
| Belgium | - | Germany |
The Norvegian Referee Terje Hauge is one of the typical Nordist kind: He is an invisible man and his handwaving is barely noticeable in comparison to his more Southern colleagues. This gives his decisions a definite calmness, but makes himself vulnerable to protests and comes across as a bit too nice and lenient.
No big deal
I don't think there was a lot to debate on this match. Terje let the game flow, he whistled for some minor or major fouls and looked relaxed as usual for most of the game. The offside decisions by his assistants were almost always correct, but I was annoyed by the level of protesting by some of the players for quite obvious infractions. He gave out two yellows against Germany for Schweinsteiger and Cacau for two clumsy challenges which was spot on, but there was also a case for one or two yellows for the Belgian uprising in midfield. The Germans were crap and won without glamour against a hopeful and too naive Belgish side (a typical 1:0).