2010 World Cup - South Africa

[Marcel]

Hi Charles,

A yellow card is a warning, 2 yellow cards is a red one, which means they can leave the game (and cannot play the next few). Sometimes if the foul play is very bad, especially taking down a player that has broken-through, you'll get a direct red. Another offense which is punished with red is 'hands' (touching the ball with your hand) within 16 meters from your own goal (apart from the goal-keeper of course).

Usually the one without the ball makes the fault. For the rest you have to look very carefully who did what. That's why there are 4 referee's, 1 in the field, 2 at the broad sides of the field and one who is everywhere. The one in the field makes the decisions.

I actually find baseball a bit dull, but that's just me I suppose. For me I don't see any tactical play in it (maybe I should watch it more?) Soccer is a sport, which is physically challenging and requires a great deal of tactics, insight and patience, but also can be fast and exciting at the same time. Although there are usually not that many goals, the play itself can be very tense and exciting to watch, but I admit you'll have to understand the rules for that, otherwise it's probably boring.
But these are the best times:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5j1Z

 

[Torch]

I only get interested with baseball towards the end of the season, I'll watch soccer any day over BB. BB is played to slow for my taste all thou I'll say I enjoy watching a game at the ball park,good eats,atmosphere especially here in Colorado with the Rockies.

 

[Matt308]

Best game so far was Germany. Now that was pretty soccer. But the Aussies weren't much competition, so it's hard to judge how they will do against a tough squad.

 

[Colin1]

Best game so far was Germany. Now that was pretty soccer. But the Aussies weren't much competition, so it's hard to judge how they will do against a tough squad.

Aussies are fielding too much experience, not enough youth
Kewell must have a guardian angel looking over his international career, he was ordinary 10 years ago.

Group D's teams will showcase Germany's talent, I don't think any will test their character; I doubt we'll see that before the late knockout stages but good German sides have been rattled before, they looked unstoppable at Italia 90, lead from the front by Lothar Mattheus but when they met England and Mattheus met Gascoigne, Germany looked beatable and Mattheus was anonymous.

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Sorry, I accidentally merged my post below into yours. I fixed it and took it out.

Hey, we won, too 2-0. Against the strongest opponent in the group. And the Danish were definitely better then the Aussies faced by the Germans. I think if this team grows to their full potential, the Germans have to watch themselves.

Except that one goal was an own goal.

I am not too worried about the fact that Germany beat a team like Australia. It is how you play when you beat them, and Germany looks very strong at the moment.

Match 1 of the group stages is a ridiculous time to be calling the winners and losers.

That is very true. By the Quarterfinals I like to think that a bit of luck comes into play anyhow. Any team can beat any team at that point.

Gimme baseball..... any day !

I actually find baseball a bit dull, but that's just me I suppose. For me I don't see any tactical play in it (maybe I should watch it more?) Soccer is a sport, which is physically challenging and requires a great deal of tactics, insight and patience, but also can be fast and exciting at the same time. Although there are usually not that many goals, the play itself can be very tense and exciting to watch, but I admit you'll have to understand the rules for that, otherwise it's probably boring.

I certainly agree. To me Football (soccer) is a sport of passion. I enjoy watching the tactical play and how the formations and players interact with one another. I love the game.

Aussies are fielding too much experience, not enough youth
Kewell must have a guardian angel looking over his international career, he was ordinary 10 years ago.

Group D's teams will showcase Germany's talent, I don't think any will test their character; I doubt we'll see that before the late knockout stages but good German sides have been rattled before, they looked unstoppable at Italia 90, lead from the front by Lothar Mattheus but when they met England and Mattheus met Gascoigne, Germany looked beatable and Mattheus was anonymous.

And Germany still won it... In the end that is all that matters.

I think this World Cup will be really interesting from the Quarters on. At that point I think it is anyone's game.

 

[The Basket]

Maybe Germany are the best side...but Australia was one of the worst,

USA beat them 3-0 in a friendly just before world cup.

If you look at the way North Korea played Brasil then you get a good example of what can be done by a determined side.

 

[B-17engineer]

Wonder how the Ivory Coast/Portugal game will go. Gonna be a late night for me!

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Brazil just beat North Korea 2:1. I missed the first half of the game as I was out eating with friends. My understand though is that Brazil did not look too good at that point, but they opened up in the 2nd half and played a pretty good game in the end. N. Korea did not get their goal until the last few minutes of the game.

