What You Were Watching While I Spent Another Six Hours With the State Police

It was Italian Roberto Rosetti in charge of Argentina’s 6 – nil goalfest over Serbia & Montenegro in Gelsenkirchen. And only a minute after Maxi Rodriguez’s 6th minute opener off a nice feed by Saviola, the referee issued the first caution of the match to Koroman when he came in late on Sorin.

The Serb was fortunate not to get his second in the 24th minute when he committed a foul from behind. Rosetti generously decided to only warn the already booked player.

In the 27th there was a Serb jersey-pull that wasn’t much different from that committed by the Ukrainian Vashchuk when we was sent off against Spain (for being the last defender). It should be noted that Rosetti cautioned the offender in this game as well. The teams have been warned by FIFA representatives about this and yet they continue to do it anyway.

In the 30th Milosevic prostested vehemently that he was fouled in the box, but the referee ignored him. Only a minute later we all saw one of the more beautiful goals of the tournament as the Argentines worked the ball around effortlessly before Crespo backheeled it to Cambiasso who one-timed it with a cracker from fifteen yards out.

In the 37th Crespo was just barely off as his torso was beyond that of the last defender (even though Messing and Davis on ESPN thought otherwise). Rosetti proved he’s not one to allow much dissent when he booked the Chelsea striker for his protest.

Maxi Rodriguez’s second after Saviola stripped Krstajic in the corner ended the first half scoring in the 41st – the frustrated defender picking up a booking of his own a minute later for coming in late on an opponent.

Right before the break Kezman was warned by Rosetti for holding an Argentine player, but no card was issued…that is until the 65th when the Serb playmaker came in with a two-footed studs-up tackle that saw his World Cup suddenly come to an end as he will now miss the next game against the Ivory Coast – S & M’s last of the tournament.

With nothing left to play for, the Serbs looked listless. Even Rosetti allowed them to get away with what might on another day have been a p.k. when Crespo was pulled down in the box in the 74th. But it didn’t matter as teeange phenom Leonel Messi, who subbed in only a few minutes earlier to make his World Cup debut, assisted on Crespo’s far-post tap-in in the 78th and then scored one of his own ten minutes later at the near-post following another flowing buildup.

Carlos Tevez scored a spectacular goal of his own in the 84th as he beat a couple of defenders along the left side of the box before curling it around the keeper with beautiful bender at the far post.

Rosetti had another solid match in the middle in a relatively easy outing as Argentina showed that perhaps they are the team to beat in Germany this year.

Next up it was Colombia’s Oscar Ruiz in the middle in Stuttgart as Holland tried to keep pace with Argentina against the Ivory Coast. He had a sloppy start and overall proved not to be one of the tournament’s top officials as he often seemed to have little command over the players in this fairly rough-and-tumble match.

Drogba, as he so often does, deliberately used his hand to control the ball in only the 4th minute. He’s good at disguising what he’s doing, but Cocu’s wild protests were not enough to convince the Colombian who was in no position to make this call as the Ivorians forced a quick counter-attack.

And then a couple minutes later I thought Kone was incorrectly called for a foul against Heitinga when the Dutchman backed into his opponent.

In the 12th, Gio Van Bronckhorst got away with a hold in the box on Eboue. Sure the Arsenal defender tried to help the referee with the call, but Gio was lucky that the referee missed it.

So it was the Dutch who would take the early lead when Van Persie blasted a wicked free kick around the wall from twenty two yards out. And a minute later the first caution was issued to a player who clipped Van Bommel’s heel…or was it a dive? Very difficult to tell in real-time as well as on the replay.

And then in the 27th it seemed like another rout was on when Van Nistelrooy punished the ball from fifteen yards out after beating the offside trap. At first it seemed like a bad call from the assistant, but the replay clearly showed a defender at the bottom of the screen who didn’t move up as far as the rest of his mates.

Shortly after Zokora hit the crossbar in the 33rd, Ruiz incorrectly booked Robben for a dive in the box. There had actually been some contact as he raced towards the goal at full speed – maybe not enough for a p.k. – but it certainly wasn’t worthy of a caution either. Players do, after all, end up on the ground as the result of contact that isn’t a foul. Oh, and Tommy Smyth and I were in full agreement on this point.

It was game on again a few minutes later as Kone ripped it to the far left post from nineteen yards out after beating Heitinga. It was the first time the Dutch had been scored against since late 2004 – more than ten games ago.

Tommy Smyth and I disagreed in the 40th minute when Drogba was cautioned after leaving a foot in when Van der Sar had already collected the ball. It was unnecessary and reckless and he should know better. And the ref must protect the players, so I think the caution was quite justified.

In the 49th and 50th minutes, both Boulahrouz and Van Bommel deserved cautions, but none were issued. And then in the 52nd the ball hit Cocu’s arm in the box. I think it was a good decision not to call a foul on this as it seemed that Cocu was surprised the ball ended up where it did as he made no attempt to play it.

Van Bommel stepped on Boka in the 56th…and still no card, but two minutes later he left his foot in on a challenge and finally got what was coming to him.

Van Persie committed a very deliberate handball in the 64th and should’ve been booked…Tommy Smyth and I agreed once again. Two minutes later Boka took down the pacey Dutch forward when he probably would’ve made it past another defender and gone to goal. As such, Boka was only cautioned.

In the 77th, Eboue protested for a p.k. when Gio made a good challenge in the box. But Ruiz got it right as nothing was there. Moments later Van Persie saved the game by clearing the ball off the Dutch line and a minute after that Drogba wanted a penalty of his own, but there was very little contact as Ruiz stared him down defiantly.

It was a frenzied finish as the Ivory Coast mounted relentless pressure up to the end, but the free-kick following the caution on Boulahrouz in the 94th minute was a wasted effort and the Dutch would carry the day with a slim 2 – 1 result.

Ruiz did well enough in this difficult match, but he seemed to be in a little over his head. Not quite the same presence as Rosetti in the match before him. He might get another chance to prove himself, but probably not after the round of sixteen.

In the final match of the day it was Singapore’s Shamsul Maidin in charge of Mexico-Angola in Hannover. The Angolans, if you’ll recall, committed 29 fouls in their 1 – nil loss to Portugal and on this occasion it was more of the same as Maidin had his hands full in this goalless draw.

All the cautions (unless I dozed off and missed one) went to the African side – two in the first half and three in the second. Unfortunately for them, however, the fourth was Andre’s second of the match and he was sent off in the 79th minute for an absolutely stupid handball at midfield. Who knows, maybe he cost his team the game as they were on the defensive for the rest of the match.

Likewise, I thought Bravo deserved a caution in second-half stoppage time when he tried to trap a ball with his arm. It’s deliberate, deceptive, and he’s even trying to score a goal by doing it.

Overall, Maidin did good work in representing the Asian confederation at the World Cup. Unless he blows a big call in his next match, we might see him in the quarterfinals.

Well…gotta run out to the pitch now. Oh, and the tournament with the police went pretty well. But judging by the behavior of some of those guys, I wonder how they deal with pressure in their work-life. It’s a little scary when you think about it.

Until next time…

peace,
ac