47' Not sure why a yellow isn't issued to Danny, but play hasn't stopped yet so maybe it will be forthcoming at the next stoppage. Well no card. Replay shows minimal contact and given FIFA's directive about contact I guess no yellow, no foul is right.

48' Good "wait and see" approach on that non-offside call by the far side assistant.

50' Very little in the semi-block on Alves good non-call.

52' Easy call on the foul by Alves. Not sure why Ronaldo is shooting there unless it's a prearranged set-piece to get a deflection.

53' That looked like a very easy hand ball call on Meireles, but Archundia and his near side assistant both missed it. Archundia can be excused as he was blocked by Meireles' body, but the assistant should have seen that easily.

60' Good spot on the tip by Cesar for the corner. Archundia was well placed.

64' Interesting how players are made to tuck their shirts in before they come on as a sub, but then they almost all untuck it within a few steps of entering the field. They're all adults and shirts these days aren't that long so an untucked shirt looks fine, but I think it's odd to have them tuck their shirt in in the first place.

67' I'll have to see a replay on that offside call on Danny, but by my own slow motion replay he looked onside by a yard. There it is and my instinct was right, he was onside by about a yard.

67' Block by Lucio might have deserved a yellow, but given the number of cards Archundia gave out in the first half, I don't blame his reluctance to reach for his pocket.

68' Not sure why that was a foul on Coentrao. Alves is claiming it was an elbow to his neck. From my own replay, it looked like Alves jumped into Coentrao's elbow more than anything.

70' Baptista looked like he was pushed over. He may have gone over a bit easy and thus the handball call on him instead.

71' Ronaldo dived there. Replay shows it was pretty blatant, he's lucky not to be carded. Archundia was pretty well placed.

73' Maicon breaks recent tradition of both sides going down at the slightest contact. Very refreshing :)

74' Easy call on the high foot by Ronaldo.

Other than the off the ball excitement and hard challenges of the first half, this match has been pretty dull. Not much good football from two teams that can play well. I know Brazil don't want to lose, but they just keep passing the ball around the back and not creating many openings or attempting to attack much. Portugal's been the better team to watch so far.

81' That was quite a theatrical flop by Simao. There was contact, but it was engineered by him and played up a lot.

82' Gilberto did foul Ronaldo, but the advantage was there. Those are tough since you'd think Ronaldo and Portugal would rather have a set-piece that close than a relatively low-percentage shot from Danny. So do you call the foul or play advantage? Advantage is the easy call. I'm still on the fence about those situations.

90'+1 Bad shot, good save by Eduardo on the deflection.

90'+2 Ronaldo should know by now that that type of shoulder-to-shoulder contact is normal.

90'+3 Easy hand ball call. Easy call on the sandwich foul.

90'+4 A penalty for Lucio's handling might have been harsh. His arm was up for the jump and he was blocked from viewing the ball clearly by Carvalho so he didn't have much time to react.

90'+5 Easy call for that push+pull foul by Ramires.

Second half rating: Above average. 6.25/10.

Overall rating: Slightly above average. 5.5/10. Not a good first half, too many cards, but a better second half. Whether it was because both Melo and Pepe were off the field for most of the second half, Archundia controlled the game better and without a single card too. I have to praise how well he stepped up especially given how many other referees have let down the game late on.

Referee Rating: USA v. Algeria

Frank de Bleeckere of Belgium did this match. My biased opinion follows.

It is not good enough for a deciding third group game to just be an average referee. I thought his handling of the game was average in the first half and went down from there. His positioning was generally above average, but his decision making let him down. He stopped play at one point when the US had a clear advantage and the injury clearly did not require immediate attention (26' Kadir fouled Dempsey). He was pretty consistent, but wavered at times calling fouls when he didn't need to and not calling them when he probably should, but this was the rare exception.

