He refereed today's game between France and South Africa, the game I have chosen to assess Ruiz in.
In general, Ruiz keeps his distance from the play but ensures that he is in a position where he can see play and make creditable decisions. His foul recognition is good, he is strong with the whistle and commands respect from the players.
On free-kicks and corners, he keeps a very close eye on pushes & shoves. At first he issues no warning to any pair of players committing the offence because he does not think that there is any need to give out a warning. This is good man-management and shows he is not as pedantic as perhaps some other referees would be.
Ruiz's general fitness is good, and he keeps up with play well which, again, allows him to make creditable decisions. As with any good referee, Ruiz plays the advantage where possible and waits to see if an advantage can be played before giving any fouls which are only given when is necessary.
For the first South African goal, Ruiz did well not to give foul for climbing by Khumalo on Diaby. It was a simple jump from the big defender and Diaby was nowhere near getting to the ball. A good decision from the 40 year-old.
The sending off of France midfielder Yoann Gourcuff could be classed as harsh but Ruiz clearly saw Gourcuff go in for a header with an elbow and deemed it as intentional. There was confusion as to who he had sent off at first but, upon seeing a replay, it was clear that Gourcuff was the man sent from the field of play.
Let us remember he only gets one view of the incident at normal speed as opposed to the 100+ angles that TV cameras can get at different speeds. Following on from the red cards issued to Valon Behrami of Switzerland and Kaka of Brazil for similar offences, it is consistent refereeing from the Colombian, who will have been told by FIFA to clamp down on challenges where the player leads with an elbow.
After giving a foul, Ruiz is quick to the scene which ensures that there are no handbags afterwards between the culprit and the player fouled. This also reduces the chance of a mass brawl which shows that Ruiz has good control of the game
Ruiz's positioning on corners is good; he stands in a position where he is looking into the crowd of bodies so that he can see any fouls or other infringements. This gives his decisions credibility when awarding penalty kicks.
A South African penalty appeal waved away correctly by Ruiz - the attacker was most certainly looking for it and went down easily.
Aside from the red card, Ruiz only gave out one other card. A yellow was issued to Abou Diaby for a trip near the penalty area. Another correct decision from the Colombian official.
Unlike other referees, Ruiz doesn't tend to make himself the centre of attention. He allows the play to flow so that the focus is on the players and the football as opposed to himself.
All in all, it was a relatively quiet 2nd half compared to first for Ruiz but he kept control of the game through to the final whistle and I expect to see him officiating in the knockout stages of the competition.
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