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Sad ending.
The referee lost it all completely.
Costinha deserved to be sent off during first half, no problem, he acted stupidly thrice.
Now during second half, the ref should have called both captains and ask them to get their teams quieter.
See what Deco did : he's running towards Van der Sar, he has eliminated a defender, and is about to be in a position from where he could think of trying his luck. The referee whistles, to see if a Portuguese defender, in the other half of the field, is doing OK. The ref interrupts the game.
Now the def is fine. Deco expects the Dutch to leave his team the ball but they rush towards Ricardo. That ain't fair play (but they might have had Figo's attitude towards Van Bommel - clemently punished - a few minutes before in mind). Deco loses his temper, commits a fault. Fault for which he could have received a red card. But the ref gives him a chance and holds out a yellow one (did Mr Ivanov feel guilty? did he understand Deco's disappointment?). As a result, Holland contests, Van der Vaart is booked too, yellow card, for talking. Severe tackle (risks of injuries for the players) = yellow; remarks to the ref (nothing of the sort) = yellow.
And that's when the match ended.
I lost track but Portugal received at least 9 yellow cards.
The Dutch are out of the tournament with less than that. Van Basten didn't lose his temper. Wonder what both coaches are gonna say about the game.
Maniche's goal was a beauty. Tiago cooled things out a bit when he walked in. Meira remained calm.
Van Bronckhorst sitting by Deco and Boulharouz, staring at the scene made me believe that they agreed on one point : Mr Ivanov won't be in Germany tomorrow.
Impact on our little lot : yellows & reds.
To think that both teams were good (see how Miguel managed to prevent Robben from being dangerous).
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