World Cup Blog
Call Me Picky…
Only a cretinous curmudgeon would find a reason to moan after Ghana’s tremendously entertaining 2-0 win over the Czech Republic. Why, Mike Martin, as I live and breathe… Yeah, yeah, great fun, attacking football, end-to-end action, blah blah blah. I want to have a whinge. Firstly, both Ghanaian goalscorers, Asamoah Gyan and Sulley Ali Muntari, [...]
Only a cretinous curmudgeon would find a reason to moan after Ghana’s tremendously entertaining 2-0 win over the Czech Republic. Why, Mike Martin, as I live and breathe…
Yeah, yeah, great fun, attacking football, end-to-end action, blah blah blah. I want to have a whinge.
Firstly, both Ghanaian goalscorers, Asamoah Gyan and Sulley Ali Muntari, will miss their crucial final group match against the USA in Nuremberg due to suspension. In the first place, it is ridiculous that merely two yellow cards causes a player to miss a World Cup match; the stupidity of FIFA’s suspension criteria is only hightened when you consider what one of the Ghana players’ ‘offence’ was.
Firstly, Asamoah Gyan was booked for the crime of kicking a football. It’s good to see FIFA aren’t wasting time punishing trivial acts like wanton obstruction, shirt-pulling and feigning injury. Especially when there are those heinous felons who play on for three seconds after the whistle has gone. This is stupid enough (although not strictly the referee’s fault), but consider that, before Tomás Ujfalusi was inevitably sent off, there was a Ghana player childishly waving one of those invisible cards at the official.
Now, I may have imagined it, but I’m sure I saw Ognjen Koroman get booked for doing just that in the Serbia & Montenegro v Holland match last Sunday. As usual, though, the rule is rigorously enforced early in the tournament, before being forgotten.
At least the penalty kick has returned from its evidently temporary exile. So far, the only spot kick was awarded to Spain against the Ukraine for a foul two yards outside the box. But, glory be, Portugal got one after Luís Figo was clumsily fouled by Iran’s goalscoring defender Yahya Golmohammadi - evidently a danger in both boxes. There can be little controversy over Ghana’s penalty either; despite being missed it was the moment the game decisively turned in the African’s favour as the Czechs were on a hiding to nothing after Ujfalusi was sent off.
Cheerily, Group E is very much alive going into the final matches. It is little more than bad luck for us that Groups A and C are done and dusted, save the final positions. Had Argentina v Holland not been the last match, it could have been very interesting come Wednesday night. Côte d’Ivoire have not played remotely like a team deserving elimination inside the first week, although the Serbians will be missed by few.
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