Here are the scores and numbers after the 5th day:

New Zealand 1:1 Slovakia
Portugal 1:0 Ivory Coast
Brazil 2:1 North Korea

Goals Scored
1. Siphiwe Tshabalala (South Africa) - 1
2. Rafael Marquez (Mexico) - 1
3. Jung Soo Lee (South Korea) - 1
4. Ji Sung Park (South Korea) - 1
5. Gabriel Heinze (Argentina) - 1
6. Steven Gerrard (Engalnd) - 1
7. Clint Dempsey (USA) - 1
8. Robert Koren (Slovenia) -1
9. Asamoah Gyan (Ghana) - 1
10. Lukas Podolski (Germany) - 1
11. Miroslav Klose (Germany) - 1
12. Thomas Mueller (Germany) - 1
13. Cacua (Germany) - 1
14. Daniel Agger (Denmark) - 1 (own goal)
15. Dirk Kuyt (Netherlands) - 1
16. Keisuke Honda (Japan) - 1
17. Daniel De Rossi (Italy) -1
18. Antolin Alcaraz (Paraguay) - 1
19. Robert Vittek (Slovakia) - 1
20. Winston Reid (New Zealand) - 1
21. Maicon (Brazil) - 1
22. Elano (Brazil) - 1
23. Yi Yun Nam (North Korea) - 1

Yellow Cards
1. Nicolas Lodeiro (Uruguay) - 2
2. Kagisho Dikgacoi (South Africa) - 1
3. Tsepo Masilela (South Africa) - 1
4. Efrain Juarez (Mexico) - 1
5. Gerardo Torrado (Mexico) - 1
6. Diego Lugano (Uruguay) - 1
7. Mauricio Victorino (Uruguay) - 1
8. Frank Ribery (France) - 1
9. Patrice Evra (France) - 1
10. Jeremy Toulalan (France) - 1
11. Vasileios Torosidos (Greece) - 1
12. Jonas Guiterrez (Argentina) - 1
13. Lukman Haruna (Nigeria) - 1
14. Steven Gerrard (England) - 1
15. James Milner (England) - 1
16. Steve Cherundolo (USA) - 1
17. Jay DeMerit (USA) - 1
18. Robbie Findley (USA) - 1
19. Hasan Yebda (Algeria) -1
20. Aleksandar Radosavljevic (Slovenia) - 1
21. Nikola Zigic (Serbia) - 1
22. Price Tagoe (Ghana) - 1
23. Issac Vorsah (Ghana) - 1
24. Mesut Oezil (Germany) - 1
25. Cacau (Germany) - 1
26. Lucas Neill (Australia) - 1
27. Craig Moore (Australia) - 1
28. Carl Valeri (Australia) - 1
29. Nigel De Jong (Netherlands) - 1
30. Robin Van Piersie (Netherlands) - 1
31. Simon Kjaer (Denmark) - 1
32. Yuki Abe (Japan) - 1
33. Nicolas Nkoulou (Cameroon) - 1
34. Mauro Camoranesi (Italy) - 1
35. Victor Caceres (Paraguay) - 1
36. Tony Lochhead (New Zealand) - 1
37. Winston Reid (New Zealand) - 1
38. Zdenko Strba (Slovakia) - 1
39. Didier Zokora (Ivory Coast) - 1
40. Guy Demel (Ivory Coast) - 1
41. Christiano Ronaldo (Portugal) - 1
42. Ramires (Brazil) - 1

Yellow - Red Cards
1. Nicolas Lodeiro (Uruguay) - 1
2. Aleksandar Lukovic (Serbia) - 1

Red Cards
Tim Cahill (Australia) - 1

Shots
1. Brazil - 26
2. Argentina - 24
3. France - 18
4. South Korea - 18
5. England - 18
6. Netherlands - 18
7. Germany - 16
8. Ghana - 16
9. Mexico - 14
10. USA - 13
11. Serbia - 13
12. Slovakia - 13
13. Nigeria - 11
14. Algeria - 11
15. North Korea - 11
16. Cameroon - 11
17. Australia - 10
18. Denmark - 10
19. Italy - 10
20. South Africa - 9
21. New Zealand - 8
22. Portugal - 7
23. Uruguay - 7
24. Slovenia - 7
25. Paraguay - 7
26. Greece - 6
27. Japan - 5
28. Ivory Coast - 5

