Yesterday was an exciting day (who knew Iranians were so passionate about football?), and exciting in the refereeing world is never good. Today was much more calm. Dr. Felix Brych (GER), Belgium v. Russia Brych (above) was his usually dreamy, yet insouciant, self. He just mostly loped around the pitch, looking pretty, but not really being tested too much. The first half
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All the ladies will be glad to know that Dr. Dreamy is back! Yes, Dr. Felix Brych of Germany will referee Belgium v Russia. These teams have everything to fight for, but after shaky outings for each expect it to be ugly. At least the referee won’t be. (I love the above photo, from dw.de. He looks like he’s posing
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As the first full day of group games wraps up, here are my thoughts on the World Cup referees: Wilmar Roldan (Colombia), Mexico v. Cameroon – The talk of this match are the two Mexico goals that were disallowed for offside. Though Mexico ended up winning 1-0, the disallowed goals were a huge talking point. The truth is, though, Roldan actually
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The referees for the first two days are a very pancontinental bunch, with one referee each from Asia, Africa, South America and Europe. Friday sees one of the biggest matchups of the early stages: Spain v. Netherlands. This repeat of the 2010 final will have huge implications for how the tournament shapes up, and has been given to Italy’s Nicola
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PLAY THE ADVANTAGE 