World 
Referees 
I Hope My Pre-Tournament Prediction is Wrong
A month or two before the tournament began, I suggested that German referee Marcus Merk would be the man to officiate the final in Berlin on July 9th, assuming, of course, that his own country didn’t make it that far. Now I’m not so certain that Merk has proven himself to be the best man for the job. His overly-controlling style and penchant for inconsistency has shown me that others might be better suited to take on that awesome responsibility.
But let’s go through today’s historic 2 - 1 victory by Ghana over the U.S. and dissect some of the key moments and decisions. To begin with, and obviously this has nothing to do with Merk, I found it inappropriate during his pre-game pep-talk for U.S. Coach Bruce Arena to try to rally his troops by bringing up the notion that his players should win one for our soldiers in Iraq. And I mean no disrespect to our military even though I think it’s sad that thousands of men and women are dying and coming home woudned for a cause that most Americans don’t even believe in. I simply think that Arena should have used some other source of inspiration to motivate his players than to invoke America’s imperialistic aspirations.
But on to the action now and off the political soapbox which I realize might offend some you.
In the early going it was clear that Merk intended to leave his imprint on this match. In only the 5th minute he booked Essien for a tackle from behind. Maybe that was justified, maybe not…who’s to say? But when he cautioned Eddie Lewis two minutes later for a harmless handball near midfield, I began to wonder if we’d come to watch the players or the referee. After all, it wasn’t like Lewis had stopped an attack by Ghana. It was harmless and probably more of a reaction than any real deliberate attempt to affect the play. And for a change, Marcelo Balboa and I agreed as we both felt that the referee was trying to hard. Both instances could have warranted verbal warnings, but I guess Merk felt otherwise.
In the 8th minute it seemed like the Ghana player initiated the contact that Conrad was called for. And then eight minutes later Merk missed the most serious foul of the match up to that point when Eddie Lewis caught an elbow to the head when he went up for a header. It wasn’t malicious, but it did draw blood and was most definitely a foul. Merk happened to miss this one.
In the 19th Donovan was called for offside which I thought was the right decision even though the camera angle was impossible. It looked like Landon was leaning beyond the defenders at the moment the ball was kicked, so for Balboa to so vociferously plead Donovan’s case on this one seems a little foolish especially since the t.v. replay wasn’t from the proper angle.
In the 21st Merk looked angry as he warned the players to keep their hands off one another before a corner kick. Then after it was cleared from danger Reyna made a fatal error, getting stripped about thirty yards from goal, leading to the opening goal by Ghana’s Dramani as he beat Keller with a low shot to the far post.
After Reyna was stretchered off we’d learn that Italy had taken the early lead against the Czech’s in Hamburg with Mexico’s Benito Archundia in the middle. The Italians were holding up their end of the bargain, but the Americans were not.
In the 32nd minute Merk booked Shilla for another elbow, this time to Dempsey. Marcelo Balboa tried to argue that players have a right to go up for the ball with their elbows out like that. And perhaps they do, Marcelo, but when you strike an opponent in the head with one of those pointy joints, don’t be surprised when you get called for a foul even if you didn’t mean to knock the other guy in his noggin.
In the 35th Landon Donovan should have done much better when he sent a close-range shot into orbit after McBride had nodded it over to him on the right side of the box. A minute later the Assistant Referee called a foul against Dramani just outside his own penalty area. Nothing came of it as the U.S. continued to play rather poorly. And four minutes later Reyna was eventually subbed out following his earlier injury moments before the Ghanaian goal. It would be the first time ever (and probably the last) that Claudio Reyna would be subbed out during a World Cup match.
A minute later, recent entrant Ben Olsen was called for a very weak foul on Michael Essien. Olsen barely touched him, but Essien hit the turf like a ton of bricks and probably deserved to be cautioned for simulation. Instead, he was rewarded with a free kick for his clever deception.