In the 12' Yebda made little attempt to play the ball and, while it was early in the game, it was a pretty easy call to reach for the yellow card at that point. I'm not sure why DeMerit was called for a foul in the 18', but de Bleeckere managed Gomez' encroachment well. de Bleeckere missed Boughgerra's foul on Jozy in the lead-up to the disallowed goal. It was a yellow for me, but de Bleeckere didn't even signal for advantage. As for the disallowed goal, it's close, but the near side assistant should have been in the correct position and from earlier glimpses of him, I suspect he might have been a bit out of position for the call which should go the attacker's way if there's doubt. I was surprised at Jozy's booking in the 62', it was dumb, but not hard, and way down at the other end of the field. I'm not sure why the far side assistant called a foul on Buddle in the 71' or how he missed Belhadj's kick out at Buddle. The assistant seemed to react to it, but then did nothing because Buddle didn't hit the ground immediately and writhe in fake pain as an Italian might have done. Yahia's first booking in at the 76' was easy. It was late and a cynical stamp on Jozy's foot. Quite how the refereeing team missed Yahia' punch to Dempsey's face in the 81' I don't know. The far side assistant may have been blocked by Donovan, but he should've been further down the line and thus able to see it. de Bleeckere was less than 10 yards away and looked like he had a decent angle, but the ball was elsewhere. As much as I dislike disrespect to referees, I think Dempsey was right to shrug off de Bleeckere's pacifications and have a sharp word at him. Dempsey had just been punched in the face and given a bloody lip and the man who's supposed to protect him hasn't been doing so and missed the worst foul all game. Lacen had no complaints for the foul on Jozy. It was from behind and stopped a dangerous attack. On replay, I think a red might've been harsh, but not unjustified. Lacen made no attempt on the ball and just stamped Jozy's foot, but given de Bleeckere's inability/unwillingness to protect Jozy up to that point, I wouldn't have expected it. He did do well to ignore Ghezzal's semi-flop in the 86'. Beasley's yellow for deliberate hand ball was harsh, but my slow motion replay shows it was actually a foul. I'm not sure why the yellow was necessary, but whatever. Yebda and Halliche should both have been booked in the 90'+3, but instead Yahia saw his second yellow and was sent off for pushing his dissenting players back and seeming to calmly plead his case. It was a bizarre ending to a lackluster refereeing performance.

Somewhere in there DeMerit also got away with some major shirt pulling in the box. He was lucky he didn't get a penalty called on him.

It all boiled down to this, that the USA stepped up their game in the second half, the Algerians stepped up their dirty play, and de Bleeckere and his team did nothing to step up their game, and perhaps even slid backwards from their (maybe slightly above) average first half performance.

Assistants: Below average. 4/10.

Positioning: Above average. 6/10.

Game management: Below average. 4/10. Did not step up when he needed to.

Big decisions: Below average. 4/10. Missed DeMerit's shirt-pulling, missed Dempsey being punched, disallowed Dempsey's goal, sent off the wrong player, spotted Beasley's handling, missed kick out at Buddle

Overall: Below average. 4/10. Not good enough for a crucial game.

Referee Rating: Ghana v. Australia

Roberto Rosetti from Italy is the center. He's one of the best referees in the world and has been for years. He's second in Graham Poll's rankings. He refereed the Euro 2008 final when Spain beat Germany 1-0. Rosetti is surely a favorite to do the final in South Africa if Italy don't get to defend their title. I expect a very good game. If Australia have a player sent off this game it certainly won't be down to poor judgment on the referee's part this time.

2' That was never a penalty. Kewell and Addy both ran into each other equally. Great early decision. Rosetti was close to play, about 13 yards away, lending authority and credibility to his decision.

5' Good call on the high boot by Ghana #23. Good awareness of the slight clash off the ball and talking to both players.

5' Holman has no reason to complain there, he didn't play the ball at all. His defender went down easily, but it was a foul.

6' Good call by the near side assistant, the ball wasn't out of play and he made it clear to the players.

7' Easy call for the foul on Kewell.

7' Kewell needs to stay on his feet. He went down under regular free-kick contact. If he keeps looking for penalties for minor contact like that, there's likely to be a "boy who cried wolf" situation later. I wouldn't be surprised if he gets a yellow for simulation or exaggeration.

10' Foul tackles are usually late rather than early, but Annan's tackle on Valeri was way early.

11' Holman shows Annan and Ghana why you shouldn't give away cheap fouls close to goal. Kingson didn't exactly cover himself in glory there.

14' Rosetti was well placed to see the foul by Emerton on Annan. Another easy call, this time the other way.

15' Looked like a good offside call by the far side assistant.

16' Not sure why Pantsil is complaining there, it was a clear foul.

17' Push on Ghanaian player was well spotted. The game's getting a little chippy. Looks like the near side assistant got the offside call right. Tough to see on the angles for the last two offside calls, but we actually had a view of this second one.

