A Korean Thriller, a Boring Game I Fortunately Didn’t See, and a Brazilian Record-Breaker

It was England’s Graham Poll in the middle for what would turn out to be the most compelling match of the day as $380/capita debutants Togo took on 2002 semifinalists Korea - a team that had never won a World Cup match anywhere except on home soil.

The match started a little slowly, but quickly picked up the pace. As the foul count quickly grew, Poll issued his first caution in the 22nd minute to a Togolese player (Abalo I would later realize) for a tough foul on Park Ji-Sung. Romao picked up another for the African nation only a couple minutes later as Poll was working hard to prevent things from getting out of control.

In the 30th he allowed Kader to get away with a studs-up tackle and only a minute later the Togo striker broke free up the middle before placing it precisely off the bottom of the far post to give his country its first-ever World Cup goal.

Poll seemed willing to let them play a bit when he let another hard Togo foul go without a booking in the 35th, but then in the 41st he gave Kader a free kick from the top of the arc even though the striker appeared headed to the ground before any contact was made. Korean Young Sol-Kyu (sp?) was booked for the weak foul.

After the break there was another Korean yellow card in the 51st and then two minutes later the game would change dramatically. With a Korean driving towards goal, a Togo defender stuck out a leg to stop the attack - a cautionable offense for sure.

As Poll arrived quickly on the scene he pulled out the red, flashing it and the yellow in quick succession. It was a strange ordering of the cards, but the message was clear…to me at least. The transgressor was obviously one of the Togo defenders who’d been booked in the first half. Tommy Smyth - the ESPN announcer who I love to hate - tried to explain to the audience that even though the defender wasn’t the only one between the attacker and the goal, Poll had decided that the foul was still deserving of a sending off. WRONG!!! Two minutes later, and probably thanks to the aid of a producer, Smyth corrected himself in explaining that Abalo had already been booked and that he’d (Smyth) been confused by Poll’s red followed by yellow combo. Whatever Tommy…once again you proved your lack of understanding of the game.

One of the Lee brothers scored on the ensuing free-kick to tie things up and sixteen minutes later Hwan Ahn blasted one off a defender’s hip to the far post to give Korea the lead for good. Incidentally, it was Ahn - the former Perugia player - who had finished Italy off four years ago before being let go by his Italian employers for what he had done to their proud footballing nation.

It should be noted that with the roof closed in Frankfurt to benefit the television broadcasts, the heat and humidity was stifling. Poll was seen dousing himself in water with ten minutes left in the match. And during that final stretch a couple of Togolese players were fortunate not to get booked for reckless fouls. Tchangai wasn’t so fortunate as he obstructed a Korean attacker in the game’s final act.

For Poll, it was a solid effort in a match which saw only the second red card of the tournament. But it was the right call…and any player with a caution should be more judicious in his actions than the undisciplined Abalo was on this occasion.

Now, for some reason I forgot to record to the other two matches, fortunately arriving back home in time to see most of the second half of Brazil - Croatia. Needless to say I can’t say for sure how Russian Valentin Ivanov did in France - Switzerland, but we’ll assume it was a quality performance since a young midfielder named Zak informed me before the game I reffed later that evening that there were no points of controversy during France’s scoreless draw with neighbors Switzerland. It should be noted that this is France’s fourth match on the trot without a goal in the World Cup - a streak they desperately need to break.

With respect to one moment during that match, I did see a situation on Fox last night where I believe a French striker hit a Swiss defender in the hand with a shot. Good n0-call by Ivanov. It was clearly a case of ball-to-hand and not hand-to-ball. No infraction there. Oh, and eight cautions were issued, so it seems that despite the lack of goals there was still plenty for Ivanov to do.

And regarding Benito Archundia’s performance in Brazil’s 1 - nil victory over Croatia, it seemed like the Mexican had things well in control. It seemed that compared to many of the matches there were not a whole lot of fouls and only (I think) four cautions in total. I did see a couple of bad calls, but that’s always gonna happen. One was against Kranjcar in the 71st when Ze Roberto backed into him and crumpled over and the other was when the ref missed an elbow that caught Ronaldinho in the 75th.

But with the slim victory now in hand, the Brazilians now hold another World Cup record - their 8th consecutive tournament victory; seven straight from 2002 plus the one yesterday against Croatia. I wonder if they can manage fourteen straight before the games conclude in Berlin on the 9th of July.

Until next time…

peace,
ac