HAVING got off to a rather slow and ultra cautious start, we are happy to see the 2010 FIFA World Cup Finals in South Africa picking up pace in quality and excitement.

Unfortunately, the dictates, demands and expectations of modern football force most coaches to devise conservative approaches to playing — teams trying not to lose, rather than giving up spaces in an effort to win — thus taking away from the aesthetics of the game.

At a time when the interest of millions watching on TV and the thousands attending games is of paramount importance, not least due to the high levels of sponsorships involved, the drab start must have been worrying for the world’s governing body of the sport, FIFA.

A good football spectacle will always attract interest and followers, like the famous Brazilian teams led by the legendary Pele during the late 1950s through 1970, but it is now the order of the day for coaches of the lesser teams to “sit back” and “hold on” for as long as possible in defensive postures, at the expense of entertaining play.

Thankfully, some of the traditional attacking teams such as Argentina and Spain have stuck to their culture of fluent and stylish football and their performances have kept the interest alive.

It is now expected that games will be of much better quality, as coaches are left with no option but to be positive in their strategic planning in an effort to remain in the competition.

Shock results are part and parcel of the World Cup and we have seen a few so far. The highly fancied Spain, the current European Champions who arguably boast the most talented group of players at this year’s edition, bowed meekly 0-1 to Switzerland in their opener on Wednesday. Then only yesterday, three-time champions Germany, who thrilled in a stylish 4-0 demolition of Australia last Sunday, crashed to a similar margin in their second outing against Serbia, who had lost their opening match to Ghana.

The highly-touted England, winners on home soil in 1966, have looked rather ordinary in stalemates with the US and Algeria. But that’s the World Cup for you — the upsets, thrills and spills.

Also, there has been crescendoing of complaints by players and coaches about the new official Adidas Jabulani ball, but we are more concerned with the effects of the high altitude at most venues and the wintry conditions which presently exist.

But even as we begin to look at those factors and appreciate the improved standard of play in South Africa, we must register our dissatisfaction with some of the officiating, and FIFA’s continued unwillingness to seriously address the situation.

For example, Belgian referee Mr Frank De Bleeckere issued a yellow card to Argentina’s defender Mr Gabriel Heinze for handling the ball in Thursday’s game against South Korea. A few days earlier Guatemalan referee Mr Carlos Batres did likewise when he cautioned Algeria’s striker Mr Abdelkader Ghezzal for a similar offence, and being the player’s second caution for the game, he was ejected.

Under the laws of the game, cautioning for hand ball infringements is very explicit, and based on what happened on the field in both instances, neither player should have been so penalised.

There were other glaring errors on the part of referees, but too numerous to debate at this time.

As far as we are concerned, common sense would dictate that under these circumstances these yellow and red cards should be rescinded by the review/appeal committee. We await the results.