Referee Rating: Ghana v. Australia

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

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

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

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

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

7' Easy call for the foul on Kewell.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

58' Not sure what Boateng is complaining about there.

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

62' Good call on the foul by Wilshire.

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

66' Chipperfield should have scored that.

67' Great ball by Gyan. Very dangerous attack.

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

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

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

73' Great tackle by Neill.

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

75' Easy call for the offside on Kennedy.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

90'+2 Muntari should have laid that off.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Referee Rating: Netherlands v. Japan

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

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

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

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

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

13' Another easy foul by Japan to call.

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

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

23' Sneijder needs to watch his arms.

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

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

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

31' Easy call on the block by Kamano.

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

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

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

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

40' Easy call on the sandwiching of Okubu.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Overall: Very good. 7.5/10.

Referee Rating: England v. Algeria

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

3' Easy call for the foul on Ashley Cole.

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

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

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

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

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

18' Good non-call on the tackle on Barry

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

20' Easy call for the foul on Gerrard.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

29' Good offside call by the far side assistant.

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

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

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

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

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

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

44' Easy offside call on Algeria.

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

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

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

48' That was a flop by Matmour.

51' Good call on the push by Barry

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

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

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

57' Rooney has not been good.

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

62' Wow Rooney's first touch is bad.

66' Good call on the foul on SWP

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Referee Rating: Slovenia v. USA

Referee: Koman Coulibaly from Mali.

I realize my opinion is biased, but I figured I'd give it anyways.

1' Dempsey's elbow was up, but it didn't look like he was trying to hit Ljubijankic. Eyes on the ball as Harkes said.

2' Not sure why that was called for the USA, not sure the US player was within playing distance when he tried to shield that ball

6' Good call. That would've been yellow with Undiano. Glad he's not reffing this one.

9' We got lucky that time that the Slovenian player missed that ball.

13' That should've been closed down. Howard I'm sure is furious with his defense. Slovenia have looked the better side so far and now they have a goal to show for it.

15' Keeper did great on that punch.

16' Good call on that ball over the line by the assistant.

20' Coulibaly was well placed for the foul on Torres. His positioning has been good. He's staying close, giving himself good angles, and reading the game well.

22' That looked like a little bit of a flop, but there was some contact.

23' Great chance missed for the US. Donovan's ball was a bit high, but I'm not sure if Dempsey could've reached it if it had been flatter and/or softer.

26' Not sure whether that was out or not. It hit on the line, but had some spin on it so it could've gone over in the air and curved back.

27' Easy offside call, he was 2-3 yards off.

28' Good call. Dempsey needs to watch his hands. He can win headers without pushing his opponent.

31' Gooch was lucky there. He needs to watch his hands as well. It would've been a soft foul, but another ref might've called it.

35' Good call on the yellow for Cesar.

36' Great free kick by Torres and a great save.

38' A little unsure about that throw-in direction, but that's minor.

40' That was a terrible call. Findley did *not* handle that ball. It hit him in the face and brushed his hand accidentally.

42' Regretfully I have to say that the assistant got that call spot on. Very poor defending by the US. I fear 2010 is another 2006.

44' A bit of a hole Harkes? You think so? What insightful commentary...

45' Good call on the Bradley foul.

45'+1 Good call on the foul on Cherundolo.

First half rating: Above average. 6.5/10. A few questionable calls/non-calls, but the game flowed and nothing major was missed or incorrectly called. Though Findley will miss the last game thanks to that yellow that shouldn't have been.

Hopefully this isn't another 2006 where Dempsey scores the only goal for the US against the "big team" in the group in a 1-1 draw and the US lose the other games against the "smaller teams".

45' Not sure about one of the subs, Torres did well in the first half I thought. Findley was probably a good decision since he had a yellow (however undeserved), and wasn't terribly effective.

48' Donovan did a great job! That should redeem him from his terrible low-angle miss for Everton. We *just* need 2 more and a shutout from the defense.

50' Great free kick from Donovan. Coulibaly was very well placed and handled the pushing in the box well.

51' Not sure why that was a foul on DeMerit. Hands down I guess is the advice in this game.

56' Churundolo saved Donovan there.

58' Good non-call on Jozy's break. I thought it might've been a foul for holding early on, but it wasn't much more than the ref had been letting go throughout the game.

59' Dempsey and Kirm were both all over each other. It looked like Kirm actually initiated. Probably should've been a penalty if anything. Certainly not a foul against Dempsey.

61' Good call on handball. Edu had his hands up and didn't try to move them out of the way.

63' A little time-wasting on this throw-in. Doesn't look like the ref is handling it.

63' Looked like Jozy was held back there...

67' Good call on the Gooch foul.

68' That looked like a foul on Cherundolo

69' The assistant called that foul by Suler. Yellow is the right call I think. Put this in Donovan.

