Eight Matches Down and Still No Glaring Controversies

June 12th, 2006 | by: Aaron | Comments(9)

It was Germany’s own Markus Merk in the middle for an all-European clash between Holland and Serbia and Montenegro. As one might’ve expected, he kept things tight and didn’t allow the players to get away with much. Still, I didn’t think it was his best effort, but then again, I suppose the same could also be said of each of the teams as the Dutch would hold on to a slim 1 – nil result.

I was a little surprised that Merk didn’t book or even give a stern warning to the Serbian defender who tugged on Robben’s jersey as he sprinted towards goal for the game’s only goal in the 18th minute. Fortunately for the Serbs it was only the slightest of pulls as it didn’t seem to impede Robben’s progress. Anything more and the Serb’s would’ve been playing a man down for most of the match.

Merk had a rough couple of minutes midway through the first half when he backpedaled into a Dutch defender who shoved him over…and then a couple minutes later was hit with a close-range Serbian cross that resulted in a turnover. Still shaken a bit perhaps, I disagreed with his call against the Dutch a minute later when a Serb forward backed into the airborne defender.

Stankovich was correctly booked for a late challenge in the 34th as Robben was on fire. But the late first-half sub to bring on Koroman looked to change the Serbians’ fortunes. (By the way, my last name is Corman, so I like the sound of his name.)

In the 48th, Robben was called for hard shoulder charge that John Harkes (on American tv) didn’t agree with, but I did. Shoulder-to-shoulder doesn’t necessarily guarantee a fair challenge and Harkes should know that. And for that matter he and his compadre in the booth misunderstood an earlier offside that wasn’t against Van Nistelrooy in the middle, but rather, Robben who came back to receive the initial pass on the left wing from an offside position. Maybe they need a ref in the booth to help them sort things out a bit.

Things then got physical and chippy throughout the second half as Holland struggled to score their second while still keeping the Serbs out of their end. Five more cards were issued and a six, I thought, was deserved for Zigic in the 83rd when he recklessly clattered into Van der Saar.

Here’s the yellow card rundown…56th – Gio Van Bronckhorst held an opponent…64th – Koromann for dissent after his teammate was fouled (Merk did call the foul)…65th – Merk signaled ‘No More’ to players of both teams with a stern gesture…81st – Dragutinovic for a reckless, late foul on Van Persie…85th – Huitinga for time-wasting (which I thought he didn’t deserve as he was preparing to take a free-kick)…90th – Gavancic (sp?) for a body block as Robben continued to surge up the left flank.

And then at the very end Kuyt also deserved to be cautioned for a needless, flagrant foul in the attacking end, but I think Merk didn’t want to stymie the Serb counter-attack in the game’s dying moments.

All-in-all, not Merk’s finest effort. And if we’re to see him in the final in Berlin, he’s gonna have to step up his game a bit.

For the Iran-Mexico match in Nurnberg it was Italy’s replacement ref Roberto Rosetti in the middle. He represented his country instead of Massimo de Santis who was left out in the wake of the match-fixing scandal that erupted last month.

It should be noted that the Iranian goalie presented his counterpart a bouquet of flowers on behalf of his nation in the wake of the untimely death last week of Sanchez’s father. A beautiful gesture that should not go without mention.

Also of note is that Iran’s Ali Karimi was once suspended for a year for kicking a referee. And, of course, Iran’s President Ahmedinejad is a Holocaust denier, a crime in Germany; which could be part of the reason he chose not to come to support his country’s football team.

Rosetti, I thought, was spot on throughout, upstaging the earlier effort by Markus Merk. Early in the match Marquez made a great tackle on Karimi in the box. It was an excellent no call AND a goal kick to boot.

The first caution came in the 18th when Torrado mistimed his kick and got the opponent instead. Ten minutes later it was Mexico’s first goal as Bravo was onside two yards out after Franco flicked the ball across to him. The Iranians protested briefly, but it was a battle they would not win.

Eight minutes later it was all tied at one when Sanchez misplayed a corner kick he should have won and the ball fell to GOLmohamaddi at the top of the goal box.

Soon thereafter I learned from the announcers that Senator John McCain had tried to stop Iran from playing at the World Cup…a consideration that FIFA wisely denied. Iran deserve to be there and American politicians should mind their own business in this regard.

Nekounam deserved his booking in the 54th when he stupidly kicked the ball away. And then four minutes later American announcer Marcelo Balboa astutely pointed out that Marquez wasn’t awarded a p.k. for a shove at the end line since the ball was going out anyway. Good no-call by Rosetti.

Mexico would finish off their opponents with strikes in the 76th and 79th minutes respectively – Bravo with his second after a poor clearance by the goalie and then Zinha, who stands a tiny 5′4″ (I’m 5′2″…so I root for the short guys), beautifully headed in a perfect cross from the right.

In the 82nd Rosetti was on the spot to split players up before any extra-curriculurs occurred and then in the 86th it was a good no-card for a Mexican player who didn’t dive in the box.

Salcido was cautioned in the 90th, I’m not sure why, but it didn’t really matter as moments later the Mexican team surrounded their goalie in a moment of great emotion following their historic 3 – 1 victory in the wake of the recent death of his father.

After refereeing four games of my own throughout the day and then watching a couple more on t.v., it wasn’t until shortly before midnight that I finally got to the Portugal – Angola match. Uruguay’s Jorge Larrionda was in the middle for this intriguing encounter between a former European superpower and one of its old African colonies. As such, many of Angola’s players can be found earning a living in Portugal’s domestic leagues.

Also of note in Cologne was that top American referee Kevin Stott was the 4th official for this match and his countryman Chris Strickland was the 5th official.

Portugal’s all-time leading goal-scorer, Pauleta, almost started things off with a strike only twelve seconds into the match. However, it was only three minutes later that a young-looking Figo blew past his defender before centering the ball to Pauleta, who one-timed it for the game’s lone goal.

I managed to watch most of this match although I’ll admit that I faded in and out a bit. Larrionda blew his whistle more than forty-five times in total, issuing five cautions along the way. And he, as with his colleagues before him, did what had to be done to keep the players focused on their task.

The booking breakdown goes as follows: 26th – Cristiano Ronaldo showed his studs in challenging for the ball…28th – Jamba clattered recklessly into Ronaldo…45th – Loco, not really sure what he did…52nd – Macanga for two hard fouls in a one-minute span…79th – Nuno Valente for a late, hard challenge.

In the 78th Larrionda made a nice call not to award Portugal a penalty and in the end, the better team won thanks to the early tally by their country’s all-time scoring leader.

Another solid day for the referees. As always, they weren’t perfect, but they pretty damn close.

Until next time…

peace,
ac