In the 43rd minute it was the Americans who would take advantage of a defensive mistake by Ghana as the virtually invisible Beasley latched onto a square ball that wasn’t meant for him, touched it into space, then crossed it into the middle to an onrushing an onside Clint Dempsey (who was even with the ball when it was passed, but ahead of the last defender). His blistering shot from twelve yards out was unstoppable as it screamed past Kingson, the keeper. And just like that America was now only one goal away from the Round of 16 and a date with Brazil.
But that dream was short-lived as Merk made what I believe was a terrible decision, thus turning the game on its head. However, in his defense, I will say that it’s a decision he should’ve never had to make as American defender Carlos Bocanegra committed the ultimate defensive sin - sending the ball into the middle. For as he tried to outwit a challenge near the corner, he kicked the ball high into the air then headed it into the penalty box…his own penalty box.
Onyewu’s large frame was there to win it, but first he had to out-muscle and out-position a Ghanaian striker. There was a minimal amount of physical contact as the striker leaned back into the defender who was leaning a little into him. Onyewu didn’t use his arms, legs, or in any way pull on his opponent and yet somehow Merk decided to call a penalty agaisnt him when the wily Ghanaian hit pay dirt as Essien had only minutes earlier.
Now as anyone who reads my posts knows, I like to defend the referee when I think there’s good reason and I’m also not one to blindly support the American cause, but in this instance I think that Merk could have and SHOULD have let this one go. First off, it wasn’t a foul. And secondly, by waving for the aggrieved player to get up and get on with things I doubt he or anyone on his team would have given it a second thought. Instead, he made a decision to award a penalty that Ghana definitely did not deserve.
And after they converted it to retake the lead right before the half, we would learn that the Czechs had been reduced to ten men, thus guaranteeing an Italian victory and helping out the American team if they were able to get the result against Ghana. Incidentally, I fast-forwarded through the Italy-Czech match after this one ended so I could see the goals and the red card and it was for a player who was cautioned twice. The second was almost exactly like Pope’s against Italy - a foolish, late tackle from behind that the player had no business making. No controversy as far as I’m concerned, Polak should have been smarter (just like Pope) since he was already playing with a yellow.
In the 47th Merk made a good no-call when Essien went to ground. Six minutes later a Ghanaian defender tried an unnecessary bicycle kick when clearing the ball - almost kicking Brian McBride in the face and getting called for the dangerous play.
Nothing came of that kick and then going back the other way Merk played a good advantage for Ghana that almost resulted in their third goal.
In the 59th the Assitant Ref called a foul Dempsey’s way and soon thereafter Arena finally put Eddie Johnson in the match to replace Cherundolo - a defender. A minute later Onyewu shoved a player in the back, but got away with it even though it was far more than what he’d been penalized for at the end of the first half.
McBride cracked a close-range near-post header into the post in the 66th just as my friend Mike came by to watch the end of the game with me. While lamenting the poor decision by Merk to award the penalty to Ghana, he (Mike, that is) suggested adding another referee to the pitch. And while I’m not a fan of the dual system of refereeing that’s often employed in high school, I could see the merits of a four-man system. The problem with the dual is that both officials are also functioning as AR’s - calling out-of-bounds and offside. But with a four-man system you could still leave those other duties to assistants along the touchline. This would enable the two referees on the pitch to be closer to the action and hopefully reduce the number of poor decisions that are made. Anyway, it’s just an idea that should be explored and has already been experimented with in the past. Perhaps FIFA will come to realize that it might be good for the game even if it breaks from tradition…at least for the very highest levels of competition.
In the 70th the U.S. was called for its third offside in the past few minutes and then a couple minutes later Johnson got away with a push, but then Beasley wasn’t so lucky. In the 75th Olsen was called for tugging a jersey by both the AR and Merk.
A minute later Olsen stuck a leg out not once, but twice to stop a Ghana attack, but Merk waved play on. It was almost as though he was trying to make up for his first-half blunder.
