Match #11
Moscow, 17 June 2018 17:00 CET
Germany - Mexico
Referee: Alireza Faghani (IRN)
Assistant Referee 1: Reza Sokhandan (IRN)
Assistant Referee 2: Mohammadreza Mansouri (IRN)
Fourth Official: Mohammed Abdulla Mohamed (UAE)
Fifth Official: Mohamed Al-Hammadi (UAE)
VAR: Massimiliano Irrati (ITA)
AVAR1: Wilton Sampaio (BRA)
AVAR 2: Carlos Astroza (CHI)
AVAR 3: Mark Geiger (USA)
Moscow, 17 June 2018 17:00 CET
Germany - Mexico
Referee: Alireza Faghani (IRN)
Assistant Referee 1: Reza Sokhandan (IRN)
Assistant Referee 2: Mohammadreza Mansouri (IRN)
Fourth Official: Mohammed Abdulla Mohamed (UAE)
Fifth Official: Mohamed Al-Hammadi (UAE)
VAR: Massimiliano Irrati (ITA)
AVAR1: Wilton Sampaio (BRA)
AVAR 2: Carlos Astroza (CHI)
AVAR 3: Mark Geiger (USA)
“2 missed offside Lozano (Mex) by AR2?
ReplyDeleteYes that was for sure an offside missed!
DeleteWas it? Looks like a great onside.
Delete9cm offside, good decision to play on.
DeleteVAR is there - so AR2 only followed instructions. Good job.
DeletePositioning in these first minutes is clearly improvable.
ReplyDeleteThat has always been a point of improvement for Faghani... Even in AFC competitions too, positioning isn't his strongest suit! So yes, agreed with what you say!
DeleteI have never seen Faghani so angry on the pitch... His usual smile is missing today !
ReplyDeleteBad management now with Kroos. If he is too close to you with a dissenting behaviour, show him the YC, but never push him!
ReplyDeleteI agree... Gives an impression that he is agitated and aggressive!
DeleteSomething referee must avoid.
DeleteIt would be smarter to whistle foul for Kroos but... I support the decision.
ReplyDeleteAfter that, Faghani showed German what is personal space/area.
Do you like the management?
DeleteNo. There is better way to resolve this situation.
DeleteThought the same. Just came across as a little too aggressive.
Deletehttps://s15.postimg.cc/6l8452qpn/image.jpg
ReplyDeleteToo aggressive Faghani. Referees shouldn't touch players in that way, they should be able to communicate with them by using gestures and words. Of course, referee can touch players for friendly and "normal" purposes.
Faghani doesn‘t make a good impression to me in the first minutes...
ReplyDeleteEnjoy, 70' left :)
DeleteGive him the time to get to his groove... He has just started!
DeleteI‘ll do so. ;-) Still time to convince.
Delete26' Wonderful advantage and sprint from Faghani
ReplyDeleteDoes Faghani use a fox blast?
ReplyDeleteYes
DeleteFoul detections are debatable.
ReplyDeleteYes not a clear and consistent line on display IMO
DeleteUff, foul detection not good so far. Now a missed YC for clear and hard foul.
ReplyDeleteVery exciting game so far, it looks more interesting than many other ones, let's see how Faghani will perform, I guess he will have a challenging second half as well.
ReplyDeleteI think you will understand that is not a good game so far from a German point of view ;-)
DeleteI am very satisfied with the level of matches at this WC. Only two "bad" and "slow" games so far. The rest was good and exciting.
DeleteWhich were the two bad and slow matches? :D
DeleteUruguay-Egypt is one, for sure
DeleteYes I concur with that... Russia v Saudi Arabia was probably another one... Morocco v Iran was only physical play but the football was pretty low quality... The rest of the games all had something happening to keep the viewers stuck in front of their screens!
DeleteMexico is doing well. 37‘: Hard foul, the Mexican player was really lucky to escape from a YC.
ReplyDeleteVery strict Faghani: YC for time wasting already at 40'.
ReplyDelete40' : YC for time wasting... Spot on!
ReplyDeleteChefren, no more marks for the refs? It became tough to give appropriate marks, especially when there is a VAR help. And everything started with Marciniak - not an easy job to asses his performance after missed penalty and without information did he refuse the VAR help or not.
ReplyDeleteI stopped it for a while. I was in a big trouble with Marciniak and I realized how much difficult is to assign mark to referees at this level, even more when there is VAR. I really can't decide about the mark for the Polish. In addition, I asked on the blog, and I got many interesting answers, some readers think that marks are not so important, full assessments and discussions are better.
DeleteMoreover, I didn't watch the entire game of Ricci yesterday, so very likely I will abort this idea to write down marks for all referees. Maybe we can report for each game some words in a short analysis, this will follow soon, now it is a very busy period as you can guess. :)
Yes, of course. Discussion is enough, and anyone of us can give his own mark, if he wants. The most important thing is that in 10 matches so far there was small number of important, crucial mistakes, one maybe two. All in all the level of refereeing is high.