24' Kewell only has himself to blame there. He moved his arm towards the ball and blocked the ball with it. Rosetti was little more than 13 yards away. I don't know why the Australian players were pointing to the video screens claiming it wasn't deliberate handball. For the purposes of the foul of deliberate handball, you use the sleeve of the jersey to help determine what is and is not part of the arm and it wasn't even close to Kewell's shoulder or chest. That ball clearly hit all arm. Harkes (commentator) is wrong. Kewell *did* move his arm to the ball. The replay at 24:10 on ESPN's broadcast shows Kewell trying to keep his arm in the way while trying not to appear to do so intentionally. Notice how his arm moves forward after the contact. If he was trying to move his arm out of the way or it truly did just strike him, his arm would've continued moving away from the ball. The replay at 24:20 shows and even better view (the one Rosetti had) of Kewell moving his body towards the ball while making no attempt to put his hand by his side. He flexes his arm and shoulder knowing he can't get his chest or any legal part of his body over in time to stop the goal. A top decision by a top referee in a great position to see exactly what he needed to see. Like I wrote before the match, if Australia have a man sent off it won't be due to referee error.

28' Rosetti is doing well to manage the free kicks, not letting the attackers get a couple extra yards in their placement of the ball and not letting the wall get away with much.

29' I hate it when players yell for the goal/corner kick to go their way when they *know* it shouldn't. I don't expect them to tell on themselves, but don't try and deceive the referee. That's dishonest and certainly not "fair play" as FIFA keep harping on about while they dismiss video replay and goal line technology.

32' Ayew's foul there looked like a good tackle to me. Replay shows he got ball first, but coming from the side/sort of from behind, I can see why it was called. I don't necessarily think it was a foul, and Rosetti didn't appear to have the greatest position though he was out of frame when the tackle happened due to the zoom.

35' Easy offside call. The assistant even had the "help" of all four Australian defenders to make that call :)

36' Easy call for the foul on Asamoah. Moore's just to slow there. That was a bad free kick.

39' Tagoe didn't need to put his hands up and pull his defender back there. Rosetti did well to get down to the near corner. As soon as he came in Addy stopped fouling Emerton and Emerton was able to get a good cross off.

40' That was a rash challenge by Addy. Easily a yellow.

42' Good spot by the far side assistant on that handball.

43' Not sure how that wasn't a foul on Bresciano. Boateng got ball by going through him.

44' Two missed calls in quick succession. Rosetti might not have had the best angle on the foul, but I'm not sure how he or his assistant didn't see the deflection of the ball by Schwarzer.

First half rating: Very good. 8/10. Cards and big decisions were all spot on. Rosetti's positioning was great and his assistants served him well. Only a slight letdown at the end kept him from having an outstanding half.

46' Good call by the far side assistant on the hold/push.

48' Rosetti did well to try and settle Bresciano down there.

49' Good call for the foul by Gyan on Neill. Emerton didn't need to pull on his defender's jersey there.

51' More shirt pulling this time by Tagoe, good job by the assistant. That's clearly something that FIFA have told officials to call because it hasn't really been tolerated by any referee so far.

54' Good tackle by the Australian defender Carney and a good waving away of the pleas of Ayew by Rosetti. He was well placed for that decision.

57' Holman had good position on that ball and Addy just came over the top of him. Good call.

58' Not sure what Boateng is complaining about there.

59' Rosetti was right in position to call that foul on Neill. First glance looked like the Ghanaian defender jumped into Neill with his elbow high. The replay didn't seem to show that part, just the aftermath so I'll side with Rosetti.

62' Good call on the foul by Wilshire.

65' The far side assistant missed that call. The ball hit off Ayew's chest. He didn't do himself any favors flinging his arm out, but it was a wrong call.

66' Chipperfield should have scored that.

67' Great ball by Gyan. Very dangerous attack.

68' Holman has been great all game. He was looking a little weary. Two players combine to sandwich Kennedy and give him no chance to challenge for that ball. Not a bad foul, but consistent with Rosetti's calling of the game so far. He's been clamping down on jostling before the ball is within reach and players jumping into or over the back of their opponents.

70' Not sure why the foul on Kennedy wasn't called but it was a foul by Emerton after.

72' I can't believe Wilshire missed that. Australia should be ahead.

73' Great tackle by Neill.

Ghana aren't really taking advantage of their having an extra player.

75' Easy call for the offside on Kennedy.

77' Moore really had to get that right and did.

78' Not sure what happened there. Heard groans, but EPSN were busy showing another extra slow motion replay of Kingson's save of Kennedy's follow-up in the 72'.

