Not impressed by that ref tonight

[Chunkyfenwick]

Not impressed by that ref tonight, not up to the job. IMHO.

[jmelanie]

The usual sort of ref you get for the World Cup as they have to get refs from everywhere, even if they have no experience of refereeing. Expect a lot more controversy.

[Harryboy]

I hope he don't ref any England games Brazil was lucky and they wher jank in my book the Croatia keeper was pony

[vanhoop]

Agree with all above. not wanting to be accused of being racist but these far eastern refs should stick to sumo,never a pen and Brazil got lucky with fifa and a dodgy ref

[West Acton]

Might be his only game of the tournament based on that performance

[johnp]

Refs like to make sure that the home nation goes throuigh!

[Chunkyfenwick]

Also the ref gives a free kick, against Croatia, when Cesar flaps at a cross. Olic wins the header fairly.

[Olly]

There's never any excuse for laying hands on a player. Never happened 50 years ago. I hope it's a FIFA directive. Refs should give penalties for that more often, then you won't see any more of it, it would disappear overnight. It's a blight on the game as it's an element of cheating. I don't buy the argument that there would be no players left on the pitch if the rule came in. Teams that kept playing like that would lose and end up relegated.

Most of us have watched basketball from time to time and even played it. It's a fast flowing skilled game. Imagine what would happen if 'hands on' was allowed. It would destroy the game instantly. That's what it's doing to football atm.

[Olly]

I hope he don't ref any England games Brazil was lucky and they wher jank in my book the Croatia keeper was pony

So he'll become another Green now because some fans don't understand the game properly and listen to occasional idiotic commentator remarks, yes, like Andy Townsend. Not at fault for the penalty, Have you any idea of the speed of that kick and then just to go the right way hoping you and your hands are in the right place. As for the third goal, the toe poke is a strikers extra weapon as the GK is looking for the player to shape up to shoot. The ball is too fast now for a GK to react correctly all the time. Shooting from behind or thru a player is another striker's ploy now (first goal) which gives a GK less time to see the ball. The charge on Cesar which led to the disallowed goal was a foul as the guy was not jumping up to the ball but forward to it while Cesar was off the ground. That's a foul all day long everywhere.

[acricketer]

Might be his only game of the tournament based on that performance

I think he'll get 6 more matches.

[Johnnykc]

Agree with all above. not wanting to be accused of being racist but these far eastern refs should stick to sumo,never a pen and Brazil got lucky with fifa and a dodgy ref

I'm sorry but that ref would make the worst ever sumo wrestler.......

[Kirill]

I'm sorry but that ref would make the worst ever sumo wrestler.......

Give him half a year to binge now on the tangible gratitude of FIFA/Brazil and he will become a strong contender.

[nasser95]

So he'll become another Green now because some fans don't understand the game properly and listen to occasional idiotic commentator remarks, yes, like Andy Townsend. Not at fault for the penalty, Have you any idea of the speed of that kick and then just to go the right way hoping you and your hands are in the right place. As for the third goal, the toe poke is a strikers extra weapon as the GK is looking for the player to shape up to shoot. The ball is too fast now for a GK to react correctly all the time. Shooting from behind or thru a player is another striker's ploy now (first goal) which gives a GK less time to see the ball. The charge on Cesar which led to the disallowed goal was a foul as the guy was not jumping up to the ball but forward to it while Cesar was off the ground. That's a foul all day long everywhere.

The ball was moving slowly for all three goals to be honest, the keeper was in a good position to the point where his age and reactions shouldn't have been an issue and yet he made them an issue. I'm sorry but I have to disagree with you on that and the disallowed goal. Olic was not interfering with cesar's handling or motion, he was behind him yes but contact was minimal/non existent and wouldn't have been given in most games.

[dsqpr]

On that first shot, which was totally scuffed, I think I counted 6 bounces before the ball eventually started rolling and went in. He had time for a cuppa before walking over and picking that one up.