[redmarkYankees]

The system isn't broken. Both Holland and Portugal have a reputation for play acting; none of that was a result of the referee. Honestly; there wasn't a single booking in that game I would be too upset at. On the contrary, there were incidents missed by the referee that could have produced more cards, while 2 or 3 of those yellows might have been straight reds. There already is a mechanism for suspensions to be rescinded, if the referee or FIFA observers think a booking/sending off was wrong. There won't be any rescinded from that match - they were all decent decisions. The only change from FIFA could be to ban Figo for the rest of the tournament for the headbutt - not a very powerful one, but totally outside acceptable behaviour: violent conduct, should have been a red and 3 game suspension.

What do football fans want to see from a match? Exciting, attacking, fair football - like the Argentina vs Mexico match, for instance. The sort of behaviour in this game prevents that. I figure you won't have seen matches from the 70s and 80s, where it was commonplace for the side leading to resort to timewasting, cynical fouls and playacting. That ruins the game. Referees are stricter now, and - on the whole - it's a good thing.

There was nothing wrong with the refereeing in that game. There was everything wrong with the attitude of the teams.