32 BRASWE Puhl

 

Brazil and Sweden were already essentially through and both gave strong accounts of themselves in this score draw. The kind of game which if refereed well nobody will notice or (remember) you, but could also end your tournament if goes wrong. This enigma was what Sándor Puhl faced - Hungarian referee was quite fortunate to have not been removed after Norway - Mexico, but his distinctive style worked quite well here.

Puhl's style was much clearer here than in his challenging opening tie. His style was in the extreme serving football spirit (he repeated to that effect his very annoying card procedure which involves holding the card in the air for as little time as possible), combined with a mostly successful hardman manner, though it is rather a façade if you ask me. It worked well here, with little to say about his performance. 

The most interesting situation was a potential penalty for Brazil, ten minutes from the end. To be honest, I think it is much more of a penalty than not, but maybe you can find some arguments for play on (unlucky collision, too trifling contact, Sweden player had won the position et al.). Would be interested in other's thoughts here. 

Quietly censuring one player from each team when they confronted linesmen Sándor Márton and Luc Matthys respectively was effective, as was his disciplinary control. A very sweaty Puhl blew the final whistle, but to his credit I don't think he tired at any point. 

Hungarian linesman Márton had three important calls to make, though none of them were replayed (seemed correct from the live sequence). Matthys from Belgium on the other side was a bit quieter. 

Sándor Puhl - 8,3 Sándor Márton - 8,4 Luc Matthys - 8,4 Manuel Díaz Vega HUN, HUN, BEL	Brazil 1-1 Sweden Group Stage
Aldair (68') - Tackle	Mild (85') - SPA (Tackle)