Teeth

badly

Mohamed Benopuza started off badly by finding a foul behind almost every collision. He looked nervous, and so did the players. And free kicks were always for the defending team, as if he was afraid to do something wrong. But then suddenly: the penalty.

penalty

Ghana had possession almost as high as 70 percent, but the first attack by Nigeria was dangerous enough. Two fouls in the Ghana box before Benouza had enough and pointed to the penalty spot. Two minor fouls added up to a penalty. I don't think that is right, but it felt right anyway. And it felt as if Benouza finally woke up and started refereeing.

and then

And from then on he was good. The red card was right and there were almost no more free kicks for nothing. When the two big stars Essien and Mikel had a fight he missed it by a second because his attention was somewhere else, showing us he is not the very best of the best. But he was alright nevertheless and he stood tall between all those players who seem to spend more time pumping iron than practicing something useless as a corner shot.