DeleteI actually like Faghani a lot. With the exception of the push earlier in the half, I feel he's got his groove and managing the players well. Consistent calls. I'm a fan.
ReplyDeleteCredit where it is due, he is letting the game flow and that is facilitating a goog game!
DeleteAgreed. And managing the players where he can rather than relying on plastic. Saw a great advantage application before he called the foul on Germany earlier in the half just outside the penalty area.
DeleteI think I will propose a short analysis about all games of Matchday 1 when it will be over, but without marks.
ReplyDeleteAfter 15-20 minutes with a poor performance (positioning, management, etc), he has improved quite a lot. Let's see if he can keep it up!
ReplyDeleteUmmm... I wouldn't call it poor, better to say under expected level :)
DeleteI would describe that period as an acceptable level of performance with him just looking for the right groove! Now he has found it and is settled!
DeleteHe has a sofisticated style and doesn’t whistle cheap fouls.
ReplyDeleteYes allows the game to flow as far as possible!
DeleteI love that Faghani keeps ignoring cheep fouls. Play people, it's a contact sport.
ReplyDelete70 no penalty given,Faghani let the play on.
ReplyDeleteSupportable, grey area, referee has his reasons to play on.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely OK that VAR supported.
It looked a bit suspicious live but watching the replay I don't think Hummels does enough to bring Chicharito down. Chicharito sort of forces himself into the ground.
ReplyDeleteAlireza is exuding self-assurance from the beginning of the match. Authority, control, flawless foul detection, good fitness. Very convincing as yet.
Missed offside by AR2, in case of goal, VAR would have annulled it.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, two YCs, correct decisions by Faghani.
Steve Smith resumed it well: "Alireza is exuding self-assurance from the beginning of the match. Authority, control, flawless foul detection, good fitness. Very convincing as yet."
ReplyDeleteDifficult to assess assistants' performance when VAR is in use, but they had some difficult situations.
To add, I liked Cunha's and Faghani's performances most with regard to body language, authority, etc. The ones like Marciniak or Pitana are not my cup of tea.
DeleteAbosulutely agreed. If Alireza keeps it up, he might be a strong candidate for the final, all the more so Iran are not likely to have a deep run.
DeleteIf Alireza gets the final, it will be a proud moment for me... No Asian has done the Final till date so Alireza can bring it to AFC
DeleteQuestion of taste indeed, and 'cup of tea'. As outlined below I think Faghani has a tendency to make a supercilious impression in body language, something I think is not the modern way of refereeing. Not on eye-level with players. In this regard, Kuipers and Rocchi were my favorites. And Pitana.
Delete90'+2 Germany wanted a penalty, correct by Faghani to play on.
ReplyDeleteNot enough. Maybe 3 minutes a wrong choice, 4 was better...
Another game ended without controversies. Excellent officiating so far at this World Cup. Committee will be content.
ReplyDeleteCompared with other matches this tournament, felt like too little injury time. Especially as there was a head injury that stopped play for about 2 mins.
ReplyDeleteNot to mention that Deihdou (sp?) failed to add yet more time after a VAR review in added time.
DeleteDiedhiou it is!
DeleteGracias Soham.
DeleteVery likely we´ll have Brazil vs Germany in round of 16. Can´t wait
ReplyDeleteNo way! :)
DeleteI think that Germany will be first despite the loss.
IMO Mexico can't beat both Sweden and South Korea
Mexico can draw one of those two and still come on top
DeleteDrMr generally predicts things quite accurately... Will be interesting to find out the eventual outcome of this prediction :)
DeleteAll in all, good performance by Faghani. My mark would be 8.3 due to the bad start, but he recovered and delivered a very solid performance. Congratulations!
ReplyDeleteVery poor game by Germany. Faghani did well, only some minor mistakes in foul detection. German commentator was happy as well.
ReplyDeleteMuller should have been subbed off at half time. He was terrible today.
DeleteYeah, I agree that he was bad today. However, I can hardly say that anyone was playing much better than he did. Simply a weak game from the whole team.
DeleteWow... I should say I never saw it coming. Germany-Sweden will be a blockbuster. Alireza was excellent across the board. I was not expecting such an exquisite display.
ReplyDeleteBest performances so far: Ricci and Alireza.
It was not a surprise for me. Mexico is a really good team and Germany played bad in the last games. I knew that this would be a tough one.
DeleteIn my opinion Mazic must be the one in Germany v Sweden
DeleteI thought Skomina was a good choice, but of course this seems impossible due to today‘s appointments. Pitana, Mazic and Mateu Lahoz are my candidates that might get this game.
DeleteSoham, he would not be my personal choice but he's likely to get it.
