2 POLECU Kamikawa

After a successful appearance at his home World Cup four years earlier, Tōru Kamikawa opened his 2006 tournament early with the quite important game between Poland and Ecuador. Satisfying performance from the referee from Japan with some areas for consideration.

Kamikawa earned the respect of the players with his reasonable leadership style on the pitch - despite keeping empathic distance, he didn't act like a dictator which the players appreciated. On a presence level, referee from Japan cannot list natural authority amongst his résumé; nothing against the top class official, but such a co-operative model might not work so well in a game where the referee is really tested by the players.

Decisions were good in principle but there were some disappointing mistakes - missed attacking handling in the first half and a clearly reckless foul not whistled on the far side in the second half chief among them. Both cards to Ecuador players had clear tactical value besides being correct; was the tackle at 36' a case of Serious Foul Play? Kamikawa was preventative before set-pieces warning players not to commit holding offences - good.

Crucial calls for both assistant referees - Yoshikazu Hiroshima had a very important if not crucial offside that was very tight (too tight to tell in fact); very good onside played by Kim Dae-young for the second Ecuador goal. Hiroshima missed a reckless striking offence in his vicinity during the early part of the first half.

Tōru Kamikawa - 8,2 Yoshikazu Hiroshima - 8,3 Kim Dae-young - 8,5 Ľuboš Micheľ Roman Slyško JPN, JPN, KOR - SVK	Poland 0-2 Ecuador Group Stage
Smolarek (36.) - Tackle	Hurtado (31.) - SPA (Charge) Méndez (70.) - Delaying the Restart

To watch highlights click on the picture of the referee :)