Ivanov Even-Handed in Berlin and Busacca Avoids Controversy in England-Sweden Draw

It was Russia’s well-seasoned Valentin Ivanov in the middle of Germany’s battle with Ecuador to determine top spot in Group A. And while the home side easily dispatched of their South American opponents 3 – nil, Poland notched their first goals of the tournament in a meaningless 2 – 1 victory over Costa Rica with Thailand’s Shamsul Maidin in the middle.

I know nothing of his performance, however, as it was the top of Group A that I and most others were interested in. But Germany’s convincing win was nothing more than a walk in the park for Ivanov as Klose’s two first-half goals – the first coming in only the 4th minute and the second right before the break – quickly dispatched the seemingly listless Ecuadoreans.

No cautions were issued until the second half although I thought that Guagua’s forearm to the back of Ballack’s head in the 34th might have produced something from Ivanov. And another tough foul five minutes later elicited nothing more than a stern glance from the referee.

Ivanov’s style, in this regard, was very hands-off – an approach that I usually employ in my amateur and youth games, but not one that has been seen much so far at this tournament. Say what you will about all the cards, but I think it’s FIFA’s way of protecting the players. Remember, these games are all exhibitions to a certain extent and these guys (the players) have to report to their jobs a week or two after the games end. As it is, Liverpool is seeking compensation from FIFA for the pre-tournament leg injury to French striker Djibril Cisse. And as it’s a ref’s job to protect players from the threat of serious injury, they are in a no-win situation when it comes to issuing cards that might ultimately affect the outcome of a match.

Ivanov did eventually pull out his yellow card in the 51st minute when Valencia came in late on a challenge and that seemed to settle things down for a while. Germany would score their third on a marvelous counter-attack when the young Podolski latched onto Bernd Schneider’s precise cross from the right – one-timing it into the side netting at the far post.

The game’s second and final caution went to German sub Borowski in the 75th for a foul that wasn’t nearly as agriegous as the one he’d committed five minutes earlier. Maybe it was just Ivanov’s way of settling him and the rest of the players down a bit.

Ivanov missed the late Ecuadorean foul on Ballack in the 77th and five minutes later the late foul by Friedrich surprisingly resulted in no card. I guess Ivanov felt he had things pretty well in control…which he did.

In the 88th, Ballack’s shot from just a few yards beyond the top of the penalty arc was said to have been “thirty-seven yards” out by former American player John Harkes. In general, I don’t mind his commentary (unlike several the others at ESPN/ABC), but a former player of his caliber should know that the top of the arc is twenty-two yards from goal, not thirty-five. Two minutes later J.P. Dellacamera stepped up to the mic to prove that he knows more about the field dimensions than his partner when he explained that Kaviedes’ free-kick was twenty-three yards from goal as it was just beyond the arc. Kudos to you J.P…and to Ivanov for what I’m sure won’t be the last time we see him in Germany.

As Switzerland’s Massimo Busacca took charge of England – Sweden it was Italy’s Roberto Rosetti in Kaiserslautern with T & T – Paraguay. For those of you who don’t remember, it was Busacca I defended for the expulsion of Ukrainian defender Vashchuk’s jersey (shorts actually) tug in their 4 – nil loss to Spain. (The red card was because Vashchuk was the last defender, not for the jersey tug). I received many very colorfully-worded comments for sticking up for Busacca. But I guess the FIFA Referees’ Committee agreed with me in deciding to put him in charge of such an important match as this, to decide the winner of Group B.

In the 10th Rooney was called offside…a good call. And in the 20th I noted how clean the game was up to this point. Two minutes later the Assistant Ref made a good decision to wave a flag when Ashley Cole leaned his arm into a Swedish cross. Now, since I like to pick on the announcers, I’ll let Marcelo Balboa know that the guys with the flags are not called sideline officials – they are Assistant Referees. They have all the same powers as the guy in the middle, except that they don’t have a whistle. I just couldn’t let that one slide Marcelo.