Then in the 79th McBride was called for a foul when Kingson made a save and then fell into the American striker. McBride didn’t even go up for the ball because he had no chance for it and yet Merk blew a whistle against him anyway. It seemed pointless since the goalie was basically o.k. and he still possessed the ball.
In the 81st Mensah was rightly booked for a body-block on Convey just outside the box. But Donovan didn’t give anybody a chance to reach the ball with the free kick that he sent well over the endline.
In the 82nd Italy went up 2 - nil against the Czechs and it was almost all U.S. from that point on. No goals though…a lame call against Bocanegra in the 91st and then one last booking for Appiah for time-wasting. And that was all she wrote. America’s “Best Team Ever” was going home along with the Czechs who showed so much promise when they crushed the Americans in Game 1.
In the post-game, Eric Wynalda once again pointed out that “Players win games, coaches lose them, and referees ruin them. Today we saw all three.” And while referees do often ADD to the games and protect players from violent, reckless offenders, today was not Merk’s day. He really hasn’t proven himself in any of his three games so far and will be lucky to get beyond the Round of 16. After that, FIFA should only keep the cream of the crop around and at this World Cup he is not amongst the elite few.
And as America says goodbye to the Bruce Arena era, perhaps instead of hanging our heads in shame we should congratulate the mighty Black Stars of Ghana on their victory and wish them well against Brazil. For they have proven that they deserve to be amongst the best teams in the world.
Until next time…
peace,
ac
Related Posts
Subscribe
|
Print
|
Share
       |
Comments
Displaying the most recent 25 comments from a total of 27 comments.
Read the rest of the comments
By TonB | June 22nd, 2006 at 6:34 pm 
I’ll second Promise’s comment re Merck in the Aus v Brazil game…but I will take Mr M any day compared to the lunatic who ref’d the Aus v Croatia game today…a rugby tackle..no penalty…a second hand of god incident…no penalty…a second yellow card to Croatian defender…no send off…then a third yellow…jees Louise, this was unbelievable!
Much as we Aussies would like to take delight in our progressing to the second round and the USA’s demise after Arena’s disparaging pre tournament comments, I am sad to see your lads go…they have brought a breath of fresh air to recent WC’s and fight hard!
Posted from 
Australia
By Paul | June 22nd, 2006 at 9:46 pm I agree with Wynalda (for once). Merck ruined the game with a ridiculous call.
Posted from 
United States
By John | June 22nd, 2006 at 10:04 pm I agree with you, Aaron (for once), that Merck was horrible. It seemed from his initial booking of Essien that he wanted to be a major part of the match…
On to a much bigger issue that has been bothering me since the Champions League Final (the bogus call which led to the first arsenal goal). Isn’t the diving/faking injuries out of control? But the players are so good at it that the referees cannot spot it all the time. Maybe FIFA (and the major national leagues) could use video replay of matches to fine or suspend blatant dives and thus cut down the practice?
By CP | June 22nd, 2006 at 10:38 pm How can the referee’s blog not have addressed Graham Poll issuing 4 cards to one player?
Posted from Australia
By SoCal | June 22nd, 2006 at 11:35 pm They should come up with some accurate electronic referees. That call in the USA-Ghana game was aweful.
Posted from United States
By matilda | June 23rd, 2006 at 1:16 am You’re right about an “over-controlling” style. He often seems to get the big decisions right and the small ones wrong. (I didn’t see the US game though so I can’t comment on his decisions there). Merk’s weakness, in my opinion, is that he doesn’t let the game flow and develop its own rhythm. He seeks to impose himself far too much.
I wouldn’t count him out of continuing in the next rounds though. There are less refs in this WC to choose from and he’s very high profile.
Posted from Australia
By chuck | June 23rd, 2006 at 1:42 am I agree too. As a somewhat new fan to soccer (football), I must say, it seems like the officials have injected themselves way too much into the matches. The call today was not even close. Yes, there needs to be some sort of electronic review procedures of calls of such importance as this.
