The 2012 Election

As far as the election, I'm leaning towards Gary Johnson. Romney has zero chance of winning California anyways. I'm tired of expressing my desires through the lesser of two evils. You still end up with evil in the end. It might be irrational because of the stupidity that is our first-past-the-post voting system, but I prefer to be irrational than throw my vote away on someone I don't believe in.

The Skeptic's Annotated Bible is Wrong

This post comes courtesy of the Skeptic's Annotated Bible. I was reading Ephesians 5 for Sunday School. In particular I was focused on verse 5 because if the Bible tells you that you can be sure that certain categories of people have no inheritance in God's kingdom then you should learn exactly what the Bible says about those categories. Doing so lead me to many commentaries, but also to the Skeptic's Annotated Bible section on Ephesians 5. I noticed that verse 3 was tagged with a not equals sign (≠) which apparently designates a contradiction. This "contradiction" is entitled "Is it OK to covet?". This supposed contradiction is because Exodus & Deuteronomy (repeated in Romans and mentioned here and in Colossians) prohibit coveting and this is said to contradict Paul's endorsement of coveting spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 12:31 and 1 Corinthians 14:39.

The Skeptic's Annotated Bible lists seven verses related to the contradiction. Five against coveting and two supposedly for coveting.

Against:
Exodus 20:17 & Deuteronomy 5:21- The word for covet here is ṯaḥ·mōḏ (תַחְמֹ֖ד). This word is used in Exodus twice, once each in Deuteronomy 5:21 & 7:25 and in Proverbs 6:25. The first three uses are in the Ten Commandments. In Deuteronomy 7, Moses is telling the people what they should do when they enter the Promised Land. That prohibition is related to the gold and silver on the pagan idols they will encounter. They are not to covet the metal or take it. Proverbs 6 warns against desiring an adultress. In the Septuagint the word is epithymēseis (ἐπιθυμήσεις) which is exactly the word Paul uses in...

Romans 13:9 - Paul is quoting the Ten Commandments using the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament, the Septuagint. Epithymēseis is a form of epithumeó which occurs in various forms sixteen times in the New Testament. Some uses are positive, e.g. Matthew 13:17 and Luke 22:15 and some are negative, e.g. Matthew 5:28 and James 4:2. It's pretty easy to see the differences in the positive and negative uses from the context of their respective passages.

Ephesians 5:3 - The word here is pleonexia (πλεονεξία) which occurs in forms ten times in the Bible. Pleonektés, which is used in Ephesians 5:5 is the root word of pleonexia. All of these occurrences are negative in connotation.

Colossians 3:5 - The word for covetousness is a form of pleonexia as in Ephesians 5:3.

For:

1 Corinthians 12:31 - Here the word is zēloute (ζηλοῦτε) from which we get our words zealous and jealous. This is the exact word used in...

1 Corinthians 14:39 - Forms of zéloó (the root of zēloute) are used twelve times in the Bible. In Acts they are negative, in the letters to the Corinthians they are positive, in Galatians one is positive and one negative, James' use is negative, and John's use in Revelation is positive.

In all the cases above, it is clear from context what is being affirmed or prohibited. Desire after the things of God is good. Desire for earthly things or dissatisfaction with what you have, i.e. what God has given you, is bad.

So this "contradiction" boils down to the skeptic saying, "Look the same word was used in two different ways, let's forget context and chalk up another contradiction so the number of contradictions we've found is even bigger." 

The interesting thing to me is that, in ignoring context and only focusing on one translation (KJV), they missed the fact that the Tenth Commandment listed in Exodus uses the same Hebrew word for covet both times in the verse and when it is reiterated in Deuteronomy only the first use is the same word as in Exodus. The second is a different word (ṯiṯ·’aw·weh/תִתְאַוֶּ֜ה). That seems more like an actual contradiction than the grasping at straws type of "contradiction" they list. It also warrants more study to find out why the two verses differ when one would assume Deuteronomy should be an exact copy of Exodus.

Note: I am not a fan of Blogger's formatting of this post, but I barely had time to right write (update 2018-02-10) this post much less typeset it.

Referee Rating: Denmark v Germany

Carlos Velasco Carballo has this game. I guess he did the opening game and had some controversial decisions in it, but apparently the authorities didn't have any problem with him because they gave him a game on the crucial deciding match day for Group B.

16' Carballo really hasn't had much to do, but that was a standard foul. The game has been flowing well. I would say that's more down to the style of both teams than anything else. Neither team is really a dirty or overly physical team. Carballo does seem well positioned.

19' A well worked team goal.

21' Gomez just ran Zimling down from behind.

24' Germany beaten in the air twice. Good goal. Poor defending.

30' Blatant push. Easy call.

31' Agger just doesn't let Müller get up after their slide tackles cancel each other out.