79' Dumb challenge by Mensah on Chipperfield. Australia have shown they're good at set pieces so far, not sure why you'd foul like that in that area. Yellow was fair. The tackle looked a bit reckless as Mensah tried to make up for his mistake.

80' Poor free kick from Emerton. All he had to do was put that on target. Kingson hasn't been good and the Aussies had three players crashing the goal.

83' Not sure about that handball call. Looked like the player was just protecting himself from a high boot.

84' Chipperfield again brought down in an attack. Not a big foul, but worthy of a yellow due to its effect on the attack.

85' Good call on the push by Moore. That was a dumb foul by Ayew. Not sure why Moore got a yellow I thought it was for Ayew, but Harkes says it was for Moore. Just saw a replay of the challenge that got Moore booked and it was clearly a yellow.

87' Rosetti close by to call Kennedy's jump into his defender. Not really a foul for me, but that's the way Rosetti has been calling aerial challenges all game. You pretty much have to jump straight up or at least not into your opponent for him.

88' Kingson bobbled it but Rukavytsya went in with both feet near Kingson's head at hit him in the chest.

89' Not sure about that call. Moore was jumping slightly forward, but not like some of the other aerial fouls called. I think Rosetti missed that one even though he was nearby.

90'+2 Muntari should have laid that off.

90'+3 That was a terrible cross by Gyan. I hope Pantsil's okay. Hopefully it's just a broken nose and not a head injury.

90'+5 Not sure why more time wasn't added on for Pantsil's injury, but that seems to be consistent across the games so far.

Ratings:
Second half: Good. 7.5/10. No big decsions this half, but Rosetti was well positioned throughout. A few odd decisions near the end again, but nothing major.

Assistants: Good. 7/10. Good decisions on offside. Mostly right on fouls, a few wrong, but nothing major.

Positioning: Very good. 8/10. Rosetti was right where he needed to be pretty much all game.

Fitness: Good. 7/10. He seemed to let down just a little at the end of each half. I can only put this down to fitness.

Big decisions: Very good. 8/10. Rosetti got the biggest decision of the match correct. His cards were fair and necessary.

Game control: Very good. 8/10. Rosetti stepped in when he needed to and let the game flow when he could. A few aerial challenges were called for soft fouls, but all of them kept the players from throwing elbows which has been a concern for FIFA.

Overall: Very good. 8.5/10. Better than the sum of the parts. Rosetti has made his case for refereeing the final. If he can keep it up, I think he'll get it if Italy's not in it.

Referee Rating: Netherlands v. Japan

Hector Baldassi from Argentina is the center here. He previously refereed the match between Serbia and Ghana. I didn't see it, but it seems he got the major decisions right and no one's talking about the small ones so he seems to have had a decent game. Will he defy the odds and have a good second game or join the referees from yesterday in having a worse game the second time around?

1' Good call on the jump over the back and calling the free kick back for having it moving while it was kicked and being 10 yards away from the spot of the foul. Though the former was more likely the reason it was retaken.

2' Good call on the foul by van Bommel on Honda. Pretty easy, but Baldassi was well placed

7' Good call on the foul by Matsui and Nakazawa on van Persie. Komano was unlucky to take a high boot, but there was nothing in it, just van Persie tumbling after having been taken down.

Just saw a replay of Kuyt's overhead kick and the assistant did well. Kuyt was clearly on, but it was somewhat close.

13' Another easy foul by Japan to call.

14' Well spotted high boot on Tanaka. Not a difficult decision, but credit where it's due.

20' Good spot by the far side assistant on the foul by van Persie. Baldassi has been in good positions so far. He gets close to play when it looks like the game needs it and seems to be reading the game pretty well so far.

23' Sneijder needs to watch his arms.

25' So does van Persie. Not sure how much there was in that. A foul certainly, but Nakazawa certainly made the most of it...the cynic in me says he was trying to get van Persie sent off or at least booked. Baldassi was close to play and right to ignore the theatrics.

28' Good tackle by de Jong and again Baldassi is right there to make the right (non) call.

29' A foul definitely, but Nakazawa seems to have a little theater in him. Baldassi again in a good position and right to do nothing other than call the foul. van der Vaart's challenge was careless, but not terribly timed nor was it particularly hard or from behind. It was controlled, but slightly off in timing.

31' Easy call on the block by Kamano.

32' Not sure there was too much in that foul on Honda. The defender's arm did come out in a little push. I don't think it would've been called if he'd kept that arm in close.

