Who thinks that the UEFA finals were ruined by the referee?
488478
Boro was destroyed by Sevilla..\nregardless of the ref\nthey were simply overmatched.....\n\nsee you in germany.\nMUFC MUFC MUFC MUFC\nMUFC MUFC MUFC MUFC\n\nFXXK ARSENAL! FXXK CHELSEA!
1139199
Referees have >50000 people watching their every call. + over a billion people watching them on TV. That is a LOT of pressure. They are humans after all, they can have flaws too.\n\nOn the other hand, they are professional, so they should behave accordingly.\n\nIn that game per say, there could have been bad calls but since FIFA do not want to use replay in match, they were not able to review the famous penalty call (and many other calls). To me it was not evident either way.  If I was the ref, I would have called it. After reviewing it, not so sure anymore...
1068607
In every game of the World Cup there has been at least one bad call (maybe more!) from the refs from the first game to the current game, they either taking sides, or they are to far away from the infraction, or they are simply incompetent! (Do we need more refs on the field?)\nThis is the worst refereed World Cup ever!\nAnd take that stupid ban-aid microphone off your chin, it ain't working
1065613
Not at all. There aren't arguments for such a decision.\nThe referee will remember last night as a nightmare in his career. Player could be wooed for they risky fouls, diving, and so on. Coaches wasn't of great help (and they too were technically wrong: Scolari must remove Costinha after the first red card, Van Basten should have put Van Nistelrooj in the struggle - or Van Der Vaart, before the near-end of the match).\nMany disaster, no one of them need to replay the game.
1141171
Well I think it's quite unfair to say that this batch of refs have been the worst in the history of the World Cup, considering that it's just a couple of matches and terrible calls that have ruined several matches.\n\nJust want to remind everyone that there has been plenty of fantastic officiating going on, but it's just that these are never reported or highlighted to us. It's only the mistakes that constantly make the headlines. I mean, look at poor Graham Poll! I know the guy made horrendous errors during the Australia-Croatia match, e,g, in handing out 3 yellow cards before sending the player off. But I don't suppose many are aware of how well he managed the other group games he had earlier officiated.\n\nSo don't be so hasty to say that the refs suck just because they err once in a while. I mean, they sure don't have supersonic eyes, and they're human after all. It's not as if any of us can even be half as good as him.\n\nPlease, give the refs a break.
1079748
I loved watching that game, it was a pleasure to watch the Ref get card-happy. Although it is unfair, think how this could benefit the England team, only three of us on yellow cards, and Portugal on 5, and 2 with reds, one of them being one of their great players, Deco that is. The arguments were classic.\n\nDid anyone see Van Bronckhorst and Deco chatting near the end? Probably talking about how rubbish the Ref was. Funny, though. Hope England don't ever get him. Why are the Refs in this tournament crap? Bring back Collina and make him Referee every game! :D\n\nHolland were diving like crazy. And Cristiano Ronaldo may be ruled out, so....
991509
By far the worst match I've seen this year.  I'm a long time holland fan and was surprised at the nasty way they played.  I haven't seen much of portugal, but they played ugly too.
1024684
ref lost control of the game (he should of given a red card to the guy that C. Ronaldo)
1120408
I think the same.\nI'm from Argentina and I was disgusted by that call from the referee.\nItalians are all mobsters, so it won't be the first time or the last one.
1129410
If I were a Dutch medic, I'd be checking all the Dutch players for inner ear problems. They were just falling down for no apparent reason! But both sides were "at it". Everyone seems to be blaming the referee for the fiasco, but I would defy anyone to referee a match like that. I think one of the English commentators had the right of it when he opined that if the match went to extra time, there wouldn't be any players left by the end. The dirtiest, filthiest, most unsporting disgrace of a match ever played. Thoroughly entertaining! I want a rematch.
1055244
Wasn't it the Netherlands vs. Portugal???\n\nI personally thought that the players' conduct was far beyond the control of the referee and that he did the absolute best job that he could have.  I know that he missed some calls, but all the bookings he made were all correct.  I think the players just lost their heads. If he tried to discipline absolutely everything, there probably would have been 10 sendings-off.
990621
I totally agree. Firstly, the standard of refereeing has been appalling - players booked for what wouldn't even be a free kick normally. All because FIFA want to appear PC and have referees who have zero experience of officiating top class matches. As for england, I'm getting tired of hearing "we'll get better" - sven has been saying that since the first game, and we've had no improvement. Too much in the players pocket, picks his favourites, tactically inept, and to top things off takes four strikers - two who aren't 100% fit and one child who hasn't played a premiership match!
1122364
True that,they are human. But this is a world class international tournament and requires and deserves world class performances. They are paid an obscene amount of money to do a job. If we regular folk were to perform our jobs with crucial mistakes as they have we would not have a job to return to. The highest standards are expected from our players and this can't happen without the referee's doing the same.
1061678
Ive been disappointed with every ref's performance in this years world cup.  I understand that they are trying to make a stand for stupid dangerous tackles but they call fouls much too often.  The referee in that game made many mistakes with throwing cards around like confetti.  The other thing that seems to be really popular in this world cup is the diving.  Ive seen so many players go down before they are touched and the ref's need to be more aware of this.  I also noticed that some ref's in games are biased towards one country and this in unacceptable.
1021110
I think that the ref was just inconsistent with the calls and the red card to Pablo Mastroeni was not justified at all. At most it deserved a yellow card for a late tackle but definitely not a red card. The yellow card given to Eddie Pope which resulted in a red card was also completely stupid! The red card given to the Italian player Daniele De Rossi was justified because it was an obvious and intentional foul. The refs also called offsides on the Italians when the player was onside. The ref of the game had been put on probation before also for making bad calls.
1015980
No, of course it wasn't deserved.  First of all, him and the guy ran into each other.  Second of all, it's a TRAGEDY that the best football player to have ever walked on this planet is sitting out what could be his last game ever and it's on his birthday (june 23rd).\n\nWords cannot express how mad I am at that worthless referee's decision.  It was clearly not a yellow card.  If France does not advance to the round of 16, I am going to find that referee and have a little "chat" with him.
814636
Very bad decision by Blatter. He is practically saying let the referees do all the errors they want coz it means spontaneity. But what if a team that doesn't deserve to win a match, win it because the referee takes a wrong decision? What will they do? Give a punishment for some weeks to the referee and don't do anything abt the injustice...\nI think football is heavily influenced sometimes by wrong referee decisions (they are human beings too!) and it will continue to increase if they don't use new technology, after all that's why technology is developing day after day, to help people.\nAnd last thing it will prevent match fixing scandals or things like that from happening again, that's what really damages football.\nAfter all what can you expect from a person like Blatter, with this I said it all...