33' It looked like Gomez was watching the ball the whole way, he just mishit it.

34' I think Özil is right. It looked like the defender got the last touch, but he whines about everything so I'm sure his pleas just get lost in the shuffle.

36' At least someone is calling the blocking fouls this tournament. Carballo is right about the position of the foul as well. Kjær was just outside the line when he stopped and checked Müller. Carballo was very well positioned to see the foul and its position outside the box.

Tying one-handed now that baby girl has woken up and joined me.

43' Nothing wrong with Gomez challenging there, but he did catch Andersen.

44' Easy call. Bendtner didn't even try to hide his holding.

First half rating: Good-very good.

47' Good spot on a somewhat hidden deliberate hand ball by Müller. Good positioning by Carballo.

54' Interesting double foul there.

57' I guess that bump by Khedira was considered fair contact. Carballo was right there and saw it. I think the far side assistant got that call wrong. Poulson looked like he was onside but it was close.

58' There wasn't any reason for Carballo to wave "get up" to Müller. He wasn't looking for a call. He slipped a bit and never looked for the call. I didn't see any other German players calling for a foul either.

64' Good spot. Schweinsteiger won the ball; Bendtner missed it and caught Schweinsteiger instead.

65' Müller was somewhat impeded by Kjær, but he'd already misplayed the ball which was almost to the keeper. Not enough for me to be a foul.

67' What a great through ball. Good shot by the substitute Schürrle and a great save by Andersen.

75' Easy call for the foul on Agger.

76' It looked like Badstuber did grab a bit of Bendtner's jersey. I'm not entirely certain that's the reason he missed the shot. The initial delay just getting in the way a bit by Badstuber seemed like it did more than the very short grab and wasn't worthy of a foul in my opinion. Regular contact that has been let play all game. Even the jersey pull is iffy for me. I don't know if it really did anything. Seeing the replay now, I'm not sure but it did look like it delayed Bendtner enough to put him off.

78' Khedira is correct. He should have had a corner. Carballo missed that. I don't know that it was bad positioning though. It was just some bad luck and Khedira's reaction I think. He acted like he had mishit the ball. Either way the goal line referee should have been able to see that.

80' Bender's goal is a good example of why you should always hustle and follow up balls in the box. He wasn't the target of the cross, but he got it because of his hard work.

82' It looked like Gomez did take an elbow on that play, but Carballo had already turned his head to watch the ball. I don't think it was intentional but I'm sure it still hurt.

88' Neuer is playing with fire.

89' Bendtner did control that with his arm deliberately. He had more than enough time to move it.

90'+1 Good advantage play for the foul on Klose.

90'+2 Fairly easy offside call on Klose.

90'+3 Another easy offside call. This time on Schürrle. Agger was about 5 yards offside: easy call.

Match rating: Very good. 7.5/10. Carballo really didn't have a lot to do, but he was well positioned for most plays. His assistants did well. The one really close decision didn't go the attacker's way, but it was pretty close. He missed a few minor calls and one potentially major call in the shirt grab by Badstuber on Bendtner at 76'. I had to see several replays to figure it out so I can't fault Carballo too much. Badstuber really hid his foul well and the play went quickly away from Carballo. For me that foul is a good case for replay and not a reason to castigate Carballo.

Quick Referee Rating: Republic of Ireland v Croatia

I watched this game on fast forward looking for the offside incident so I only saw the first half and really only watched significant fouls or replays. Overall I thought Björn Kuipers did a great job at man and game management. He did not allow uninvolved players to approach him about calls and made the offenders actually come over to him and wait while he addressed the problem(s). I especially liked his handling of Ćorluka. Ćorluka put some elbows and shoulders in and Kuipers made sure he knew that wouldn't be allowed. I also thought he handled Ćorluka's slide tackle in the 25th minute well. Yes Ćorluka won the ball, but he dove in from a long way off and was airborne with no way of controlling his tackle. It was clearly a careless act (and therefore worthy of a foul) and may have even been reckless (and therefore worthy of a yellow card). He got lucky that he won the ball both for his sake (if he'd missed and caught the man more it could easily have been a red card, but it would've been at least a yellow) and for the sake of the opposing player who could have been seriously injured.

As for the offside decision. I understand that FIFA have defined what "Gaining an advantage" means, but I disagree with the wording and I think my interpretation is more in the spirit of the law. The relevant section of FIFA's interpretation of Law 11 is that a player gains an advantage if he "[plays] a ball that rebounds to him off an opponent having been in an offside position". Jelavić is in an offside position and, by a normal reading of the phrase, clearly gains an advantage by being there when Ward's clearance goes awry. No one bothered defending Jelavić because everyone knew he was offside. Plus the hectic ping pong ball that hits Ward doesn't really give anyone time to think "Oh Ward's controlled it so it's another 'phase of play' so I better mark him now even though just half a second ago he would've been considered offside if he'd played it then". The decision is correct in law and so Kuipers and his team should be commended for their correct application of FIFA's interpretations. However, the interpretations need to change. I understand FIFA want the laws to be applied consistently, but I don't think even Croatian fans could argue that Jelavić didn't "gain an advantage" by a normal reading of that phrase. I mean he scored a goal. If that's not an advantage I don't know what is.