DeleteI don't think Mateu Lahoz will be appointed to Sweden... It has to be Mazic or else one of Cakir or Kuipers... Brych will be great for Argentina v Croatia!
DeleteIt's definitely one of the hottest games of MD2. I'd go for Kuipers or Skomina.
DeleteAgain, I would not break Confed neutrality during group stage. It doesn't make sense given all options available. But I know Collina/Busacca have no issues with that (unfortunately).
DeleteThere goes UEFA's undefeated streak. Great day for Mexico. Now it's Cesar Ramos' turn to continue this great Mexico day.
ReplyDeleteFaghani once again shows why he is a highly trusted AFC Referee in the eyes of the FIFA Ref Comm.
OT: Happy Father's Day to all of you on the blog who are fortunate enough to be a Father.
Must be a great day for you :D Now for Ramos to put in a good performance and it would get better :D
DeleteThanks. Didn't know that this is the day!
DeleteOf course very, very early, but there might be a chance for Brych to get the final if Germany continues playing like today and he is performing like in CL. At least they are rising...
ReplyDeleteToo early as you said... Most important thing will be Brych's own performance, of course!
DeleteAnother European in the WC final? For the third time in a row? There are so many reliable options outside Europe that I don't see it coming. It would too unfair for the other confederations. Irmatov, Ricci, Geiger and Alireza (even Pitana but he had the opener already) are strong candidates and guess one of them may well be given the decider.
DeletePerformances will decide, only performances hopefully ;-)
DeleteAlireza might be a candidate... Now imagine Argentina reaching the final... Irmatov (Argentina doesn't accept him), Ricci (no Brazilian ref in WC games of Argentina) and Pitana (from Argentina) are automatically out... Geiger I'm not sure if FIFA trusts him for a Final... So in such a case it's either Alireza or some UEFA referee! And on grounds of experience it won't be a surprise if FIFA goes for an European referee!
Delete*It would be
DeleteSoham, I don't think Argentina will make it to the final but even in that scenario there's plenty of options. Alireza is the frontrunner of course. But why not Geiger? Depending on his performance, he's a strong candidate on paper. Going for an European yet again would be a total nonsense and super unfair. This is the World Cup, not the European Championships.
DeleteIf one European referee ends up performing the best throughout the tournament, will you call it unfair?
DeletePerforming the best is always difficult to judge. I'm sure that there will be at least one referee outside Europe who will do enough to deserve the final.
DeleteThat is true. But even then so many other things to take into account as well!
DeleteYellow card for Muller a rotten decision
ReplyDeleteIt was ok - slight tuck of the Mexican’s jersey for tactical reasons. YC is fine.
DeleteOverall, after a somewhat inconsistent start, I thought it was a really good performance by Faghani and I am sure we will see him again.
Excellent performance of the Iranian Alireza Faghani, has a formidable personality and athletic preparation that few have perhaps none
ReplyDeleteI agree I thought Faghani was excellent. Love how he lets everyone play tough flowing football. Game was very fast, end to end and great to watch.
DeleteMichał Listkiewicz, former FIFA Referees Committee member just lambasted Faghani. "Too many cards, you can't signal a wrongly executed throw-in at such level, you can do it in B-klasa [eighth, the lowest tier of Polish football]... No comment.
ReplyDeleteSurely Busacca or Collina won't have any such views??
DeleteOverall Faghani handled quite an easy-going game well, but with a quite high number of cards if we see how easy and fair it actually was. But ok, all were justified. A bit inconsistent if you give 2 cards for time wasting but add nothing then. Also I think he lacked awareness for balancing both sides at the start of the game, 3 free kicks not given for German side, of course this led to protests.
ReplyDeleteI think Faghani mainly profits from a high level of displayed authority and confidence, he makes a 'superior' impression. A huge risk: This can make him seem arrogant, top-down and supercilious from time to time. In my opinion he was more in the focus than needed, more visible than needed.
Overall, nonetheless, well done, good decisions.
I disagree. Far from easy going. There is no such thing in the WC and especially not this one.
DeleteI think that if Faghani had been a bit more assertive in foul recognition in the first third of the match he would have been able to be more balanced in his decisions to card players later...for me he was too lenient to begin the match and it got him into a few tight places as the match wore on...
DeleteWe have many different views on VAR, both conceptually and the way it is being applied in this WC. But if it has caused a decision not to focus on points, mostly on the basis of reviewing individual mistakes, then I think VAR is great success.... Much better to have a brief analysis on overall performance, match/player control, sense for the game, and consistency. And to remember that no two games are the same, so it is a special skill to adjust the approach to what each game needs.
ReplyDeleteExcellent remark. You can clearly see refs get more confident, don't have potential mistakes in their mind, can put their strengths more on the pitch. If we discuss on this level, also good!
DeleteFollowing the link you'll find a compilation of the most interesting situations.
ReplyDeletehttps://vimeo.com/album/5236626