23 MEXANG Maidin

Historic draw for Angola - the nation on Africa's West Coast achieved their first point at the World Cup Finals by virtue of their scoreless draw against Mexico. The reactions of the players at the final whistle can disabuse you; if results went as expected (they did), this result virtually eliminated Angola and put Mexico in a very strong position to qualify. A normal match for Shamsul Maidin who didn't leave the first satisfying impression in his opener. Referee from Singapore, cognisant of some deficiencies, performed well here.

Not long has to be spent talking about Key Match Incidents here - Maidin correctly issued a second caution for an ultra-blatant handling which quite crudely stopped a deceptively promising Mexico attack.

In general, it was pretty quiet on the officiating front here. Maidin did show some weaknesses though - not even verbally warning a player after a clearly reckless tackle, well-played advantage, because the players did not notice (26'); changing a well-spotted direct freekick to an indirect one because he doubted his perception (32') and allowing quite blatantly rolling restarts in the hectic end to the game where Mexico were trying to score (+91'). Despite a fairly shy optic, Maidin could connect with the players using a nice smile and empathy at some dead ball situations.

Prachya Permpanich and Eisa Ghoulom both had good games on the line.

Shamsul Maidin - 8,3 Prachya Permpanich - 8,4 Eisa Ghoulom - 8,4 Carlos Chandía Rodrigo González SIN, THA, UAE – CHI	Mexico 0-0 Angola Group Stage
Pineda (59.) - Delaying the Restart	Delgado (13.) - SPA (Tripping) Macanga (44.) - Delaying the Restart Zé Kalanga (50.) - Charging João Ricardo (86.) - Delaying the Restart
	Macanga (79.) - SPA (Handling)