Referee Rating: Netherlands v. Germany

I'm going to try and return to my World Cup 2010 style of ratings by doing a minute-by-minute. Again, it's not live and I might be interrupted, but I think my ratings will be better since I'll have specific instances to point to when coming up with my ratings.

Jonas Eriksson takes control of this Group B match. He didn't referee in the 2012 World Cup and I don't think I've seen him referee so I'm hopeful for a good game.

1' Good non-call on the possible offside by the near-side referee. Van Persie timed that run well, but his first touch was odd going back away from goal.

2' Good non-call on the slip/trip on van Persie. There was contact, but it looked like it was initiated by van Persie as he turned to run. The stab at the ball by Schweinsteiger happened after the contact.

3' Good to see an official not letting players take that extra 5 yards on a throw-in

4' Easy call for the foul by de Jong

6' Challenge on Özil looked fair enough. Good non-call.

13'  Özil  went down very easily there. Mathijsen did block him off, but that's maybe an indirect kick elsewhere. In this case I thought the no-call was pretty easy as  Özil just went looking for something after his poor touch to try and round Mathijsen.

16' Good call on the somewhat late foul by Schweinsteiger to let the players know he's watching off the ball too. van Persie was slightly offside for me there, but it was very close and the near-side assistant is pretty well positioned. The benefit is supposed to go to the attacker as well so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. van Persie did deliberately handle the ball to trap that pass, but Eriksson was blocked from a clear view by Boateng's body and the near-side assistant was too far away to make that call even if he had a good view (which I doubt he did). Not much you can do about that. Both officials were positioned well initially, the play just switched very quickly.

21' I'm not sure why Eriksson didn't call the holding & grabbing done to Khedira. He was right there. Good non-call on the flop by the Dutch striker.

23' Easy call as Heitinga throws his mark out of the way to get that ball.

24' Great goal by Gomez! Despite Mathijsen's hand in the air, Gomez was played on-side by a full yard by van der Weil.

26' Not sure how that wasn't a foul on Gomez.

27' Easy call on the offside by Robben. Not sure what Özil is complaining about. You can't just back into a player like that when he's jumping. He didn't even try to play the ball.

28' Close offside call on Gomez. Replay shows that was very close. I think the only part of him that was behind the last defender was his arm and since you can't score with your arm it can't cause you to be offside. The far side assistant got that wrong which is surprising since the calls so far have followed the advisement to give the benefit to the attacker.

32' Good non-call on the shield by Müller. If anything he was fouled.

33' Van Bommel went down very easily there. I can see why that wasn't given as a foul. It was minimal to moderate contact and he just collapsed looking for a call. That offside was a very easy call.

34' Özil just needs to get on with the game.

36' Fair enough to just call for the foul there. No need for a card. There was clearly no malice or tactical thought, Willems just got a little close while trying to cut back to the inside of the attacker.

38' What a beautiful goal. Stekelenburg hasn't looked good at all this tournament.

45' Good advantage call. Too bad the Dutch wasted it. On replay, it wouldn't have been harsh to give Müller a yellow there. It may have even been deserved. Willems just knocked Özil over. Özil's still going over a little easy for me, but that was clearly a foul.

45'+1 Podolski is making his case to Eriksson for a card for van Bommel and I think he has a very good case at that.

First half rating: Good. 7.5/10. Eriksson has controlled the game well. I disagreed with a few decisions not to give cards, but really if you don't have to give the card, then why do it? One of the guidelines of refereeing is to use the least intrusive means of maintaining control/safety. So while I think a few non-cards were slightly inconsistent, they were an example of good game management. Eriksson's far side assistant was slightly eager on the flag for one call, but it was very tight and he and the near side assistant got all the other offside decisions, even some very tight ones, correct.

52' The Dutch defense looks terrible.

53' Easy call. Müller's hands were all over the defender even if he didn't exert much force it hindered the defender enough even if he didn't go to ground.

54' I disagree with Steve McManaman. I think the Germans have given us quite a few examples of great individual skill and teamwork on both ends of the pitch. Some of it may be down to the inept Dutch defense, but you still have to string the passes together and put the ball on target. As far as the "ineptitude" of the Dutch, I'm not sure how much is down to their skill or lack thereof and how much is down to the skill of the Germans.

