One positive about the officiating this tournament

There has to be a happy medium between where it was and where it is.

While I appreciate the regard for the flow of the game, there are so many fouls with no attempt at the ball that it’s turning into a completely different game. Arms fully extended pushing on a players back to the point where the ball goes out of play, that then results in a change of possession from a restart should never happen. An attacker dribbling towards the goal pulled off balance from behind by his jersey with zero attempt at the ball where they lose possession should not happen.

A game can be physical with shoulder to shoulder hits and not just fully extended arms pushing and pulling a players jersey. Allowing that to happen takes away from the attacker beating a defender, when the only thing that gets called is extremely egregious or just a flat out hack.

A good ref sets the tone of the game early, at all ages and skill levels, and when they don’t you get France Paraguay.

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good ref sets the tone of the game early, at all ages and skill levels, and when they don’t you get France Paraguay.

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That was shameful officiating.

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That was shameful officiating.

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That's putting it lightly. The fact that Paraguay didnt get a single card is a travesty.

To go from the extremely unnecessary red for Balo from a ref that was involved in a match fixing investigation to that match in a matter of days really puts a bad stain on what has been a fairly good officiated WC so far. FIFA really needs to take a hard look at who they are trusting to officiate some of the most important games of the biggest sporting event in the world.

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Game is much more physical.

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It’s been good for American fans that don’t normally watch. A lot of my friends have commented on how they had no idea soccer was so physical.