35' Honda's foul on van Bommel was easily spotted.

36' van der Wiel's yellow was deserved. He just checked Matsui with no attempt at the ball after Matsui pushed it past him.

39' Sneijder flop there or was it a push? No advantage call so Baldassi didn't see anything in it and he was right there. The right (non) call I think.

40' Easy call on the sandwiching of Okubu.

44' Baldassi put the whistle to his lips for the push by Sneijder, but then didn't signal advantage when Japan kept possession.

44' Deliberate handball was easy to spot. As was Okubo's high arm.

First half rating: Good. 7/10. Baldassi was in good position throughout the half. He got the only booking correct and let the game flow. I hope he keeps it up in the second half.

48' That was a bit of overreaction from Tanaka, but Sneijder really didn't need to have his hands up.

50' Robbie Mustoe (commentator) was correct, Tanaka made no attempt to play the ball. He was more interested in stopping the attacker.

52' Baldassi is again getting close to play and was well placed for the corner call and in a good position had anything happened in that crucial position.

53' Great shot by Sneijder. That's the kind of attack I expected from the Dutch in the first half.

54' Great tackle; Okubo's theatrics were rightly ignored.

55' van der Vaart went over easy there, it was almost a dive, but it did look like he was put off balance a bit by his defender. I don't blame Baldassi for ignoring his pleas.

57' Two flops in a row, one by each team. Not sure if either actually was a foul, but Baldassi looked like he had a good view of each and made no call. After his first half performance it's easy to side with him on both decisions.

60' Easy call on the foul by van der Vaart.

65' Honda was lucky he didn't make contact with anyone with that stupid two-footed lunge.

66' Dumb challenge by Okubo. A card wouldn't have been harsh, but Baldassi was right not to give it. The game didn't need it and neither did the player.

70' Best attack of the day for Japan. Really threatening. Great skill by Sneijder to trap the Dutch clearance.

80' Easy call for the foul on Honda. Baldassi has done well to keep this game under control. Neither side really looked like they just wanted to kick the other out of the game, but the fouls have been just mistimed tackles with little venom. The teams each seem to respect the other and Baldassi has done well to keep that vibe going throughout the match.

84' Honda had an elbow high on van Bommel there, but it didn't look like van Bommel jumped very high and Honda's eyes were always on the ball.

86' Not sure why Mathijsen felt the need to foul Nakamura and then push him over.

89' Didn't have a camera on it, but I guess that was a foul throw.

90' Did Honda trip himself there? Baldassi certainly thought so.

90'+2 That was never going to be a penalty. A yellow for simulation would probably have be justified. There was slight contact, but Nagatomo didn't go down because of it, he threw himself down.

Ratings:
Second half: Very good. 8/10. Baldassi stepped up and did very well in the second half. He seemed to tire a bit which is expected, but he was still in good positions.

Fitness: Above average. 6/10. His lower fitness evident in the second half didn't hurt him.

Positioning: Very good. 7.5/10. Baldassi always seemed to be just where he needed to be.

Big decisions: Good. 7/10. Didn't have much to do but wave away Nagamoto's appeals.

Overall: Very good. 7.5/10.

Referee Rating: England v. Algeria

Uzbekistani Ravshan Irmatov is the center for this match. I have high hopes for him and his team as they did very well in the opening match of the World Cup. It would've been nice to have them for our game.

3' Easy call for the foul on Ashley Cole.

10' Easy call for the foul on Barry. Irmatov has been well positioned so far. Was right on top of the clash between Rooney and Halliche & Ziani, well placed to see there was no foul.

12' First glance looked like a good non-call on the challenge to James in the air. Irmatov was again well placed.

12' Good call on the foul by Heskey. He used his defender as a springboard to get so high.

14' Easy call on the foul by Yahia on Heskey.

15' If Johnson keeps his arms down there I think he's alright, but good call since he clearly used them to push his opponent.

18' Good non-call on the tackle on Barry

19' Looks like Irmatov and his far side assistant both missed a foul on Heskey. Heskey did make the most of it. I wonder if it really hurt that much or if he was playing it up. He hasn't been the type to dive. I would tend to give him the benefit of the doubt.

20' Easy call for the foul on Gerrard.

21' Lampard's foot wasn't terribly high and his opponent's foot was up there too.

23' Irmatov is getting in close to the play by the near side corner flag. Good job.

25' Looked like Lampard went down easy there. He's been letting that type of contact go so far so Irmatov is being consistent so far.

