Of course it was; even if only subconsciously.

Neutrality removes any issues of that nature. The ref need worry only about the performance and the media only about the quality of the football as any semblance of bias is removed.

Strange how yet once again it was never the players who were at fault.

I have always been of the opinion that if the players played by the rules, then it shouldn't never matter who the the match officials are and they would have very little to do.

Professionals will always bend rules as much as possible.

The idea of no infringements is a nice theory. Unfortunately for that scenario, humans play and not robots.

I thought the worst decision today cam from the only neutral on the field. That foot on the line should have been spotted.

It was a shocker and strengthens the case for putting more money into international officials.

So what happened to the Kiwis getting dicked?

Ref's will always make mistakes, they are only highlighted in more in the big games and especially the close ones.

Just a reminder for readers of an actual example of my thoughts on international RL rather than the mad interpretation of it...