Equatorial Guinea's dream goes on

The match

Even though the first half ended in a goalless draw, there were important situations and call for the referees team. First situation was after ten minutes, the first yellow card of the match. It was totally correct, because the tackle was dangerous. I want to underline that in this situation Rahman gave advantage to Senegal, and after he showed the card. Very good style. Two minutes later, a Senegal player complained for a possible penalty, but it was a clear action on the ball by the Equatorial Guinea defender. Rahman in that situation did a smile to Senegal player and everything was ok. I was impressed, he had a very great communication on the pitch. Between 28' and 32' there were 3 offside calls for the second assistant, Birumshasu. Unfortunately, only 2 were correct. The first call, at 28', was a big mistake. Equatorial Guinea player was not in offside, and he had the chance to run towards the area of the Senegal keeper totally alone. It was a borderline call, yes, but it remains a big mistake. However, I want to underline again that immediatly after the same assistant had other 2 calls to do, and he did everything well. At 41' Rahman whistled a indirect free kick because Eq. Guinea keeper picked up the ball with hands after a clear back-pass from a teammate. He tried to justify it but the referee was careful, though he didn't whistle immediatly.

Second half and the final

In second half there wern't so big calls to do, I can report a dive that was a clear yellow but it wasn't given and some right offside calls. But we have to focus on the final minutes, in which everything happened: some yellow cards, a straight red and two gols. Senegal scored the 1-1 gol when the match was almost ending. Then, Equatorial Guinea player had a reaction and they scored the 2-1 goal at 93'. After that, Doe got a red card during celebration. That is a big doubt: TV didn't show the reason for which the player got a red card, but I have read today an interview in which the player admits his wrong behavior, so we have to trust the referee.

Match difficulty

I think match wasn't so difficult until the last minutes, so I could say 6.

Pitch

It was a very bad pitch, I have heard about the heavy rain before both matches.. However, it could have been worse, I have seen many worse situations in the past, so I think it was ok to play.