LOL @ the Bovril [img]graemlins/hehe.gif[/img]

I have just read that

"A player with one booking from the group stage has the caution removed from the record at the start of the knock-out stages."

If this is true then the last matches in the group are going to be a foul - a - thon surely, If you have no danger of being banned then why not kick out?

Can anyone tell me if it is true?

Well, we have 6 players with one yellow card right now, three of which will most likely be replaced for the match against Argentina. If they would get a yellow card in that game, they would have a total of two yellow cards, which means they're out for the first knockout stage game. Van Basten is not going to take any unnecessary risks with players like van Bommel and Robben, especially since there's nothing at stake in the Argentina game. We know it's going to be either Mexico or Portugal in the next round, and both teams are pretty much equal in strength, so no need to try to avoid either one of them.

Players with only one yellow card will have a clean sheet once the knockout phase begins.

Gah! Tuesday?! Where did i pull that date from? For some reason i thought Australia v Brazil was on monday night. I ended up missing the entire first half. :mad:

As it is, most of my thoughts on the game have already been stated. I'm glad Hiddink opted for a dinkum shot at an upset instead of resting the yellow card players. It's disappointing that they lost, though i don't necessarily agree that they were outclassed. I'm still proud of 'em.

There's been a lot of bitching on Aussie TV about the referee's decisions during that game. What for? Honestly. I didn't think it was that bad. And as for Kewell's post-match "animated" discussion with the ref, i think he was still frustrated at missing an open goal whilst under considerable pressure. But it'll certainly be interesting to see what becomes of that.

Anyways, bring on the Croats.

Sever I have to disagree, I think the ref castrated Australia in the first half with his ruthless freekicks.

I did watch the first half this afternoon on the replay and i can honestly say i didn't see anything that hasn't already occured to other teams and players so far in this tournament. It was pretty much par-for-the-course. Australia (a physical team, as has been mentioned) went out hard to try and stop Brazil. Fouls were innevitable.

Let's face it, it's pretty easy to blame the ref if the your team loses. And after that particular game, "ref this, ref that" is all i seem to be hearing. :shrugs:

There's no denying that the referees make an awful ot of mistakes, sometimes even miss 100% goals, like in the France-Korea game. Vieira's header was behind the line, no doubt. That would have given France a 2-0 lead, and most likely the victory. Football needs a system like they use in the NFL, where ref decisions are made after viewing a monitor that's keeping track of the game, but for some reason FIFA refuses to use that technique. Do i smell corruption perhaps ?

Breaking news...


http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/foot...ia/5094458.stm


Harry Kewell could miss Australia's crucial Group F game against Croatia after being charged by Fifa with insulting referee Markus Merk.
The Liverpool winger was reported for swearing at the German official after the Socceroos' 2-0 defeat by Brazil.

Kewell has until Tuesday to respond and the verdict will be announced before the final group game on Thursday.

Australia need to beat Croatia to be certain of qualifying for the knock-out stages for the first time.

Fifa communications director Markus Siegler said: "Fifa have opened disciplinary procedures against Harry Kewell.

"It was reported in the referee's report that he insulted the referee several times."


Merk awarded 25 free-kicks to Brazil while Australia won only nine, but Kewell later defended the referee and said his behaviour after the final whistle was in the "heat of the moment".

"You're frustrated, you're losing the game, every referee puts up with it," said Kewell.

"I mean, it's part and parcel of the game. He knows there's no harm meant by it.

"You go out there and play so well against the world champions and you come off losing, whereas you think you should have come off with something. He understands that, that's the way it is.

"It was a hard match to referee, and he did a good job."

Strewth! First gambling then abusing the ref. Looks like the ocker (rowdy) image we portray to the world is being kept alive *sigh* :(

The arguments put forward are that mistakes are part of football, which is rubbish. Mistakes were accepted because there was no way to avoid them in the past. There is now.

Critics also say that the NFL style video reffing would slow the game down. I reckon all they have to do is either put a chip in the ball to determine goals, or have one referee for each half, like they do in AFL. A linesman in each half and a referee who has to run a diagonal across the entire field is not enough these days, given how much scrutiny of the game there is with multiple TV angles, etc.

Kewell got off - I did NOT expect that. Apparently conflicting statements from amongst the 3 match officials. I thought they woulda nailed his hide to the wall.