Amarilla Alright, Larrionda Better, Elizondo’s Assistant Correct, American Announcers Awful

June 24th, 2006 | by: Aaron | Comments(21)

Well folks, maybe the reason people have so much animosity for referees in this country is because THE ANNOUNCERS WE LISTEN TO HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THEY’RE TALKING ABOUT!

Today I watched Ukraine – Tunisia followed by France – Togo. When I was done with the second match I fast forwarded through the Switzerland – Korea match to see the goals. No controversy on the powerful Senderos header, but thanks to a lack of understanding of the rules by both Tommy Smyth and his partner-in-crime Adrian Healey, the American audience probably wrongly believes that Switzerland were not deserving of their second.

They were and here’s why.

While it might be true that the Swiss forward Alexander Frei was in an offside position when the ball was kicked to him prior to the goal, the ball was played backwards by a Korean defender who intercepted a square ball about thirty yards from goal. So by definition, Frei couldn’t have been offside since he didn’t receive the ball from a pass by a teammate. It’s just about the most basic aspect of the rule. This, not to mention the fact that he actually was in an onside position when his teammate last touched it with the square ball.

And yet Tommy and Adrian didn’t get it…they probably never will since they’ve never been referees. In fact, they thought that the play should’ve have been whistled dead just because the Assistant’s flag was up – which it was for a moment until the AR realized that the ball had been played back by the Korean defender.

Fortunately, Argentine referee Horacio Elizondo never saw the quick flag and play continued. There was no whistle. So the Koreans and that ignoramus Tommy Smyth can cry foul all they want, but until they learn the rules they should all just stop their senseless whining.

Elizondo, by the way, is likely to be one of the candidates gunning for the final in Berlin.

Ok, now onto the games I actually did watch today. And while Paraguay’s Carlos Amarilla had a solid game in the middle, he did bungle a couple of decisions that potentially flipped the outcome of this match. But as usual, I’ll go through the key moments as I saw them.

In the 9th minute Amarilla made an outstanding decision to caution Jaziri for a dive in the box. As a result of this unsporting act he would’ve missed out on his team’s next match had they advanced.

In the 16th Trabelsi was correctly called for obstruction and a minute later Sheva tried to win a call beyond the penalty area near the end-line. It wasn’t a foul and probably not a dive either (as there had been a little contact), so no further action was necessary and none was taken.

In the 18th Sviderskiy (sp?) was cautioned for an arm to the back of a Tunisian head. Kind of a soft yellow, but maybe that was Amarilla’s way of putting the players on notice.

In the 26th I noted that he was having a pretty good game…keeping both teams honest. And in the 35th he merely warned Ayari about dissent…no card. Yet neither of the announcers felt it was necessary to praise the referee for this.

In the 36th minute, we’d learn Spain had taken the early lead over Saudi Arabia in Kaiserslautern with referee Coffi Codija of Benin in the middle. The goal was Juanito’s first-ever in a World Cup.

In the 41st minute I noted to myself that Bouazizi, who was whistled for either his third or fourth foul of the match, would likely see yellow the next time that occurred. And as I expected, Amarilla did in fact caution him in the 43rd minute – not for the foul itself, but rather for Persistent Infringement, one of the seven reasons for which a player can be cautioned.

Shep Messing, who obviously knows nothing about PI – as we referees refer to it – felt fit to insist that this was a “ridiculous yellow card.” To that I would ask our dear commentator how many fouls a player should commit before he’s booked for persistent infringement. Because, in general, four or five is about the norm. More than that and you’ve allowed this player to get away with too much. He’s proven that he’ll continue to commit fouls unless perhaps he’s cautioned.

In stoppage time Amarilla played a great advantage for Ukraine that almost resulted in a goal from about thirty-five yards out. After the ball had been tipped over the bar by the keeper, the referee then came back to the player who committed the original foul about fifteen or twenty yards from midfield and booked him for the reckless late challenge from behind. It was Jaziri’s second – the first came on his dive early in the game – and he was sent off right before the half. Messing, right on cue, insisted that this too was “ridiculous”, but to me what’s ridiculous is a player making a rash challenge like that when he already has a yellow card. (Eddie Pope come to mind anyone?)