56' That was an easy offside decision.

63' Good non-call. There was no foul on Gomez there.

64' Maybe if Müller doesn't want to have his shins hurt he should wear shin guards that are appropriate for his height. The ones he's wearing are clearly not made for a man of his size/height.

67' Easy call for the foul by Snejider. He was just fooled by Khedira and caught him instead of the ball.

71' Boateng really gave up his body there. Good positioning by Eriksson to see that it did hit him in the ribs and not the arm.

73' Players need to understand that the referee adds time when a goal is scored and there's no need for them to try and collect the ball from the goalkeeper. It just creates problems. Great shot by van Persie, but poor defending by the Germans. Someone should have close him down earlier.

76' Great tackle by de Jong. Good positioning by Eriksson. Awful dive by Özil. He needs to stop looking for a call and just play football. It's getting ridiculous

77' Great defensive play by Schweinsteiger.

78' van Persie is just looking for a penalty to even the score. On replay, maybe it was a foul, but van Persie was really looking for it and it showed. You can't blame Eriksson for ignoring such blatant pandering even if there was contact. it looked 50/50 to me. Hummels and van Persie both hit the ball at the same time. On about my 15th replay viewing, I'm not certain that Hummels did get the ball. I can't really blame Eriksson for not giving the call though. You've got to be 100% certain of the foul for a crucial call like that and the way van Persie went down, his body language, it was clear he was looking for the call. It's one of those situations where you wonder if the player was just honest in his play and let the contact and his reaction be natural whether another call would have resulted. When you look like you're trying to sell the call to the ref or deceive him or just make more of it than there really was, the ref will many times think you're trying to deceive him and take a more skeptical view of the situation than maybe it calls for. If a player is honest in their reactions and doesn't go looking for the call then with this type of referee, you're more likely to get a fair shake.

80' De Jong just seems frustrated. Easy yellow. I like that Eriksson made de Jong come over to him and acknowledge him, but I wish he would have addressed the disrespect de Jong showed with his "hurry up, get on with it" type of motion. Players need to understand that the clock is essentially stopped for that time. There will be time added for cards and injuries. There's no reason to rush or show disrespect like that.

82' Huntelaar is lucky Eriksson looked away to follow the ball on that play. He should be retroactively banned for an act like that. FIFA and UEFA need to kick that sort of blatant violence out with a strong stand and use of retroactive punishment. The same should be done for Meireles' punch on Badstuber. It's clearly against the laws and spirit of the game and is designed to try and get a reaction out of the wronged player to get him sent off. Based on the display in the World Cup 2010 final I'm not surprised to see that sort of thing out of the Dutch. It's sad too because they are a very skilled team that doesn't need to resort to that sort of disgusting cheating.

88' De Jong is clearly just trying to get in Müller's head.

89' De Jong just flopped over. He shouldn't have gotten that call. Müller didn't do anything to him.

90' Willems is just frustrated and the Dutch have devolved into trying to take their frustrations out on the Germans. I like that Eriksson made him come over some, but wish he'd make a better example of talking to the player and making him actually listen for a bit. FIFA's "Respect" campaign is useless unless the top referees are supported in having the players show respect and if players are punished either in game or retroactively for shows of disrespect. More rugby-style respect and less lip service.

After the whistle: I'm not sure why Snejider is mouthing off to Eriksson, but I hope he puts it in his match report. It's certainly not Eriksson's fault that the Dutch lost. Germany were clearly the superior team and made more of their chances.

Final ratings: Excellent. 9/10. Eriksson had very good control of the game. He scaled his responses in relation to the level of aggression in the game. I would have liked to see a card or two for some of the more cynical/aggressive challenges in the first half, but I'd still rather see less involvement from the referee over more if the players can still be kept safe. His assistants gave him good support. The only marginal decision was one that was very close and probably should have gone in favor of the attacker, but really, it was quite a close call.

Finally a referee that gives me hope for the tournament.