Overall impression rating of the first half: Very good. Great man management. Great foul recognition. I wish I'd watched this game more around when it actually aired because I was feeling quite down about the quality of refereeing at that point. My only real complaints are with FIFA and their interpretations. Kuipers and his team applied the laws very well as per their instructions.

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.

Referee Ratings: Netherlands v Denmark, Germany v Portugal, England v France, Spain v Italy

I haven't gotten to watch any of the games live. I've watched all of them via DVR. So far I haven't been impressed with the refereeing.

Damir Skomina (Slovenia) had Netherlands-Denmark. Coming several days after I watched the game I can't remember all of my exact complaints, but I do remember being less than impressed. I didn't feel he was up to the level of the game. He called some pretty innocuous challenges fouls. He did it fairly consistently, but I felt he interposed himself more than he needed to and the game didn't flow very well because of it. One incident I do remember was a challenge by a Dutch striker on the Danish keeper. The keeper did not have control of the ball and it wasn't even close to his body. The striker made a fair challenge for the ball, got it, and was called for a foul. It was quite ridiculous. I'm all for protecting goalkeepers, but the challenge was fair and measured. It wasn't even close to being a foul. He did do well and was well positioned for all the hand-ball appeals. None of them should have been penalties and Skomina got them all correct. He was well placed and that gave his denials credibility even though they were all pretty clearly not penalties. His assistants were good.
Rating: Average-to-above-average. 6.5/10.

Stéphane Lannoy (France) did Germany-Portugal and I thought he was just okay. His assistants were pretty good. Again a referee who inserted himself too much into the match. For portions of the match I couldn't tell what would be a foul and what wouldn't and it seemed like the players didn't know either. He got in the way a few times, but seemed to be fairly well positioned most of the time. He missed Meireles' punch on Badstuber, but I think that was more good positioning by Meireles to hide his cheating than poor positioning by Lannoy or his assistant.
Rating: Average. 5/10.

After lack-luster refereeing performances I was hopeful when I saw an Italian, Nicola Rizzoli, was assigned the England-France game. I was disappointed. Rizzoli did okay, but he wasn't the breath of fresh air I was hoping for. Again it was hard to figure out what would be allowed as fair contact and what would be a foul. He did better than his colleagues with it, but that's not saying much. He did keep the game under control without going to his pocket too much, but then I thought a couple French players should have been booked in addition to the English players who were. Specifically Ribery hacked down a few English players and at least one "tackle" wasn't even called a foul. The most baffling decision for me was Rizzoli's wave-off of the foul on Gerrard at the top of the French penalty area. It looked like a clear foul on first viewing and replays just confirmed my initial reaction. Overall I thought Rizzoli did well in managing the game and letting it flow. However I thought he got some moderate (not major) decisions wrong. The Gerrard and Ribery non-calls being the chief examples.
Rating: Above average. 7/10.

Viktor Kassai of Hungary did Spain-Italy. Looking back I wasn't terribly impressed with him during the 2012 World Cup and this game didn't change my opinion. The first half Kassai just let everything go. I know I railed about referees getting too involved, but Kassai let a lot go and it showed. Tackles were flying in and players were taking revenge, but if anything happened it was just a foul called. No cards even for some pretty cynical fouls from behind. On top of that, his foul recognition was hard to read (anyone else see a pattern?). The second half was a little better. I still don't understand why Torres was booked when there were 4-5 tackles that could've been cards to that point in the half. His arm was up but it looked like a normal position with nothing premeditated. This is especially weird when Bonucci only received a yellow for his horrendous tackle on Iniesta when Kassai seemed well placed to see exactly what happened. Rating: Average. 6/10.

Brother HL-2270DW on Ubuntu

I just installed the Brother HL-2270DW on Ubuntu 10.04. I tried the official driver and forced the i386 deb package to install with:

sudo dpkg --force-architecture -i hl2270dwlpr-2.1.0-1.i386.deb

That didn't appear to do anything, but I figured I'd mention it in case it actually did help.

Since I'm using CUPS (I think it's the default for Ubuntu), I followed Step 5Bb of Brother's official instructions. But under "Model/Driver Selection" I selected the HL-2170W since the HL-2270DW wasn't listed. It was a shot-in-the-dark, but it worked. I printed the first page of the Brother instructions just fine.

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.