Stéphane Lannoy matches

When I heard that Stephane Lannoy would be the official for this match, I had serious doubts if he could handle this challenge. With hindsight and after the match, it turned out to be an average performance which is good news considering the potential this match had.

Let's look for the strong points
He didn't mess it up - that is looking at his record a positive message. In terms of tacklings, he was around 80 percent correct despite some phantom freekicks and the odd challenge missing. He decided correctly on the Wembley goal in minute 45 and had worked on his body language when pointing after he whistled for a freekick. He even shook his head and looked convinced in order to "sell" his decisions. His strongest point was that he came across as being neutral in a major encounter.

Where he looked weak and out of his depth...
He tolerated a lot of dissent from both sides, seemed completely uninterested when the Portugese players resorted to ellbowing to the face (three times) and he had no authority on the pitch. Four cards came out of the pocket, but the headshaking was the only proactive movement he produced. He didn't warn because he wanted to avoid the emotional strife by both sides but he didn't come across as someone both teams took really serious.

Unlucky
He was unlucky when he cancelled a German advantage in the first half although the foul was clear. He should have booked Khedira for his walk on a foot, the slap on Badstuber went completely unpunished and I think that Postiga was lucky to escape with a yellow for his sliding tackling on Neuer. But taking into account what Ivanov made out of a Holland versus Portugal game in 2006, it could have been much worse.

Still
Stephane Lannoy is not a bad referee on the whole, but he needs to prove that he can play in the big arenas with the great teams as well. He had a good day, but this will not be enough compared to other good referees in this tournament.