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.