Valetin Ivanov should have issued a red card, instead of the yellow, to Boulahrouz for his cleat digging into Cristiano Ronaldo's thigh. After watching the match again, it is hard for me to believe that it was a purely coincidental hit. Granted, soccer can get very physical yet, that leg was nowhere near the ball in play! I will not go as far and say that it was done as a prime directive from van Basten, but why resort to such tactics. That call pretty much set the tone for the rest of the game. Yellow and red cards flew, never letting the teams build any momentum to take the game to the skill level it should have had.

Going into the match, I had been worried about Portugal's ability to beat the Dutch, as they had a strong showing in the group stage. However, both the Clockwork Orange and Portugal disappointed me. Portugal were no saints and I don't entirely blame them, as I think their frustration got the best of them, but Figo, come on! What was with the head butt with van Bommel! You should thank your lucky stars Ivanov was such a horrendous referee and didn't give you the red you deserved for unsportsmanlike-like conduct. Not to mention the other incidents of churlish behavior from both sides. That game was an embarrassment for both the Netherlands and Portugal and will be remembered more for the their respective histrionics than for the moments of brilliant play.

Ivanov where were you? Were you on that pitch with the rest of the officials? The game was never really in your control and instead of preserving the sense of fairplay, allowing the game to be played in its purest form, you created an environment of escalating tensions and violence.

***** ADDENDUM*****

See the following AP article for a report on the Refereeing in the World Cup.