no fight

gesture

Larrionda was a bit controversial (well not in my home, he wasn't) last year in Germany. Lots of yellow and even red cards, but in Venezuela he seemd to be at ease an wholly at home. Looking relaxed, he walked instead of ran, and he felt that a short head shake should be enough to indicate a penalty. A gesture unnoticed by a lot of players and the Colombian coach, yelling angrlily as they did, wanting something they already got..

yellow

Larrionda added no stoppage time at the end of the match. When did you last see a match with no stoppage time? To me that means there was no fight. And no cards! What's wrong with these South American teams! Is it being used to living under dictators that they don't dare to foul? What's wrong with kicking the hell out of a dangerous forward like Santa Cruz? You might get red carded, but you might also not loose 0-5. Every Italian, Portuguese and English defender will tell you this.

socks

While the Colombians were still busy ajusting their socks and getting to the right place on the field, Santa Cruz scored his second goal, 20 seconds into the second half. And that was what happened all the time: the Colombians were busy doing something (trying to reach the opposite box, shooting straight at the goal keeper) and then the Paraguayans took off quickly and scored.