Poll's third game of the tournament saw Croatia take on Australia. The game ended 2-2, putting Australia through to the next round, but the story was far more than that. Poll sent off three players, including Dario ¦imić, Brett Emerton, and Josip ¦imunić. In ¦imunić's case, Poll almost certainly made history, booking him three times (61', 90', 93'). Having forgotten to send him off after his second yellow card, he did finally show him a red card in the second-half added time period.
Graham Poll had a lot to answer for after his poor performance in this match. Inside the first 10 minutes of the game, Poll turned a blind eye to a rugby style tackle by Croatia's Joe Simunic. Poll later caused more controversy over a blatant handball from a Croation defender, however, confused spectators by acknowledging the ball went out of bounds off a Croations hand, but rather than awarding Australia the penalty shot, he made the Aussies play the corner kick.[1] Note: ¦imunić's second of the three yellow cards, in the 90' minute has since been removed from the website.
It remains to be seen whether Poll has jeopardised his chances of refereeing again in this World Cup. He will be too old for the 2010 World Cup.
Find me some golf shoes. Otherwise, we'll never get out of this mess alive!