31 KSAUKR Poll

Ukraine revived their hopes of progression by defeating Saudi Arabia 4-0, the same margin the debutants had lost to Spain in their first World Cup game. Scoring their opener and first ever World Cup goal inside four minutes, the East Europeans cruised to a well-deserved victory.

A physical but fair game was refereed by Graham Poll who despite some "card troubles" had a satisfying showing in his first match of the tournament. The Englishman could be quite happy with his performance this time. What clearly stood in the foreground was his friendly manner, easy smiles and generally very good communication with the players. Poll read the game, was as eager as the players and let it flow when he could. When the occasion demanded it, he was firm – a very good warning for a player already on a YC in 75’ perhaps summarizes his management best.

However, especially in the second half, Poll could have done a bit more considering the rising number of not ill-intended, but still late and borderline reckless challenges coming in. He only carded one of these incidents, but should have acted against them earlier – quite a few would and should have been bookings considering the tournament guidelines. One can surely defend Poll though – the players did not make too much a drama out of them and were eager to continue the game. Still, a bit more prevention should have been undertaken: The match never got rough, but it could have.

Poll also turned down a number of smaller penalty appeals, all those decisions are correct or at the very least supportable with one correctly identified obvious dive among them which was correctly carded. Overall, Poll left a satisfying impression and was a sure candidate for a tie on the final matchday.

Both Philip Sharp and Glenn Turner were rarely challenged and perfomed on an expected level.

Graham Poll - 8,3 Philip Sharp - 8,4 Glenn Turner - 8,4 Kamikawa Tōru Hiroshima Yoshikazu ENG - JPN	Saudi Arabia 0-4 Ukraine Group Stage
Dokhi (41') - SPA (Tackle) Al-Ghamdi (56') - Simulation Kariri (73') - Dissent	Nesmačnyj (22') - Reckless sliding tackle Kalynyčenko (77') - SPA (Holding) Sviders'kyj (89') - Reckless sliding tackle