In the 47th it was more of the same from the unknowledgeable Shep Messing. For after Shelayev swung his leg to deliberately trip Trabelsi from behind in order to stop a counter-attack, Amarilla booked the Ukrainian as well. Messing incorrectly informed the viewing audience that a yellow card should only be the result of some kind of “unnatural movement” by a player. I have no idea what the fuck that was supposed to mean, but it’s just flat out wrong.

As I mentioned earlier, there are seven reasons a player can be cautioned – it’s right there in Law 12 – and the catch-all is called Unsporting Behavior. In Shelayev’s case, his foul was unsporting for a number of reasons – because it was blatantly deliberate, from behind, and specifically done to stop a counter-attack. This “unnatural movement” business is just RIDICULOUS Shep.

At the fifty minute mark twenty-nine fouls had been whistled – eighteen against Tunisia. That, combined with a very defensive posture by the team with eleven men was creating a very dull game indeed. That is, of course, except for the random bits of lunacy coming from the color analyst.

In the 54th Amarilla allowed a nice advantage for Ukraine, but the play would be halted with an offside by Shevchenko. Another good advantage by Amarilla a minute later and then two minutes after that there was an excellent defensive play made on Tunisia’s Trabelsi. Shep Messing, now disagreeing with the referee just because, obviously didn’t see that Trabelsi had shown too much of the ball as he tried to squeeze between two defenders before it was swiped away from him. What Messing thought was a foul was, in fact, was the Tunisian tripping over the defender who got none his opponent’s leg and only got ball.

Three minutes later Amarilla ran across the field to let Trabelsi know that he’d heard enough and must get on with things without further complaint. Shortly after that it was Tymoschuk who was booked, not because the foul itself was overly reckless, but rather, because he’d been beaten and committed the foul (from behind) to stop a counter-attack. But Messing, having never been a referee, still didn’t quite get the purpose of the yellow card.

In the 65th it was Rusol’s turn to see yellow as he came in from behind. Silence this time from the peanut gallery as we’d learn that the Ukrainian would be suspended should his team advance.

Now is where Amarilla’s solid performance took a bit of a hit I’m sorry to say. And on this point I’m in agreement with Shep Messing for a change. As Tunisia took a free kick from about twenty-five yards out, Voronin jumped up with his arm above his head, the ball hitting it and deflecting over the end line for a corner after also hitting a teammate’s head in the wall. And frankly, if Amarilla saw it, which he should have, then a penalty should have been awarded. There’s no way you could argue that it was ball to hand in this case because Voronin’s hand had no business being up above his head like that. It really should have been a Tunisian p.k. pure and simple.

Then, only three minutes later, there was a defensive blunder by the Africans that allowed Sheva to go in towards goal, but he misplayed it and lost his opportunity – going too deep and to the right of the goal. Recognizing his own blunder, the crafty striker threw his right toe into the heel of his left foot, thus making it look like a trip as he crashed to the turf. The “foul” was called and the penalty converted.

In real time it looked pretty good, but the replay was quite clear and perhaps good evidence for those who support instant replay to aid referees in such important decisions. Although it will never be used for anything but the highest level matches, I now recognize that there is a need for it (video replay) on a VERY limited basis.

Frankly, a great player like Shevchenko should be ashamed of himself and I think that FIFA should be able to sanction players after the match for so callously bringing our game into disrepute like this.

And in defense of Amarilla, these are really tough to catch sometimes, especially where Sheva was – out of range of the AR and also with the defender blocking the referee’s view as he was likely situated near the top of the penalty area to the left of the arc. But it was the wrong call nonetheless and there’s no one to blame except for the referee…and, of course, the player who tricked him into making the bad call.

After that there really wasn’t much else to report from this otherwise dull affair. Jaidi was cautioned in the 90th minute for bowling over an opponent after getting tangled up with him…perhaps the one caution of them all that was the least necessary.

