The USA's other World Cup honor

Referee Brian Hall from Gilroy, CA officiated two games (Italy v. Ecuador and Nigeria v. England) as one of 36 referees who were chosen to do the job in this year's World Cup. That number was narrowed to 16 for the tournament's final 8 games, and Hall made the cut again--not certain that he will actually work any particular game yet, they announce the referee only shortly before match time. [Here's a brief interview with him] That is a signal of great respect, and a big boost to US soccer credibility (especially when a lot of the officiating has been coming under fire).

HOWEVER there are still some like, say, oh, I don't know, maybe THE BBC who lampoon us for playing soccer.
And this I guess is the equivalent of us doing a bad cockney write-up, eh wot?