Shots on Goal
1. Germany - 10
2. Brazil - 10
3. England - 8
4. South Korea - 7
5. Argentina - 7
6. Netherlands - 7
7. Mexico - 5
8. South Africa - 5
9. Japan - 5
10. Italy - 5
11. USA - 4
12. Slovenia - 4
13. Cameroon - 4
14. France - 3
15. Uruguay - 3
16. Ghana - 3
17. Denmark - 3
18. Slovakia - 3
19. North Korea - 3
20. Greece - 2
21. Algeria - 2
22. Serbia - 2
23. Australia - 2
24. New Zealand - 2
25. Portugal - 2
26. Nigeria - 1
27. Ivory Coast - 1
28. Paraguay - 1

Goals
1. Germany - 4
2. South Korea - 2
3. Netherlands - 2
4. Brazil - 2
5. South Africa - 1
6. Mexico - 1
7. Argentina - 1
8. USA - 1
9. England - 1
10. Slovenia - 1
11. Ghana - 1
12. Japan - 1
13. Paraguay - 1
14. Italy - 1
15. New Zealand - 1
16. Slovakia - 1
17. North Korea - 1
18. Algeria - 0
19. France - 0
20. Uruguay - 0
21. Greece - 0
22. Nigeria - 0
23. Australia - 0
24. Denmark - 0
25. Cameroon - 0
26. Portugal - 0
27. Ivory Coast - 0
28. Serbia - 0

Goals Allowed
1. Germany - 0
2. Slovenia - 0
3. Ghana - 0
4. France - 0
5. Uruguay - 0
6. Argentina - 0
7. South Korea - 0
8. Japan - 0
9. Netherlands - 0
10. Portugal - 0
11. Ivory Coast - 0
12. USA - 1
13. England - 1
14. Nigeria - 1
15. Mexico - 1
16. South Africa - 1
17. Italy - 1
18. Algeria - 1
19. Cameroon - 1
20. Italy - 1
21. Paraguay - 1
22. New Zealand - 1
23. Brazil - 1
24. Slovakia - 1
25. Serbia - 1
26. Greece - 2
27. North Korea - 2
28. Australia - 4

Tomorrows Games
Honduras - Chile
Spain - Switzerland
South Africa - Uruguay

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Wonder how the Ivory Coast/Portugal game will go. Gonna be a late night for me!

That game has been over for about 5 hours man...

 

[Marcel]

Except that one goal was an own goal.
I am not too worried about the fact that Germany beat a team like Australia. It is how you play when you beat them, and Germany looks very strong at the moment.

Absolutely true. Germany is a big favorite for the championship, but the suggestion was made that they were the only ones, which isn't true. The Dutch won, even while they were not playing their best game. If it was against San Marino, this wouldn't mean anything, but it was against Denmark, quite a good opponent. With the own goal, well you need some luck, sometimes, but you'll have to force luck...
Brazil played not so bad in the second half, against a real tough opponent, which promises something for the future matches, now they've awakened. I must admit I was impressed with the North Koreans. It's not sparkling, but they kept the World's no.1 at bay for 50 minutes and even after that, the Brazilians had great difficulties getting chances.

That is very true. By the Quarterfinals I like to think that a bit of luck comes into play anyhow. Any team can beat any team at that point.

And Germany still won it... In the end that is all that matters.

I think this World Cup will be really interesting from the Quarters on. At that point I think it is anyone's game.

If it comes to luck, the Germans certainly win it. It always looks like they get most of the luck. But you'll have to force luck on yourself, so that speaks for the German teams over the years.

 

[rochie]

what do you guy's think of the ball thats being used ?
there seems to be an awful lot of bad passes going on especialy if its a long pass, for me the ball seems to bounce very high and seems to maintain pace along the ground for a long time, long range shooting also seems to be difficult with it !

 

[Torch]

Some commentator mentioned that the goalkeepers were complaining about the ball flight but with the lack of goals maybe it's affecting the other players more when it comes to touch. I know I have not watched all the games but long shots have been off course for the most part.

 

[Torch]

Wow, Switzerland pulls one out over Spain

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Man I am so glad that Switzerland won against Spain. Spain will still qualify though and will still make a good run I believe, but it just proved to everyone that they are beatable (along with the game where the US beat them in the Cornfield Cup ).