In the 25th Rooney took the ball down beautifully from a long Beckham pass, but the play was broken up quickly in the box by the Swedish defense. A minute later, an English player asked for a card after being fouled, but Busacca kept the yellow where it belonged.

In the 29th, we would learn that former Portland Timber defender Brent Sancho had scored against his own team, giving Paraguay the early lead and helping out Sweden in the process. (Paraguay would eventually go on to win 2 – nil.)

In the 31st, the Assistant Ref called a foul on Beckham…a good call that caused Beckham to look back towards Busacca for a different sort of justice. A minute later in the opposite corner of the pitch it was Busacca’s other assistant raising his flag against Joe Cole for another England foul.

Two minutes after that, and seemingly from out of nowhere, it was Cole from about 35 yards out – chesting down a weak Swedish clearance and then volleying it in a wicked arc off the fingertips of the slightly out-of-position goalkeeper and into the top far corner off the post. It’ll surely be one of the tournament’s most memorable goals.

Not much else to report for the rest of the half as both teams kept it pretty clean the rest of the way until the intermission.

In the 49th Marcelo Balboa explained what a good referee Busacca is for waving off the offside flag after the keeper had collected the ball. But as we all know, any referee who had bothered to blow his whistle at that point surely wouldn’t be officiating at the World Cup.

In the 51st minute, Sweden’s Marcus Allback scored the 2000th goal in World Cup history with a near-post header off a corner kick. His deft flick sent the ball far post and into the top netting off the head of Ashley Cole. The play was uncannily similar to the two goals that Zizou scored in the ‘98 Final against Brazil. Balboa was quick to blame Beckham for his poor defense. And while Beckham is sometimes a little lax in his own end, in Beck’s defense (no pun intended), it would’ve been a tough one to prevent.

In the 55th, Sweden almost scored on a similar play from the other side of the net, but the ball hit the crossbar. The ball hit an England hand along the way, but it probably wasn’t deliberate so the no-call was the right call.

Then in the 59th Mellberg hit the bar again for Sweden after Lucic nodded the ball back to him in the middle off another one of his team’s many corner-kicks. England were quite lucky not to be losing at this point.

In the 69th Busacca gave Hargreaves a stern look after fouling Ljungberg…Gerrard saved it off the line in the 72nd…and then in the 76th the game’s first caution was finally produced – to Hargreaves for slapping the ball away from Elmander. In the 83rd in was Alexandersson’s turn to see yellow when he took Joe Cole down from behind. And while the announcers seemed to think it was pretty harmless, it was a foul like this that ended my playing career several years back.

But Cole was right back in the action in the 85th, biding his time near the top of the Swedish penalty box and picking out Steven Gerrard at the far post, who powerfully snapped his head to give his team a 2- 1 lead.

Two minutes later Ljungberg earned a caution when he ran through the leg of a Cole (I forget, was it Ashley or Joe?) clearance. Predictably, the announcers thought the caution was unwarranted, but I guess that’s why they’re in the booth making all the money while the referee was working his ass off to protect the players for chump change. (Actually, the refs are being quite well for their month in Germany.) Ljungberg needs to realize earlier that he’s not going to win the ball and do his best to avoid the late contact.

And the final act of this compelling drama would be played out in the 90th minute when Henrik Larsson got a toe onto a long Swedish throw-in that should’ve been cleared from the box. England had their chance to end a 38-year drought against Sven’s homeland, but let their guard down in the game’s dying moments to give Sweden a hard-fought draw.

The result would put England on top of Group B and into a Round of 16 clash with Ecuador, thus avoiding a second-round match-up with the Germans who will now be facing Sweden next. And as for Busacca, hopefully he redeemed himself in the eyes of his earlier detractors. In all likelihood you’ll be seeing him at least one more time in the days and weeks to come.

Until next time…

peace,
ac