Although the U.S. perhaps would still have lost the game, It it true that Merk’s horrible call took the new-found wind out of our squad.
And for what it’s worth, if Arena wanted to dedicate the game to the troops, God bless him. I support the troops, 100%, no “ifs”, “ands, “buts”,or
“howevers” !!
Posted from United States
By Dennis | June 23rd, 2006 at 2:04 am The camera angle on the PK provides no clue what the referee saw Onyewu do behind the striker’s back. We just know he didn’t use his hands.
With Barhmast’s experience in mind in France 98 when all the TV cameras showed he screwed up, and one lone still photograph proved him right, Dr. Merk may have made the right call.
Posted from United States
By Andy | June 23rd, 2006 at 2:57 am Americans, please understand that one of the reasons against introducing high tech equipment is that this is completely against the way soccer evolved. Brits have the phrase ‘jumpers for goalposts’ - meaning precisely this - all you need is a ball, anyone can play it, you don’t need anymore specialist equipment. This is why the game has thrived worldwide compared to other sports which require a bigger financial investment. Introducing technology (less video refs for big games, more ‘chipped balls’ for goal line decisions etc) would leave billions of people worldwide feeling detached from the game.
Posted from 
United Kingdom
By Willard | June 23rd, 2006 at 3:25 am Merk made the right call on the penalty kick. Too many of you seem to be judging the play from the slow-motion replay. Watch the play in real time: Onyewu used his body to go right through the attacker. This careless physical contact prevented the Ghana attacker from being able to play the ball. Don’t look at Onyewu’s hands; look at how he failed to play the ball by unfairly using his body.
Both “Groupthink” and American disappointment for the home team are preventing people from seeing the foul accurately. Again, it’s not popular to say, but Merk was right on the PK.
Wynalda’s gratuitous nasty comments about all referees are beneath him. He, Foudy, Balboa–are there any recent US players capable of insightful analysis? Too much restatement of events, seasoned with “piling on” the referees in a cowardly manner.
Posted from United States
By Mick | June 23rd, 2006 at 3:32 am YES TO THE DUAL SYSTEM! Thank you for acknowledging the need for this superior method of calling a game accurately and fairly. More than one ref works in every other major sport and soccer is no different.
Once you’ve mastered the DUAL, there’s no going back. It’s like trying First Class on a plane. Everything else is just coach.
Posted from United States
By Sam | June 23rd, 2006 at 3:53 am All this just goes to show that soccer needs to start allowing refs to look at instant replays. The US doesn’t know a lot about soccer, but they do know a lot about sports and referrees.
Allowing refs to blow their whistle when they believe there’s been a foul, go to the side line and take a quick look at the replay, and then feel comfortable reversing their decision if they were wrong, would make for much more accurate decisions.
All this can be done even without those huge banks of cameras that allow instant replays to virtually freeze time while they spin around the play, matrix style, like they have in modern football stadiums. Not that it wouldn’t be cooler that way.
By Tham | June 23rd, 2006 at 6:56 am While I do support Ghana as one of the underdogs
in this cup, and the fact that have many good players
in top European clubs, I have to give my fair opinion
that the match last night should have been won by
the USA, at least 1-0. The USA played extremely good
and professional football in this game.
Haminu Draman’s goal should not have been allowed,
and indeed he should have received a yellow card
for his foul on Claudio Reyna.
And Stephen Appiah’s penalty was quite dubious and
indeed ridiculous - it was a fact there was totally no
foul by Oguchi Onyewu on Razak Pimpong.
There’s a lot of talk in my office that the German referee must
have had a big betting stake on Ghana. This way well be pure
speculation or just allegations of course, but even to the
neutral observer, it is quite obvious that Markus Merk was biased
in this game.
The staff in my office are also commenting that Ghana’s team
play like ….. hooligans. I have to agree with this to at least some
extent. Ghana has players of great individual talent, but their
whole team plays more like rugby players, at least in this game.