 

[Colin1]

what do you guy's think of the ball thats being used ?
there seems to be an awful lot of bad passes going on especialy if its a long pass, for me the ball seems to bounce very high and seems to maintain pace along the ground for a long time, long range shooting also seems to be difficult with it !

Just been a big piece on that at half-time the South Africa vs Uruguay match here
Precisely what you just said and that the Germans have had the ball for six months now

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Just been a big piece on that at half-time the South Africa vs Uruguay match here
Precisely what you just said and that the Germans have had the ball for six months now

Not only the Germans. I read an article on it and several countries that use Adidas all have had the ball for about 6 months to include Germany, Portugal, USA, France and Argentina. In fact all nations participating in the World Cup received the balls in February to play with in their respective leagues and to practice with.

I think the ball is no different than any ball. Yeah they are all slightly different, but to some players it is great, and to others it is not. You are not going to make everyone happy. There have been mixed reviews on it.

Bad
Brazil goalkeeper Júlio César compared it to a "supermarket" ball that favoured strikers and worked against goalkeepers. (funny that goals this world cup are down from previous ones...)

Italian keeper Gianluigi Buffon said, "it is very sad that a competition so important as the world championship will be played with such an inadequate ball."

Brazilian striker Luís Fabiano called the ball "supernatural", as it unpredictably changed direction when travelling through the air.

Brazilian striker Robinho stated, "for sure the guy who designed this ball never played football. But there is nothing we can do, we have to play with it."

Joe Hart of England, after training with the ball for a number of days, said the "balls have been doing anything but staying in my gloves."[15]. He did, however, describe the ball as "good fun" to use, even though it is hard work for goalkeepers to cope with.

English goalkeeper David James said that "the ball is dreadful. It's horrible, but it's horrible for everyone."

Denmark coach Morten Olsen after their 1-0 friendly defeat at the hands of Australia said: "We played with an impossible ball and we need to get used to it."

Marcus Hahnemann replied to the ballmaker Adidas saying that "Technology is not everything; scientists came up with the atom bomb, doesn't mean we should have invented it."

Argentina striker Lionel Messi stated, "The ball is very complicated for the goalkeepers and for us [strikers]."

Good
American Clint Dempsey has said that "if you just hit it solid, you can get a good knuckle on the ball (...) you've just got to pay a little bit more, you know, attention when you pass the ball sometimes."

Alvaro Arbeloa, commented that "it's round, like always."

Brazilian midfielder Kaká said that "For me, contact with the ball is all-important, and that's just great with this ball."

Czech goalkeeper Petr Cech had several positive comments about the ball, saying it had good visibility due to the colour pattern, that felt good to handle, and when kicked it had good control.

English midfielder Frank Lampard called it "A very strong ball, true to hit."

German midfielder Michael Ballack said it was "Fantastic, the ball does exactly what I want it to."

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

South Africa was beaten 3:0 by Uruguay. This pretty much makes them the first team to be eliminated from the the World Cup. Of course they still have one more game to play though.

Here are the scores and numbers after the 6th day:

Chile 1:0 Honduras
Switzerland 1:0 Spain
Uruguay 3:0 South Africa

Goals Scored
1. Diego Forlan (Uruguay) - 2
1. Siphiwe Tshabalala (South Africa) - 1
2. Rafael Marquez (Mexico) - 1
3. Jung Soo Lee (South Korea) - 1
4. Ji Sung Park (South Korea) - 1
5. Gabriel Heinze (Argentina) - 1
6. Steven Gerrard (Engalnd) - 1
7. Clint Dempsey (USA) - 1
8. Robert Koren (Slovenia) -1
9. Asamoah Gyan (Ghana) - 1
10. Lukas Podolski (Germany) - 1
11. Miroslav Klose (Germany) - 1
12. Thomas Mueller (Germany) - 1
13. Cacua (Germany) - 1
14. Daniel Agger (Denmark) - 1 (own goal)
15. Dirk Kuyt (Netherlands) - 1
16. Keisuke Honda (Japan) - 1
17. Daniel De Rossi (Italy) -1
18. Antolin Alcaraz (Paraguay) - 1
19. Robert Vittek (Slovakia) - 1
20. Winston Reid (New Zealand) - 1
21. Maicon (Brazil) - 1
22. Elano (Brazil) - 1
23. Yi Yun Nam (North Korea) - 1
24. Jean Beausejour (Chile) - 1
25. Gelson Fernandes (Switzerland) - 1
26. Alvaro Pereira (Uruguay) - 1

