Boredom biggest problem for Webb

Howard Webb followed up his Brazil v Egypt thriller at the Confederations Cup here in South Africa with a real comedown - Iraq vs New Zealand. Played in a half full stadium at Ellis Park, the dull 0-0 draw presented Webb with very few real challenges, apart from constantly having to charge up and down the field at full speed following the ball when it was haplessly pumped up the pitch.

But Webb's presence shone through. He has a commanding character on the pitch and his confidence shines through. Players appear to naturally listen to him and he has very few problems with dissent. It's not yet known if he'll play any further part in the semis or the final of the tournament but he deserves it.

Mind Games

I'm afraid I suffered a humilating defeat in the battle of the minds with Reuters football editor Mike Collett, who I met up with at an event sponsored by World Cup sponsor Castrol in Johannesburg. Castrol have put together a game which apparently measures brain activity and can be used by footballers to measure stress. Hooked up with a pad around out heads, a ball was apparently moved to reflect how tense or stressed we were. Total hocus-pocus I'm sure, because Collett proceeded to thrash me twice. He was the epitome of calm while the screens made it look as though I was suffering from a nervous breakdown.

Just why do Brazil get so many free kicks

Well, the brutal answer is that they cheat a lot, especially around the opposition penalty area. I've tried to get hold of statistics down here from Fifa but there aren't any for free kicks in specific areas, but just watch how readily Brazil's players take a tumble in areas where they can take free kicks.
It happened today in the Confederations Cup match against the United States. After just six minutes a Brazilian player very cleverly tripped himseld in a perfect position for an inswinging free kick. The kick was, of course, perfecly flighted and Felipe Melo headed home. Melo was marginally offside so the Americans can count themselves doubly unlucky.
Brazil had countless free kicks from an area about 20-25 metres out. The Americans were a bit naive in committing themselves to challenges, but it's still a pretty cynical way to play what a Brazilian superstar christened The Beautiful Game.

Winter in Johannesburg - Creative juices flowing!!

They're tough working conditions but someone's got to do it!

Italy deprived of goal by assistant's howler

I had to print off the LOAF in my office here in South Africa last night after a linesman in the Italy vs USA Confederatiopns Cup match in Pretoria made the howler of his lifetime and flagged an Italian player for offside as an American player kicked the ball into his own net from 20 yards.
Of the six colleagues I was with, most were convinced the Italian was offside and the own goal should not count. These are people who should know what they're talking about, but they didn't.
The Italian winger, I believe it was Pirlo, was in an offside position when the American - five yards away - intercepted the ball and put it through his own net. No laws have been broken here and the linesman's decision was awful, one that should not happen at this level.

Webb gets it right - eventually

We hear it so many times as refs. Never let your guard down. Howard Webb had had a dream of a match in Bloemfontein until the 89th minute, when it all threatened to go pear shaped on him. Webb had trouble sorting out the penalty areas for a Brazil free kick and issued several warnings to players. He looked well placed as the free kick came in, but the ball broke to Lucio whose shot straight at the goal.
The Egyptian defender on the line collapsed holding his face and the ball went out of play. Webb pointed to the corner spot, apparently convinced that the defender had been poleaxed. The Brazilians, however, had a clearer view and saw clearly the defender deliberately blocked the ball with his hand.
As he walked 20 yards to the incident and waved away furious Brazilians, Webb changed his mind. It is pretty clear now that he was tipped off by his assistant Mike Mullarkey, who was a long way from the incident but had a clear view of the incident. The Egyptians, trying a classic smokescreen, protested to Fifa that the fourth official had viewed the incident on a TV screen, something that is not allowed.
On Tuesday, Fifa wisely rejected the Egyptians' complaint. The only fear is that the incident will damage Webb's chances of progressing in the competition, which would be grossly unfair. Fifa is famous for steering clear of controversy, however.

Fat Ref decamps to South Africa

Welcome to South Africa

Here I am in a chilly and damp South Africa for the Confederations Cup, with eight countries including Brazil, Spain and Italy appearing.

The first match between the hosts and Iraq has just finished. Frankly it was a crap match played between two crap teams. Hopefully things will improve.

Long-range Malouda shot shows need for change

If the FA Cup final was transferred to next season's UEFA Cup (or Europa Cup as it'll be known), the score would have been Chelsea 3 Everton 1. Florent Malouda's 30-yarder hit the underside of the crossbar and bounced down over the goalline.
The only problem is that referee Howard Webb and his assistant were, inevitably, hopelessly out of position because of the speed of Malouda's break and the distance of the shot. The assistant was 30 yards out himself when the ball was struck. So neither official had a good view of the incident and the goal could not be allowed.
FIFA has just announced that in next season's Europea Cup, there will be two extra assistants in the penalty areas to help with incidents like these. These assistants will stand on the goal line most of the time and would have been ideally placed to give a clear decision on such incidents.
Hopefully a positive move for the new season.

Last match of season was a first

Thursday night was my last match of the season and it gave me an unexpected first - my first game reffed under floodlights. It took a little while to get used to the artificial light replacing the fading natural light, but it's an enjoyable experience. The only newbie's mistake I made was to accidentally look directly at the lights a couple of times and blind myself for a few seconds. A lesson learned.
The match was without any real importance, the home team had already won the lead and the away team was playing its third game in four days to try and clear up its fixtures before this weekend. But still the 22 managed to pull together a keenly contested 1-1 draw that saw both teams trying really hard to nick a winner.
I kept my cards in my pocket until the last five minutes, when a couple of players got little overheated, but it was a good one to finish the season with. Lots of criticism from the away team, but frankly i'm fast developing the ability to be deaf to it all.
So - Until next season. But before then I shall be merrily blogging from the Confederations Cup in South Africa and chatting about the various issues that are sure to crop up.

Handball or not?

Fascinating to see Dermot Gallagher on Sky declaring that the Barcelona handball in the 94th minute against Chelsea was one of two contentious decisions the Norwegian ref got right. gallagher said he turned his back on the ball and it hit him, so not deliberate and not handball.
I would have argued the opposite, that if a player turns his back on the ball and puts his arms in the air and the ball hits his arms, then it's handball.
But I guess that's the joy of football.