And lastly, Messing pointed out that the referee needs to “be consistent”, which I felt he actually he was. Unfortunately, however, the two major calls that he got wrong in this game should have resulted in a 1 – nil victory for Tunisia and not the other way around.

Now on to the France – Togo match from Cologne where it was Uruguay’s Jorge Larrionda in the middle. Who could forget this guy? He was, after all, the referee responsible for the two red cards issued to American players in their 1 – all draw with Italy. (You can’t see me right now, but my tongue is planted firmly in cheek.)

Former U.S. defender and the announcer who is only second to Shep Messing in terms of how annoying he is – Marcelo Balboa – was incredulous that Larrionda was given another opportunity by FIFA to referee a match at the World Cup. In fact, as it turns out, FIFA – like me – actually praised Larrionda’s performance; something they have not done for every referee so far.

France needed a victory to move on in the tournament and were on the attack in the early going. And in the 5th minute I thought Claude Makelele was a little lucky not to earn a caution for scissoring an opponent on a challenge. It really wasn’t all that bad, but considering how “awful” a referee Larrionda is you would’ve expected him to perhaps toss out the French midfielder.

In the 14th minute David Trezeguet appeared to give France the early lead, but he appeared to be just barely ahead of the ball. Balboa’s right, even is on, but if any part of your head, body, or feet are in an offside position, then the player must be ruled off. Not to mention, the camera angle on this replay wasn’t even with the second-to-last defender, so Balboa should be a little more forgiving to the Assistant Ref.

By the 21st minute I was getting tired of the announcers saying French defender Mikael Silvestre’s last name incorrectly. After all, isn’t it their job to say names properly? Now unless all those guys on Fox Soccer Channel have been wrong all these years, I believe his name is pronounced sil-VEST, not sil-VEST-ree. Proper pronunciation is just a pet peeve of mine and every time Balboa and his partner anglicized his name I couldn’t help but cringe.

Moments after we’d learn that Senderos had given Switzerland the early lead against Korea, Marcelo Balboa continued to rip into Larrionda, even when he agreed with his decisions. Get over it Balboa…the guy actually knows what the hell he’s doing.

In the 26th I thought Larrionda made a great no-call when a Togolese player won the ball in the box from one of his opponents. A minute later Henry was rightly called for a heavy shoulder charge the same as had gone Ribery’s way about ten minutes earlier. But in the next minute Henry would seemingly get away with what looked like a foul then pass it to Ribery who cracked it over the crossbar.

Finally, with a third of the match now complete, we would see the game’s first caution to Claude Makelele for a late foul that stopped a Togo attack – the same kind of foul that Shep Messing chided Amarilla for in the match I’d watched earlier. Like his colleague, Balboa also could not understand why a card was issued, but to anyone who knows the rules of the game it was obvious. Balboa thought that a verbal warning would have been the proper remedy, but as it turns out, a caution is a warning – behave yourself or your team will play shorthanded without you. It’s what FIFA has asked of the referees at this World Cup and there seems to be a fair level of consistency on this point throughout all of the matches so far.

In the 32nd Larrionda insisted that a couple players stop their grabbing prior to a French corner…Trezeguet snuffed again…and a few minutes later Henry is called for offside. It was a close one, but he appeared to be leaning forward past the plane of the last defender, however, it was impossible to know for sure from the camera angle. Nevertheless, it didn’t stop Marcelo Balboa from berating the Assistant Referee.

In the 36th I was at odds with Balboa once again when he, for a change, actually agreed with one of Larrionda’s decisions. On the play in question it appeared that the Togo defender, while playing the ball first, actually clattered into Trezeguet in the aftermath. It wasn’t all that bad, but to me was a situation where getting the ball before the man could still have resulted in a foul. No big whoop as there are always bound to be some differences of opinion on judgement calls like this.

In the 38th, Aziawanou (sp?) was cautioned for a late challenge and Balboa actually conceded that the referee is at least consistent in this regard. In the 39th, Agassa made a spectacular save and then grabbed the ball before Trezeguet could pounce on it. I’m not sure if the AR’s flag ever went up, but I’m pretty sure the French striker was in an offside position when the shot was taken, and therefore, the goal should not have counted if he had been able to poke the rebound in the net.