Yellow Cards
1. Nicolas Lodeiro (Uruguay) - 2
2. Kagisho Dikgacoi (South Africa) - 2
3. Tsepo Masilela (South Africa) - 1
4. Efrain Juarez (Mexico) - 1
5. Gerardo Torrado (Mexico) - 1
6. Diego Lugano (Uruguay) - 1
7. Mauricio Victorino (Uruguay) - 1
8. Frank Ribery (France) - 1
9. Patrice Evra (France) - 1
10. Jeremy Toulalan (France) - 1
11. Vasileios Torosidos (Greece) - 1
12. Jonas Guiterrez (Argentina) - 1
13. Lukman Haruna (Nigeria) - 1
14. Steven Gerrard (England) - 1
15. James Milner (England) - 1
16. Steve Cherundolo (USA) - 1
17. Jay DeMerit (USA) - 1
18. Robbie Findley (USA) - 1
19. Hasan Yebda (Algeria) -1
20. Aleksandar Radosavljevic (Slovenia) - 1
21. Nikola Zigic (Serbia) - 1
22. Price Tagoe (Ghana) - 1
23. Issac Vorsah (Ghana) - 1
24. Mesut Oezil (Germany) - 1
25. Cacau (Germany) - 1
26. Lucas Neill (Australia) - 1
27. Craig Moore (Australia) - 1
28. Carl Valeri (Australia) - 1
29. Nigel De Jong (Netherlands) - 1
30. Robin Van Piersie (Netherlands) - 1
31. Simon Kjaer (Denmark) - 1
32. Yuki Abe (Japan) - 1
33. Nicolas Nkoulou (Cameroon) - 1
34. Mauro Camoranesi (Italy) - 1
35. Victor Caceres (Paraguay) - 1
36. Tony Lochhead (New Zealand) - 1
37. Winston Reid (New Zealand) - 1
38. Zdenko Strba (Slovakia) - 1
39. Didier Zokora (Ivory Coast) - 1
40. Guy Demel (Ivory Coast) - 1
41. Christiano Ronaldo (Portugal) - 1
42. Ramires (Brazil) - 1
43. Wilson Palacios (Honduras) - 1
44. Carlos Carmona (Chile) - 1
45. Matia Fernandez (Chile) - 1
46. Diego Benaglio (Switzerland) - 1
47. Stephane Grichting (Switzerland) - 1
48. Reto Ziegler (Switzerland) - 1
49. Hakan Yakin (Switzerland) - 1
50. Steven Pienaar (South Africa) - 1

Yellow - Red Cards
1. Nicolas Lodeiro (Uruguay) - 1
2. Aleksandar Lukovic (Serbia) - 1

Red Cards
1. Tim Cahill (Australia) - 1
2. Itumeleng Khune (South Africa) - 1

Shots
1. South Africa - 28
2. Brazil - 26
3. Uruguay - 26
4. Argentina - 24
5. Spain - 24
6. Chile - 20
7. France - 18
8. England - 18
9. Netherlands - 18
10. Germany - 16
11. Ghana - 16
12. Mexico - 14
13. USA - 13
14. Serbia - 13
15. Slovakia - 13
16. Nigeria - 11
17. Algeria - 11
18. North Korea - 11
19. Cameroon - 11
20. Australia - 10
21. Denmark - 10
22. Italy - 10
23. South Africa - 9
24. New Zealand - 8
25. Switzerland - 8
26. Portugal - 7
27. Slovenia - 7
28. Paraguay - 7
29. Honduras - 7
30. Greece - 6
31. Japan - 5
32. Ivory Coast - 5

Shots on Goal
1. Uruguay - 16
2. South Africa - 12
3. Germany - 10
4. Brazil - 10
5. England - 8
6. Spain - 8
7. South Korea - 7
8. Argentina - 7
9. Netherlands - 7
10. Mexico - 5
11. Japan - 5
12. Italy - 5
13. Chile - 5
14. USA - 4
15. Slovenia - 4
16. Cameroon - 4
17. France - 3
18. Ghana - 3
19. Denmark - 3
20. Slovakia - 3
21. North Korea - 3
22. Switzerland - 3
23. Greece - 2
24. Algeria - 2
25. Serbia - 2
26. Australia - 2
27. New Zealand - 2
28. Portugal - 2
29. Honduras - 2
30. Nigeria - 1
31. Ivory Coast - 1
32. Paraguay - 1