As for me, it’s unfortunate that Fifa is basically a useless (and
biased) body - they keep belting out disciplinary action on players
all the time - but they never discipline (a more appropriate
action should be to remove from their roster rather) their own
referees for faulted (and biased) decisions, which is particularly
disastrous for games of this level.
It is indeed unfortunate too that a team which I have good respect
for has to win and advance to the next stage in such a dubious
manner.
Posted from 
Malaysia
By Tom | June 23rd, 2006 at 7:22 am Agree with Aaron, disagree with Willard. No penalty. It didn’t look like a foul in real time, didn’t look like a foul in slow mo. Onyewu and Pimpong both went for the ball, incidental contact was made, and Pimpong collapsed. Definitely not a penalty.
Merk’s having a shocker of a tournament.
Posted from Australia
By Yor | June 23rd, 2006 at 4:29 pm Willard, you are just plain wrong. This was one of the worst calls in the history of the Cup. Any PK call must to be scrutinized to determine if it’s deserved. Unless there was a blatant foul, a responsible ref does not make the call. Let’s review the facts:
• It was the waning moments of the half
• There wasn’t a meaningful scoring opportunity that was taken away
• A rainbow of a ball, up in the air, at the very top of the box, with only two opposing players going for it, and nobody else nearby
• The contact was modest at best. Again, you don’t call a PK unless a clear, merited foul is committed.
It was a horribly bad call. That’s all there is to it. You just don’t “gift” a goal like that. That changed the whole tone of the game. The American team surely did not do what they needed to do to advance, but they did not lose that game. The referee decided it with one overpowering whistle, plain and simple. Ghana played a spirited game, but they did not deserve a gift of that magnitude.
Anybody who defends this PK call is either delusional or dishonest. There just isn’t any way ANYONE can think it really was the right call.
Anything short of Merk being reprimanded is a gross injustice and a disservice to international soccer.
Posted from United States
By Tham | June 23rd, 2006 at 5:14 pm By Tham | June 23rd, 2006 at 5:48 pm From a writeup on The Guardian :
Merk has been involved in other high-profile incidents. Most recently, in August, he sent off Lionel Messi controversially after only 90 seconds of his Argentina debut. Jose Mourinho labelled him the worst referee he had seen after Porto’s Champions League semi-final first leg against Deportivo La Coruña in April 2004. David Beckham was fined £4,000 in September 2000, found guilty of spitting at Merk and sarcastically applauding.
Posted from Malaysia
By mark | June 24th, 2006 at 2:19 am take a look at the laws yor. the first three of your stated facts are all true, but utterly irrelevant to a penalty decision.
and as for the fourth, modest contact can at times be a foul worthy of a direct free kick so that can be discounted too, since any foul by the defending team worthy of direct free kick inside its own penalty area should always lead to a penalty kick.
you are trotting out the same irrelevant lines that commentators do. no wonder refs get so much grief. folks are unaware of the basics.
By Willard | June 24th, 2006 at 5:00 pm Yor: If the disputed PK situation “wasn’t a meaningful scoring opportunity” as you say, why then in your next bullet point state (correctly) that both players were going for the ball?
The reason Merk had to call the PK is precisely because the ball was within playing distance, in the penalty area, and the US player’s careless physical contact on the Ghana player prevented the Ghana player from having a fair chance to play the ball.
And by the way, the physical contact generating the foul call doesn’t have to be “reckless” or “dangerous” to merit a PK.
It’s not a popular view but again, Merk’s PK call in the US-GHANA game was right.
Posted from United States
By Mason | June 25th, 2006 at 2:23 am Mark, Willard -
Your view is not just an unpopular view in the US. It isn’t in many English papers either. Of course, it isn’t helped byy the fact that it’s a view completely without merit.