70' I'm not so sure Dempsey wasn't fouled there, but Jozy could and should have put it in.

72' Easily a yellow for that foul by Kirm.

74' I don't know what Jozy did to warrant a foul there...this is becoming terrible.

75' Easily a yellow for the foul by Jokic. Glad he didn't catch Donovan's knee squarely.

77' Jozy should've probably hit Feilhaber or Dempsey there

79' Good non-call on the pressure from DeMerit.

80' Good attacking sub.

81' Good call for the foul on Cherundolo

82' WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Bradley is almost always in the right place at the right time.

85' That should be a yellow for the two fouls on Jozy, especially the lst one.

86' Replay shows the offside call was very wrong. Terrible. Not even close. Bradley's defender had two arms around him. Coulibaly and his team have fallen apart in the second half.

88' DeMerit got lucky that ball was behind his player.

89' Not sure that ball was actually out despite Donovan's insistence.

90' That looked like a corner to me.

90' That was no handball.

Just saw another replay on the goal that should have stood and a Slovenian defender had Bocanegra in a head lock and the ref had a great view of it. So much was missed there it's unbelievable.

90'+4'10" No time added on for the injury. What a terrible ending to a terrible second half by Coulibaly and his team.

Second half: Poor. 3/10. A terrible call on the non-goal. So much was missed there that for me erased everything good he had done in the half to that point.

Lalas is right, the ref isn't the reason the US only got a draw, but Coulibaly and his team did disallow a perfectly good goal. Instant replay please!

Referee Rating: Germany v. Serbia

Alberto Undiano - Spain

2' not sure about the foul on Podolski, but if that's all I have to complain about this game, it'll be a good one for Undiano

7' Podolski is incredible Serbia need to close down those chances if they want to have a chance in this game themselves

9' Ivanovic seemed to go down very easily under Klose's challenge though it was hard to see how much contact if any there was from the angle we got

12' Yellow card for Klose seems harsh. It was accidental contact that Ivanovic again made the most of. It was probably for persistent infringement due to the foul Klose made on Ivanovic at 9'

14' Badestuber's foul was mis-timed and the assistant did well to spot it and keep performing his duty of watching for offsides. I've always found it harder to spot fouls really close to me and continue watching offsides because of the constant switching between near and far vision

18' For once I agree with a commentator about a refereeing decision, Ivanovic's yellow card was quite soft. It was a foul to be sure, but not hard, not terribly late, certainly not reckless to me. Though, if Cahill's foul was a red (and it shouldn't have been), then that was a yellow, but that's stretching a bit I think.

19' Kolarov's yellow card definitely was, it was late and he was never going to get anything but the man. The commentators are right, this game could be ruined by a second yellow=red or two because of these early cards.

21' Khedira's yellow was fair. It was a stupid challenge and totally unnecessary.

28' Mueller really can't figure out how to cross

30' Good spot by the assistant on the offside call. Undiano had been cheating a lot on his positioning, but he's been better the last few minutes. Don't know if he was just tired or had a bit of trouble reading the game for a bit. Could've been the sun, it looks like it's giving the players trouble

32' Lahm's challenge was stupid as well. He was never going to get the ball. Easy yellow card decision being that it was ~25 yards out.

34' Foul on Podolski was correct, but Undiano was quite far away. His positioning is slipping again. Fitness problems or not, if he doesn't get a bit closer to play, he's likely to send someone off for a foul that looked terrible from far off, but wasn't.

36' Just finished typing above and Klose is sent off for a second yellow that was a foul, but not a yellow. This game has been ruined by an overactive referee. Undiano was ~18 yards away, not too far, but seemed to have a bad angle on it.

38' I'm surprised Jovanovic was not booked for his celebration, but then Undiano's decision making with regard to cards has been odd so far anyways. Not that I agree with bookings for celebrations like that anyways, but it is a yellow normally.

44' That was quite a flop from Stojkovic. Goalkeepers are protected, but that was a bit much. At least there was no booking for it. Undiano was about 20 yards away and had a bad angle.

45'+1 Germany were desperately unlucky. Khedira should've put that away from 14 yards out.

46' Not sure why they called offside when the ball had already gone through to the keeper. Generally just let the keeper play it out and move on. Another odd decision.

51' Not sure what foul Undiano is playing advantage for...

52' Will that be a yellow for the foul on Schweinsteiger? No, the Serb did well to play up his "injury" and get out of it. Mind you, it shouldn't have been a yellow except based on Undiano's previous booking decisions. Inconsistent and erratic, not qualities you want in a referee.

54' Great tackle by Vidic

54' Surprised at no card for Khedira. Also, once there's contact, it's no longer dangerous play, that should've been a direct free kick for kicking.

55' I really thought Lahm was off. Maybe someone talked some sense into Undiano at half. We can always hope.

