I'd like to know where FIFA dug up the incompetent Wolfgang Stark to referee the semi-final game between Argentina and Chile. As soon as Argentina noticed that he was both gullible and visually impaired, they started milking him for cards. Their play-acting may not be of the calibre of the Brazilians, but it was good enough for Mr. Stark. He bought every one of Argentina's dives and gave Chile seven yellow cards and two red cards. It couldn't be a case of bribery because he would have been more subtle about it. No, it was sheer incompetence, made worse by the complete lack of self-respect among the Argentinians. Don't the defending champions think they can win without cheating? Well, they will meet another team without honour, the Czech Republic, in the final. It will be interesting to see how the referee in that game deals with the hard-hitting Czechs and the easy-diving Argentinians. He'd better have his contacts in.
UPDATE: Poor Chile. They couldn't even get away from the stadium without another beating, this time at the hands of the police. Witnesses indicate that an Argentinian fan and a Chilean player got into a shouting match which escalated, and when the police got involved, the Chileans jumped to the defense of their teammate and a brawl ensued. The police have apologized for using excessive force (including tasering someone), but FIFA is pointing the finger squarely at the players. Poor Chile.
UPDATE II: This little fracas has now become an international incident. The government of Chile has made a formal complaint to the Department of Foreign Affairs, and the Chilean media is making mincemeat out of Canada. Maybe this is a good thing. If Canada wants a higher profile in the world of football we will have to learn that the rest of the world takes football very seriously.
Correction: It appears that the police have withdrawn or never did make an apology for their use of excessive force. Someone really needs to tell them that they were dealing with elite athletes and not Hell's Angels.