25' Good call for the foul on Lennon. Again good positioning.

26' It was a foul on Heskey. The advantage was there, if Rooney doesn't pull his opponent's shirt he's probably okay.

27' Not sure what the near side assistant saw Heskey do, but there was no foul there on replay.

28' Terry was desperately unlucky to get hit in the head. It didn't look like there was any malice in it nor was it a foul despite Terry taking the chance to argue otherwise as Irmatov comes over to check on him.

29' Good offside call by the far side assistant.

30' Heskey just did essentially the same thing he called for a foul for doing in the 27' and Irmatov, who was closer than the assistant this time, was right not to whistle for a foul.

33' Not a good angle on the possible Lampard hand-ball, just saw another angle and it was deliberate hand-ball. Good thing M'Bohli saved it.

35' I hope Barry hasn't injured himself there. Replay shows it was a foul, didn't look it at first glance.

37' Heskey's first touch hasn't been great so far.

39' England should have had a corner. Kadir went down easy at the slight push. It's the same contact Irmatov has been letting go all game, but this time he called it.

40' Good advantage. Lennon has not impressed me so far this Cup.

44' Easy offside call on Algeria.

45'+1 Not sure that ball really was totally over the line, but I'll trust the near-side referee as he had a much better view of it.

Algeria are not an easy team. The US will have to work hard to beat them just as England will have to in the second half.

46' Not sure how that was a foul. Irmatov let down by his assistant again I think.

48' That was a flop by Matmour.

51' Good call on the push by Barry

51' Carragher's lucky he wasn't called for a foul based on what Irmatov has been calling.

53' Given the showing of the studs like that I think that was a fair call on Yebda.

54' I'm surprised Ashley Cole wasn't called for his handball. In fact, a foul was called for him. There didn't seem to be much in the play.

57' Rooney has not been good.

58' Carragher did not try to play the ball at all. A yellow's probably fair given the position.

62' Wow Rooney's first touch is bad.

66' Good call on the foul on SWP

68' Good call on the Heskey foul. Interesting to see on replay that Heskey was holding his defender's shorts.

70' Can't tell even on replay whether Carragher's challenge should have been a foul. He got position on the attacker, but missed the ball with his left foot only to clear it with his right. I'll side with the ref on a no-call.

76' Great run by Defoe, don't think Heskey would've done that.

76' Handball appeals shown on replay to be empty; it hit Kadir's legs.

79' Looked like Abdoun started the jostling and it's not surprising the call would go the defense's way in the box.

82' Good call for the foul by Lacen. He wasn't playing the ball, it was man first.

85' Yellow for Lacen was fair. Broke down the attack and Lacen has committed a few fouls lately.

86' Gerrard went down under light contact looking for a penalty. Good on Irmatov for not buying it.

87' Good advantage played, too bad Rooney continued his poor form with that ball.

88' Lampard's not so hot this game either.

89' Not sure how much of a foul that was by Terry. Matmour's been going to ground very easily this game and Irmatov has generally not been fooled. Not sure about that one.

90'+1 That should've been a corner off Defoe's shot. It was deflected.

90'+2 That was an unnecessary challenge by Johnson on Belhadj

90'+3 England's bench are riled up after the Rooney-Kadir clash, but Rooney clearly was the aggressor there. Good call.

90'+4 Don't know what Crouch was looking at the ref for. He was the one in the wrong position and mis-timed his jump. The defender a foot shorter than him had very little effect on that.

Ratings:
First half: Above average. 6.5/10. A good start, then he missed the Lampard handball and got a little inconsistent. Let down by the near side assistant once.
Second half: Average. 5.5/10. More and more inconsistent, but at least he didn't go to his pocket like he was giving out yellow candy. His near side assistant let him down again.

Assistants: One good, one average. 6/10. They both got offside calls correct. The near side assistant called several non-fouls that the center was clearly not calling at that point.

Big decisions: Above average. 6/10. Missed the Lampard handball, saw through Gerrard's cynical flop in the box late on. Not much else

Positioning: Above average. 6.5/10. He was a little off on the Lampard handball, but that was just the angle the foul happened at, he was in a good position otherwise. Seemed to tire a little in the second half, but was generally close enough to play when he needed to be.

Overall: Above average. 6.25/10. I was expecting a lot from Irmatov after his great game in the opener. He didn't shine, but he didn't make any huge mistakes either. I definitely would have wanted him to do the US game earlier.