56' If it had been any other referee, I wouldn't have been surprised at the non-call for Lahm, but that's been called all game. I can only think that the way Lahm went down caused the ref to reconsider.

57' Predictable yellow for Subotic. That one probably was a yellow as his trailing leg was the one that came in late and took out the player.

57' I wouldn't expect Podolski to miss such a great chance. It's just not Germany's day.

59' Germany don't look like they're missing a man. If they'd played like this in the first half they might not have had to worry when Klose was sent off.

59' Not sure why Vidic handled the ball like that, but it was an easy decision with how far out his arm was and was well spotted.

60' Well that was a terrible penalty. Not hard, not far from the keeper. It's definitely not Germany's day.

63' At least the flop from Krasic didn't get a second look.

67' Easy offside call

70' Good subs by both sides. More defensive for Serbia. Oezil hasn't done much and Mueller has been off all day.

71' Maybe Undiano did get some sense at the half; no card for Mertesacker.

73' Yellow for Schweinsteiger. Probably was since it was from behind and there was little chance of getting the ball, but it was slow and not really reckless for me. Undiano seemed to indicate it was for persistent infringement by holding up 4 fingers as if to tell Schweinsteiger that it wasn't just for that foul. I can't remember three other fouls by him, but I'll give Undiano the benefit of the doubt.

76' At this level, I'm not sure whether that actually was a foul committed by Badestuber. Not an inexcusable call though.

81' Serbia really should have a second goal by now. They've had some great chances.

82' Again, a sensible non-card despite Cacau's writhing.

84' I agree with Marin, not sure why Podolski didn't feed him through.

87' That probably should've been a yellow for Krasic.

90'+3 Not sure what that foul was for other than Stankovic got a cramp kicking Gomez' foot so hard inside the box.

Ratings:
1st half 4/10, 2nd half 6/10.

Big decisions: Poor. 3/10. Klose's sending off shouldn't have been. The penalty was, but that was quite easy to spot and I'm not even sure Undiano spotted it, his assistant had a great view though. Calling a foul on Gomez at the end when it should've been a penalty didn't surprise me as Undiano was out of position and therefore had a bad angle on it.

Assistants: Above Average. 6/10. They didn't have much to do, but did fairly well when they did. What I would expect at a minimum at the World Cup.

Positioning: Average. 5/10. Well placed for some decisions, not for others. Seemed to cheat at the wrong times. At the World Cup I expect better.

Overall: Below average. 4/10.

Undiano pulled it together in the second half, but by that time he had already negatively impacted the game. Germany have no one to blame but themselves though. They could easily have won this game even with 10 men.

Referee Rating: South Africa v. Mexico

Ravshan Irmatov from Uzbekistan was the center for this match. I thought he had a very good game though this was not surprising as he's been the top referee for Asia the last two years. Unfortunately, I had this idea of rating the refs today so I'd already deleted the match from the DVR so I only have my lingering impressions on which to rate.

Irmatov didn't get much wrong. He clamped down early and then let up allowing the game to flow well. He wasn't fooled by any players (mostly Mexican) flopping about looking for fouls and the game was better for it. Since these non- or very-soft-fouls weren't being called, the players got on with playing football. Overall a great opening game for refereeing. Irmatov and his assistants should be congratulated for allowing a relatively good opening match to proceed without unneeded intervention on their part.

Rating: Very Good. 8/10 (an extra half-point for this being the opening match)

That's all for now as I need to get to bed if I'm going to be up at 4am for Germany - Serbia. I'll probably post my review of Howard Webb's performance first followed by some others (Uruguay - France and Germany - Australia come to mind).

Referee Rating Criteria

I read some referee reviews at referees.worldcupblog.com today and I wasn't impressed. First of all, I hate ratings that use a 10 point scale and then treat it like an American school grade where average starts at 7/10. You're basically leaving 1/3 to 1/2 of your rating scale unused. I was preplexed at some of the ratings so I thought I'd give my $0.02. Anyways, I'll be using a 10 point scale with 5 being average. As this is the World Cup and most of the best referees in the world are at the tournament, I would expect my average rating to be higher. I'd like to rate each referee on the following:
fitness - How well did the ref keep up with play and how quickly did he get into position after a quick possession change (a lower rating here is not necessarily bad, if the ref's positioning is spot-on)

positioning - How well the referee positions himself relative to play and its direction, the big question here is "Is the ref in position to see what he needs to see?"

big decisions - Did the referee shy away from making a big decision or did he step up and make the big call or wave it away correctly?

game control - How well did the ref control the game? Did he let it flow when he was able? Did he clamp down when he needed to?

assistants - How did the center referee's assistants do? Did they let him down or step up?

overall - Not an average of the other categories, but my best estimate of the ref's performance based on the game itself.