55 BRAGHA Micheľ

Defending champions Brazil beat debutants Ghana 3-0 to proceed to the quarter-final, but for quite some time the CONMEBOL team was in trouble. Had not the “Black Stars” been let down by their converting, a surprise was definitely possible, especially in the first half. A second Brazilian goal just before half-time torpedoed their hopes though and unfortunately the refereeing team led by Ľuboš Micheľ erred quite clearly when allowing it to stand.

It was interesting what approach the Slovakian official would take considering that Ghana had racked up quite a disciplinary record in the group stage. Especially in the first half, Micheľ was more Ivanov than Archundia – though that is perhaps an unfair comparison. Micheľ is his own referee and his own strict approach had been on display in his group matches.

It must be said that the players forced his hand though. While he tried to let the persistently fouling Muntari get away with his first foul after three minutes, the Slovakian official had produced the yellow three times after not even 13 minutes. Appiah and Muntari both went into the book for reckless tackles and Adriano followed after his attempt to round Ghanaian keeper Kingson had failed and he threw himself to the ground to win a penalty. Micheľ had an excellent view on the scene and took the correct decision immediately.

The same sadly cannot be said about his AR2 Martin Balko. After denying Ronaldo an excellent opportunity to score after not even a minute with a wrong offside flag (1’), Adriano’s dive should have never happened – he was offside (13’). Balko in general seemed overmatched and when he saw Adriano onside again in added time, he produced one of the biggest AR mistakes of the tournament that should have never happened (45+1’). The obviousness of the offside for every viewer at the TV screen concealed how hard a job Balko had in this scene - the pace of the Brazilian attack was blistering and he did a good job at keeping up with up, yet the mistake can not be denied. It really wasn’t his day.

Micheľ, who had produced three further cards until half-time – all mandatory – booked Gyan almost immediately after kick-off for a frustrated whack against the ball. At this point, Ghana’s furious protests regarding the second goal against them had already seen their coach Ratomir Dujković evicted – he had waylaid Micheľ and his team on the way to the dressing room.

The second half, full of sloppy football, saw damage control by Micheľ, who could have acted stricter against several more Ghanaian fouls, but decided not to fill his notebook further. When Gyan fell down inside the penalty box for no reason, he had no choice but to show the striker his second yellow card of the day (81’).

Micheľ showed more strengths than weaknesses, he was unwilling to let tactical fouls and reckless challenges go unlike some other referees. His decision to be more lenient in the second half was self-preservation. Overall, he himself was good albeit his line towards dissent was way too lenient. Did he miss a RC in 39’?

What sunk this performance though were the mistakes made by Balko described above. It is surprising that the Slovakian trio was appointed again and for the clash between hosts Germany and favourites Argentina no less. In 2002, Balko’s tournament would have been over for certain. AR1 Roman Slyško was less challenged, but had some good decisions (19’, 65’) that included an onside for the final Brazilian goal (84’).

Ľuboš Micheľ - 8,5 Roman Slyško - 8,5 Martin Balko - 7,4 Mark Shield Nathan Gibson SVK – AUS	Brazil 3-0 Ghana Round of 16
Adriano (13') - Simulation Juan (44') - Reckless sliding tackle	Appiah (7') - Reckless sliding tackle Muntari (11') - Reckless sliding tackle Paintsil (29') - SPA (Tripping) Addo (37') - SPA (Tackle) Gyan (48') - Dissent
	Gyan (81') - Simulation