Not to (overly) complain, but from what I saw of it (switching between that and the College World Series), that referee really messed up and harmed the American team with the prolific red cards, putting them at a one-man disadvantage. Even an Italian postgame commentator thought he did a bad job. Brent "Lincoln Drinking Game" Musburger said this ref was suspended in 2002 for "irregularities" and one of the game announcers said he'd be surprised if he referees another game.

I watched this match and I've got to say, what a stupid sport. That whole red card thing is just nuts.

Referees another World Cup game that is, I suppose he could always come to America and be an MLB umpire.

Not to mention disallowing a goal because one of the US players was merely standing in front of the goalie.

Real men play with defense in their face, soccer freaks.

Good to see the nay-sayers at least giving the game a shot. Unfortunately, viewing enjoyment is really hampered by the abismal quality of the American announcers. I can imagine them whining about the referee, when not droning on about inane statistics (in good basesball style), instead of focusing on the knife's-edge drama being played out.

Another very good match today was Ghana against the Czech Republic. If you're looking for some interesting matches over the next few days, try to catch Brazil Sunday and Ghana (next versus the USA) in a few days, and tune into Univision for the broadcasts.

Ole, ole, ole, ole...

"From Ghana with love"

I'm a bit late with this. I didn't see the match en vivo, having been out trap shooting yersterday afternoon. Taped it.

What a great match! We wuz robbed, no doubt about it. The second yellow on Pope was a bad, bad call and the red for a late poke tackle a couple of minutes later was worse.

They just couldn't let the Butchers of Baghdad beat Italy so they fixed the match. This was almost as bad as the Cup that France stole by having stronger opponents knocked out by bad calls.

The off-side goal called back was not a bad call, however. The USA player was definitely screening the ball from the Italy keeper. This has nothing to do with being "in-your-face." Rather is the way to off-side rule has evolved to keep the game a matter of skill rather than trickery.

Jorge: I taped this one in English, so I can't say how the Mexican announcers dealt with the referees. I watched the French Cup tournament of Univision, and they soundly ripped all the bad calls.

The USA played very well yesterday. I was pleasantly surprised. Good, smart play, tight, recombining defense. Even with all the bad calls, the Butchers of Baghdad avoided a loss.

Francia,1, Corea,1. Another super match. This time not marred by referee errors.

If you know the game, enjoy the 90 minutes of beautiful play. If you don't know it, learn it or just go watch something else.

The first soccer match I attended bored me dead. I felt like it was 6 hours long. Nothing happened for 60 minutes, a goal was scored while I was walking to the men's room and nothing else happened (that I could see) for the nest 30 minutes.

When you know and appreciate the game, all that changes. I was standing up for the last 10 minmutes of the France-Korea match. 1-1 tie--beautiful!