40 IRNANG Shield

Angola needed a win of their own against Iran and some support from Portugal against Mexico to progress to the Round of 16. In the end, the Africans could celebrate their first ever World Cup goal and were at times even quite close (in theory) to making it further, but the draw was a fair result for both teams in the end.

Australian referee Mark Shield whistled 42 fouls and handballs in the 90+ minutes, but despite this number of infringements and the stakes involved, the match was played in a remarkably fair spirit. OFC’s only main referee can take some credit for that as well – his communication with players was easily his strongest trait, he seemed emphatic and even able to share a laugh at times. It was an appropriate management style for this game.

Shield wasn’t without mistake when it came to the detection of infringements and there are arguments that he underpunished some fouls (3’, 45+3’), including what could have been a SYC for Mendonça in 54’. Control over the match was never threathened though and Shield did leave the impression of solid referee. He also handled several stops in play due to injuries quite well, including a booking for a player who had to be stretchered off.

Mark Shield’s third World Cup game was his last and the last time an Australian referee would represent the OFC, with Australia’s association joining the AFC later. One could wonder if Shield might have had better chances at further appointments had this switch already applied to him? In the big picture, Shield showed in all of his three appeareances that he was a decent referee, but lacked the experience and at time the confidence to reach more.

The ARs Nathan Gibson and Ben Wilson made several correct decisions (16’, 24’, 60’), good performances by them both in an easy game.

Mark Shield - 8,2 Nathan Gibson - 8,4 Ben Wilson - 8,4 Carlos Eugênio Simon Aristeu Tavares AUS - BRA	IR Iran 1-1 Angola Group Stage
Madanchi (37') - SPA (Holding) Teymourian (55') - Delaying the Restart Zandi (90+1') - SPA (Tripping)	Locó (22') - Reckless sliding tackle Mendonça (45+1') - Delaying the Restart Zé Kalanga (67') - Reckless sliding tackle