The contestation of 50-50 balls in the air like that play occurs dozens of times a game. Players figure out where the ball is going to land, lean on one another for position and then jump up to head the ball. On the play in question, there was no hand action (grabbing, tugging, holding) so the call couldn’t have been a strike (elbow), push or hold. The contact was minimal, and mostly consisted of two players leaning on one another, and so was neither charging nor jumping at a player. Nonetheless, Merk likely called the former, as he saw two players come together and then one player fly to the floor. Merk bought the dive hook, line and sinker. He showed that he has no idea of the meaning of “careless, reckless or using excessive force”.
(tounge in cheek) Good on the Ghanan to pick up on it, know when he was beaten and use it to his advantage.(/tounge in cheek)
By Tham | June 26th, 2006 at 5:31 am I am surprised that the Swedish FA did not protest
after the world cup game with Germany.
It was plain for all to see, from the close-up video replay,
that that dirty referee was on the side of the Germans.
He was clearly seen smiling cynically and sarcastically
in front of Teddy Lucic when he showed the red card.
Those two fouls by Lucic were hardly fouls at all. In the
first case, he had already kicked the ball away when he
tripped the German player - that was intelligent defending,
and at most only a free kick should have been given against
Lucic - clearly not a yellow card. In the second situation,
Lucic merely tugged Klose’s t-shirt gently - I’ve seen much
worse shirt-tugging in other games and not so much a whistle
was even blow. To my shock, that dirty Brazilian referee,
Carlos Simon, gave him a second yellow card,
Carlos Simon was clearly seen smiling later with a German
player who PATTED him on the back, then applauded him !
This makes me wonder if that Simon had been hand-picked
by the Germans for this match.
This is why I’ve always said that FIFA is a useless hypocritic
body - the penalise, suspend players all the time, but always
protect their own referees.
Posted from Malaysia
By PureMuscle | June 26th, 2006 at 8:02 am I believe the CONACAF trio will officiate the final. So far they have officiated the 3 games including Italy vs. Chzech and will be officiating the ukraine vs. swiss game tom. Hector Vergara (AR) officiated this past club world championships and the third medal match of the last world cup. He is amazing on the line!
Posted from 
Canada
By Bub | June 26th, 2006 at 4:37 pm There certainly has been some poor officiating throughout the tournament. It’s a shame to see how much it has colored the games. Is it worse than usual? I’m afraid so, given the quantity of cards issued so far with many games left to play.
As far as the PK in the Ghana-US game, it’s quite pointless to go on about it. One either understands this sort of thing or not. There was not enough good reason to call it. If you still think it was a good call, then you should perhaps consider turning your focus toward chess or some orther non-physical pursuit.
Posted from United States
By Seamus | June 26th, 2006 at 10:21 pm AC,
Nice analysis. Too bad about the refs for this World Cup, but then again, it is a very hard job. I actually think the refs were worse in 2002.
Regarding Bruce Arena and the troops, give him a break! I don’t think it was politics - I think the troops have simply been the USA team’s most consistent and loyal fans 
Oh, no! Dual?!? If we cannot achieve consistency with on center ref, how will we get consistency with TWO center referees :-0
Congrats, Aaron! Your web site manages to be both informative and highly entrtaining!
By joe | July 10th, 2006 at 8:01 pm Well, it’s over and done with. It’s clear that it’s a pretty fine margin that separates the best teams. Congrats to the Italians, but it’s not unreasonable to state that they are not the world’s best team despite being the champions. Interesting that the USA is the only team to have played Italy yet not lost to them in the tournament… ; )
A good thread here despite the idiotic views of Mark and Willard. I hope they are enjoying a newfound interest in chess as was suggested. ; )
Posted from United States
Comments are closed
Send Your Tips!
Email tips[at]worldcupblog[dot]org
Referees Club Football News
- Daily Dose, 07.03.08
- Photo of the Day: Kung-Fu Libertadores
- Andrei Arshavin - the Next Token Russian at Chelsea
- Copa Libertadores - More Exciting than Champions League?
- Daily Dose, 07.02.08
More More Blogs
World Cup Referees
76 Articles | 614 Comments
Monthly Archives
New Zealand
Travel