One Final Thought on Mastro’s Red Card

Good points on players knowing the rules, because it makes for a better game, but it has little to do with the fact that Larrionda lost control of that game within minutes of the first whistle. It seemed a little like neither the US nor ITA players had any idea what was a foul, booking, or expulsion.

A bit of a question on offside calls: On some of the calls during the USA-ITA match, it seemed as if the ITA strikers were level the US defenders, and leaning (and moving) twoards the goal, where as the fullbacks were leaning (and somtimes moving) away from the goal. Could this have been an explanation for some of the offside calls that look even? How much of a player needs to be behind for it to be called?

The rules have been interpreted in dozens of games now. PM’s “foul” (it seemed to me he got ball first) would not have been deemed a red card in any of the other two dozen odd games we’ve seen so far. Why a STRAIGHT RED in this one?

Posted from  United States

Good reminder you bring up fella!

The night before every match, I take out my cheat-sheet of verbiage and Addl Inst for Refs, as I learnt from other [good] referees and umpires.

This practice has saved me lots of grief on the pitch when doling out sentences. It also brings me in the proper frame of mind for the league matches in our community. Very good players all, some hotheads but only due to their youth, all know now that I am only there to follow and enforce the rules fairly, not make them.

But what has helped the most are the regular post-match meetings with the Refs, Coaches and players. This has improved both, the quality of refeering and the level of on-pitch play. Not much to be done from the verbal abuse from the sidelines though, alas!

Uruguay did win two, but not the two first ones. Just saying.

Posted from  United States

With regard to the offsides calls, you can find the text to Law 11 (Offside) at http://www.fifa.com/en/laws/Laws11_01.htm. If you look at the second page, under decsions of the Int’l FA Board, Decision 1 states:

“In the definition of offside position, ‘nearer to his opponents’ goal line’ means that any part of his head, body or feet is nearer to his opponents’ goal line than both the ball and the second last opponent. The arms are not included in this definition.”

In reality, it can be a very small difference between being offside and onside – literally just one player’s foot.

Secondly, 99 times out of 100, the camera angle is not directly in line w/ the last defender and perpendicular w/ the length of the field. Especially at this level, if a referee are not at that specific place the moment when the ball is kicked, their call could be completely different than if they had been. When the call could be about half a foot, and they’re not right on, they cannot determine that a player is offside – nor can anyone from most of the replays. We sure like to try, but in the end we cannot be sure. Until someone would have a camera in those spots, the only person who can make that decision is that AR.

Posted from  United States

With Mastroeni’s red card, what it comes down to is whether or not the referee feels like it was serious foul play. The Laws and Decisions of the Int’l FA Board are pretty clear about what serious foul play, as Aaron showed. Not every foul is the same (no matter how similar they look), and neither is every referee.

Now, all I can do is give you one referee’s opinion as to what might have been going through Larrionda’s mind:

1.) Mastroeni got all player and no ball. Want proof? Watch the replays from both angles. Especially in slow motion, Pirlo plays the ball with the inside of his left foot before…
2.) Mastroeni slide tackles from outside of Pirlo’s left. He would have to go through Pirlo’s foot to even get a touch on the ball. There is very little protection here either on the ankle or the leg.
3.) The top to Mastroeni’s shoes are not facing into Pirlo’s body. That is, there was no way Mastroeni was going to sweep from the front to deflect the ball away from Pirlo. In other words, the cleats were turned into Pirlo instead of away from him.
4.) Pirlo is clearly in no position to do anything with the ball. The direction he was going was into three USA players. He was of no threat. There is no reason for this kind of challenge, especially because of the location on the field, and what little time was left.
5.) Pirlo might not have seen the tackle coming. His head is solely looking at the ball. He doesn’t look around before he touches the ball.

Given these couple things, Larrionda could have felt that Mastroeni’s intentions were to hurt the player and not make any attempt at the ball, hence serious foul play and then the red card.

As to comparing to other games, it is really impossible because each tackle is different. What would probably make this a yellow card? Say if Mastroeni decides to slide on his right, thus turning the tops of his shoes to the player and the studs away. Then one can assume he was making an attempt and got there too late and would be shown a yellow for a reckless tackle. That’s all it could come down to.

It’s very hard to compare these kinds of tackles because they look so similar with a standard camera angle, but on the pitch, given the atmosphere of a game, can look so different. And unless you’re looking for the kinds of things I described above, you’d just assume they’re so alike that they should be sanctioned as such. Furthermore, it s difficult to compare different refs in different games because they’re human and every game is different. What is truly important is that Larrionda is consistent with himself game in & game out, and that his intepretations could be considered appropriate to FIFA (and Uruguayan FA) higher-ups. That’s the thing about the Laws – they’re meant to be interpreted, not be black-and-white 100% of the time, which is hard for a lot of people to understand.

