World Cup - PKs

I imagine that you have been following along with the rest of the world what is happening in Brazil now with regards to the World Cup. I am not going to comment too much on the referees there because while some of the officiating has been wonky, it has not been controversial, except the PKs for the most part.

First, Brazil-Croatia, come on, that nudge is not a PK and I think many of us would be in serious trouble if we were to call PKs like that anytime the level of contact reached what the Japanese referee called that day. The second one is more recent. In the Australia-Netherlands game (and what a great game it was), the referee called a PK for Australia that was clearly ball to hand and not hand to ball, but it was so evident that I think he had to call it. Not sure if you saw it but I would love to be able to find out what went through his head. It was clear and there was a lot of contact, not a simple deflection. It was also the arm in a natural running position, so I have a hard time with those because there was no intention but the ball and hand clearly made contact. Does FIFA want us to call that stuff or not? I wish there were a clear yes or no from FIFA instead of having 50% of us call it and 50% of us not call it on any given day.

Finally, the amount of PKs being given is something that has surprised me this go around. And the fact that I don't think a PK has been missed yet in the WC, at least that I have seen, so my guess is that one will be missed today in the England-Uruguay match just because I mentioned it just now. Anyway, enjoy the soccer that is going on right now!