Late Action

Pedro Proenca

When Olegario Benquerenca took charge of a World Cup Quarter Final in 2010, Pedro Proenca was very much Portugal's number 2. Since then his rise has been rapid, and he has been one of the most consistent and reliable referees in Europe for the last two seasons. His appointment to this match was on merit, and I think he will be pretty pleased with his performance.

The decisions

I think Proenca's foul detection was quite good overall. He gave some soft free kicks, just enough to keep the game under full control, but for the most part tried to keep the game flowing. There were two 'big' decisions in the match: in the 54th minute Ribery had a goal ruled out for offside - this was a very tight decision, and the assistant referee was correct to raise the flag. And then in the 3rd minute of extra time, Drogba clipped Ribery's heel and Proenca correctly awarded a penalty. There were some appeals for handball against Cole in the 66th minute, but I do not think it was deliberate and Proenca was correct not to award a penalty in that instance.

Disciplinary action

Proenca issued five yellow cards. Schweinsteiger (handball), Cole (foul on Muller) and Luiz (foul on Robben) were all correctly cautioned. However, the cards for Drogba and Torres were very soft, and probably could have been dealt with more leniently. However, the lecture given to Bosingwa in the 31st minute was a superb example of man management.

Overall

While this match was not a particularly difficult one for the referee, nevertheless it was a major final and Proenca dealt with the pressure of the situation superbly. He was calm, relaxed and confident. He got the majority of decisions right and was well assisted by his team. If he continues in this form, he will easily get at QF or SF at the EURO 2012. Congratulations on a fine performance Pedro Proenca.