Goals
1. Germany - 4
2. Uruguay - 3
3. South Korea - 2
4. Netherlands - 2
5. Brazil - 2
6. South Africa - 1
7. Mexico - 1
8. Argentina - 1
9. USA - 1
10. England - 1
11. Slovenia - 1
12. Ghana - 1
13. Japan - 1
14. Paraguay - 1
15. Italy - 1
16. New Zealand - 1
17. Slovakia - 1
18. North Korea - 1
19. Chile - 1
20. Switzerland - 1
21. Spain - 0
22. Algeria - 0
23. France - 0
24. Greece - 0
25. Nigeria - 0
26. Australia - 0
27. Denmark - 0
28. Cameroon - 0
29. Portugal - 0
30. Ivory Coast - 0
31. Serbia - 0
32. Honduras - 0

Goals Allowed
1. Germany - 0
2. Slovenia - 0
3. Ghana - 0
4. France - 0
5. Uruguay - 0
6. Argentina - 0
7. South Korea - 0
8. Japan - 0
9. Netherlands - 0
10. Portugal - 0
11. Ivory Coast - 0
12. Chile - 0
13. Switzerland - 0
14. Honduras - 1
15. USA - 1
16. England - 1
17. Nigeria - 1
18. Mexico - 1
19. Italy - 1
20. Algeria - 1
21. Cameroon - 1
22. Italy - 1
23. Paraguay - 1
24. New Zealand - 1
25. Brazil - 1
26. Slovakia - 1
27. Serbia - 1
28. Spain - 1
29. Greece - 2
30. North Korea - 2
31. Australia - 4
32. South Africa - 4

Tomorrows Games
France - Mexico
Greece - Nigeria
Argentina - South Korea

Here are the standings after the first week of play (Uruguay and South Africa have played 2 games already however).

Group A
1. Uruguay - 4
2. Mexico - 1
3. France - 1
4. South Africa - 1

Group B
1. South Korea - 3
2. Argentina - 3
3. Nigeria - 0
4. Greece - 0

Group C
1. Slovenia - 3
2. USA - 1
3. England - 1
4. Algeria - 0

Group D
1. Germany - 3
2. Ghana - 3
3. Serbia - 0
4. Australia - 0

Group E
1. Netherlands - 3
2. Japan - 3
3. Cameroon - 0
4. Denmark - 0

Group F
1. Paraguay - 1
2. Italy - 1
3. New Zealand - 1
4. Slovakia - 1

Group G
1. Brazil - 3
2. Ivory Coast - 1
3. Portugal - 1
4. North Korea - 0

Group H
1. Chile - 3
2. Switzerland - 3
3. Honduras - 0
4. Spain - 0

 

[Gnomey]

South Africa were poor tonight. Chile looked good and Spain lacked ideas when plans A, B and C didn't break down what was a good well organised Swiss defence.

The first look at the penalty in the Uruguay vs South Africa game you think it is a penalty but on the replay's I saw it hardly was a penalty and I personally thought it was a dive, yes the keeper dived in but the player dived to in my opinion and made the most of the minimal contact, if he had stayed on his feet he would of scored anyway. Certainly wasn't a red card on the basis of the reply as I didn't think it was a penalty and thought the Uruguayan dived.

 

[Colin1]

The first look at the penalty in the Uruguay vs South Africa game you think it is a penalty but on the replay's I saw it hardly was a penalty and I personally thought it was a dive

Damn right it was a dive
there was contact, but too much delay between contact and collapse.
Too much over-acting too, I thought he'd been shot the way his face contorted and his body twisted in mid-air.

That's the trouble with some countries, it's part of their game.

 

[Gnomey]

Yep, the keeper was perfectly right to be so distraught at the decision because it was clearly wrong.

I thought the Spanish were particularly bad this afternoon. Falling over on minimal contact as if they had been shot in the back by a sniper. The referee's are so happy to give them though. They need to be tougher, hopefully then more people will stay on their feet rather than roll around on the ground which I can't say makes for enjoyable watching.