The final act of the first half came in the 44th minute when Togo player Mamam was cautioned when he prevented a French midfielder (Vieira, I believe) from dribbling away from him as he had both arms around his opponent’s waist. Balboa thought that, too, was a good call. And maybe…just maybe Jorge Larrionda is a pretty competent referee – or at least appears as such when the players aren’t doing things that force him to pull out the red card.

After the break, in the 47th minute, it was the Assistant Referee (not “sideline official” as Balboa calls them) who called a foul in favor of Ribery. And then in the 50th minute it was Barthez with a one-on-one save on Adebayor, but he’d already been flagged for offside anyway. On this one, I thought maybe Balboa was right and the AR wrong as the camera angle was right on line and seemed to indicate that Adebayor was even. Get rid of that useless rule and we’ll have a much more attack-oriented game with fewer refereeing errors.

In the 55th, two minutes after Ribery should have given France the opening lead, it was Patrick Vieira who calmly collected the ball about fifteen yards from goal after Ribery did all the work, then spun and curled the ball around the keeper to the far post. Happy 31st birthday to him!

Only six minutes later it was Henry’s turn as he collected the ball inside the box off a Vieira header then finished with aplomb from the penalty spot. It should be noted that Vieira was hammered just beyond the penalty area after nodding the ball to his teammate and Larrionda played the advantage. This, however, was not mentioned by your humble announcers. As far as I was concerned, Larrionda was pitching a nearly perfect game.

In the 64th, Henry wanted a handball his way when the ball seemed to have hit a Togo player’s hip and hand at the same time. It was marginal, and like Balboa said, “you’re just not gonna get calls like that.”

In the 68th Trezeguet was played onside by Vieira but Agassa beat him to it. Another good decision to keep the flag down for offside two minutes later as France was still on the attack.

Then out of nowhere in the 73rd minute, in a match with very few cards or controversy, Marcelo Balboa decided it was time to criticize ALL of the World Cup referees and their penchant for issuing too many yellow cards. Dude, get over it. Let the refs do their job and you go on doing yours – as poor as you might be at it. I wish I had the opportunity to go on t.v. and tell millions of people how inept Balboa, Messing, and Tommy Smyth really are. I’m sure that people who really understand the game already know it, but it’s the relative novices out there who might actually believe the blithering nonsense that these guys continuously spew.

In the 78th, as Vieira was lying prone on the ground after getting poked in the eye, we’d learn that the Swiss had scored their second against Korea. It was the goal referenced above that left Tommy Smyth completely bewildered.

In the 80th Trezeguet was just barely off…even Balboa agreed for a change. And then a few minutes later when his partner asked him his take on Larrionda in this match, Balboa begrudgingly admitted that “he’s done a decent job”, but still couldn’t help himself by calling him a “Quick draw McGraw” in reference to the U.S. – Italy match. And as I referenced earlier, it was the players in that match who put him into a position where those cards were the proper remedy for the offenses committed. As anyone could see from watching this match (FRA-TOG), he only booked players for things that were justified.

Like I was just saying…Salifou deserved his caution in the 88th minute…for DISSENT Marcelo. The idiot announcer thought that the card was for the challenge the Togo player had made that caused Larrionda to blow his whistle. But anybody could see that he wasn’t going to pull his card out until Salifou started screaming at the referee.

The extremely non-controversial match would end a few minutes later without any further incident with France squeaking through to the next round behind their neighbors Switzerland in Group G. And at this point I’d like to apologize for my non-stop assault upon the announcers who have been so unfairly foisted upon an unwitting American public. But I’m of the firm belief that their lack of understanding of the game that they purport to know is doing our nation’s soccer-playing community a great disservice. By listening to these buffoons – people who most of us would otherwise believe are credible sources of information regarding a sport that they either played or have commentated on for decades – we are misled regarding the interpretation of the Laws of the Game. If ESPN/ABC really cared about the truth – regarding soccer at least – they would include referees in their broadcasting booths. But I’m not holding my breath waiting for that day to come.

Until next time…

peace,
ac