I think what it comes down to is that, as viewers, are we willing to be impartial enough to look at a game from a referees point of view? Besides, if that had happened to a USA player, we’d be screaming for a red card from now until the end of the world. I’d encourage everyone to step back some times and look at it like its Country Y v. Country N (ie two countries you really dont care how either does) and see what you’d think, because that’s all the referee is doing.

–Travis

Posted from  United States

“A player is guilty of serious foul play if he uses excessive force or brutality against an opponent when challenging for the ball when it is in play.”

Watch the replay closely. PM clips the ball or comes very very close to doing so. He was clearly going for the ball, not the guy’s foot. It was not excessive force or brutality. Period.

Take a look at Spain’s Puyol and a cleats up foul he wasn’t even booked for the other day against Tunisia. The ball was about 6 feet in front of the Tunisian, and Puyol clearly went for the guy’s foot with his cleats. The foul was called, but no yellow. PM’s foul clearly deserved nothing more than a yellow. It was a make-up call by the ref who had lost control of the game. Pure and simple.

Thanks for the link Travis. An interpretation of the FA Decision was the part I was lacking. It seems that could be paraphrased as “anything you can score with”.

As an aside to offside, I do like the cut of the grass on these fields. The five yard wide stripes (and stop action) make it a little easier to “judge” a replay even at an askew angle.

سلام .ما همگی از بازی بسیار ضعیف تیم ملی ایران ناراحت هستیم .
ولی افسوس که ناراحتی در حال حاضر هیچ فایده ای ندارد. باید همگی دست به دست هم دهیم و به امید فردایی روشن دوباره از تیم ملی فوتبال ایران حمایت کنیم.
حمایت ما از تیم ملی کشورمان است و این حمایت به این معنی نیست که ما از اشخاص خاصی مثل مربی و بازیکنان حمایت می کنیم
حمایت ما فقط از نام تیم ملی فوتبال ایران است
به امید موفقیت ایران در آینده و سر بلندی همه ایرانیان
http://www.bachehayebad.parsiblog.com

لینک مربوط به عکس هموطنان عزیز در حمایت کشورمان
http://www.farsnews.com/pic.php?ph=Media-8503-ImageReports-8503100585-6_8503100585_L600.jpg&dsc=تماشاگران%20فوتبال%20ايران%20و%20بوسني

Posted from  United Kingdom

It is such a cop out to fall back on “this is the exact wording of the rules.” Referees in all sports are taught to use game management skills. I think the most basic game management skill entails that referees do not overly influence the outcome of the game… which Larrionda did. As far as being one of the most accomplished referees on the planet, correct me if I’m wrong but didn’t the national Football Association of that “tiny little South American country” suspend Larrionda in 2002 for “irregularities” which subsequently kept him out of the 2002 World Cup? So, in a sense, is he actually one of the least accomplished referees on the planet relative to his peers? Finally, please tell more irrelevant stories about how sweet a referee you are in U14 games and less about actual World Cup refereeing. Or more irrelevant political commentaries on the war in Iraq.

Good reminder you bring up fella!

The night before every match, I take out my cheat-sheet of verbiage and Addl Inst for Refs, as I learnt from other [good] referees and umpires.

This practice has saved me lots of grief on the pitch when doling out sentences. It also brings me in the proper frame of mind for the league matches in our community. Very good players all, some hotheads but only due to their youth, all know now that I am only there to follow and enforce the rules fairly, not make them.

But what has helped the most are the regular post-match meetings with the Refs, Coaches and players. This has improved both, the quality of refeering and the level of on-pitch play. Not much to be done from the verbal abuse from the sidelines though, alas!

Game over, c’est historie, move on, FIFA will do its business its own way.

If the players change what they DO (reckless play) they’ll change what they GET (cards). The referees are finally trying to clean up the game, on the grandest soccer stage in the world. They are doing so because FIFA mandated more effective use of the cards. GOOD FOR FIFA and GOOD FOR THE REFS.

Posted from  United States

If the players change what they DO (reckless play) they’ll change what they GET (cards). It’s on them–not the refs. Good for FIFA for insisting on the proper use of cards. And good for the refs for following through. Let’s clean up the dirty play.

Posted from  United States

Legit red. It’s amazing what some people will justify for their team.

Posted from  United States