Weak, weak, weak...

Poor start

A referee should always be strong, and this is even more true in the World Cup. With a minute on the clock Camoranesi took Caceras' studs strainght in the shin, with the referee only a few metres away. This was a sending off offence, and Archundia had one chance to show whether or not he is good enough for this level. Yet instead of taking the brave (and correct) decision to produce a straight red in the opening minute, Archundia crumbled and didn't even give a yellow.

Foul detection

He was prepared to allow a bit of contact which, on a wet and slippery pitch, was good and showed some compassion. However, his general foul detection was not very good. He seemed to miss many obvious fouls (and if he was playing advantage, did not signal so), while penalising a lot of fairly minor contact. The free kick which led to Paraguay's goal was one such phantom offence, with Chiellini supposedly fouling Barrios though if there was any infringement of the laws I certainly could not see it.

Off the ball

There were four or five bad off-the-ball challenges which, although they seemed to be in the view of Archundia, were left totally unpunished even though one on Santa Cruz should have resulted in a penalty for Paraguay. Another sign of weakness.

Attitude

Archundia was reluctant in this match. He was often quite distant from the action, and always seemed unenthusiastic to make decisions. While I do not like flashy referees, a degree of confidence in the body language would help. He most certainly is not as good as he was in 2006 when he should have had the final, if he performs like this again he will be lucky to get a knockout match.