Friday 15 June 2018

2018 FIFA World Cup Match 3: Portugal - Spain (discussion)

Let's discuss here the performance of Gianluca Rocchi in Portugal - Spain. Good luck to the officiating team! 
Match #3
Sochi, 15 June 2018 20:00 CET
Portugal - Spain
Referee: Gianluca Rocchi (ITA)
Assistant Referee 1: Elenito Di Liberatore (ITA)
Assistant Referee 2: Mauro Tonolini (ITA)
Fourth Official: Ryūji Satō (JPN)
Fifth Official: Toru Sagara (JPN)
VAR: Massimiliano Irrati (ITA)
AVAR1: Paolo Valeri (ITA)
AVAR 2: Carlos Astroza (CHI)
AVAR 3: Daniele Orsato (ITA)

197 comments:

  1. We will see very good Rocchi today :)

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  2. Best of luck to the Italian trio. May they make the most of an unexpected but deserved assignment.

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  3. @Chefren Are you planning on watching every game and reporting marks?

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    1. Never a dive... Soft penalty call but not incorrect!

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    2. Right leg of the defender

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    3. The one that is already planted on the ground before Ronaldo chooses to clatter into as he diving?

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    4. The one with the movement to the right.

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  5. Very soft penalty call - classic by Rocchi - but not wrong.
    Correct by VAR to support it.

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    1. Had to be re-watched IMO.

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    2. That's it. Not a wrong call at all.

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    3. The foul is clear, although soft. No need to review, never a clear error.

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    4. When we are discussing it and call it only supportable - that means that there are some doubts. And doubts increase because Ronaldo is the one that was down.

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    5. But that only means, VAR has to check it, but not that they haver to invite for a review. As long as it is supportable, they should not intervene.

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  6. Wow,what a brave decision hy Rocchi.

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  7. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  8. Very very very soft. Disagree with VAR support. Not enough for a crucial decision.

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    1. The use of the word "clear" is wrong here!

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    2. Sorry but yes the leg cut ronaldo moving but not directly on his way and Cristiano is the king to provoke the contact after and amplificated it. So supportable call yes, but not clear penalty...

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    3. VAR cannot intervene. Not a clear and obvious error.

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  9. Correct decision by Rocchi. Good see !

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  10. I know some prominent referee's that would say there is no such thing as a soft penalty. It is either a penalty or it is not. And this was definitely a penalty. Ramos screwed up. He knows Cristiano and he knows he will go over. The contract was sufficient for a penalty and the replays prove it. You are only saying it's a bad call because it's so early. But those are the toughest and Rochi was on it from the start and made a good call. Good work by referee and var. Commentator and voice of football Martin Tyler also thinks that it's the right call.

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  11. Now 1st booking of the match to Busquets.

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  12. Correct YC right now, very reckless challenge if not more.

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  13. https://www.flashscore.com/match/xlA2SoiB/#video

    More I watch, it is less penalty for me! Watch the angle from the side - it is clear that Ronaldo wanted to fell, as always!

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  14. In Cakir’s game the green sticker on his sleeve was loose. Now Rocchis fell off.

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  15. Missed foul before Spain goal???

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  16. IMO was a foul of Diego Costa.

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  17. Wow! Costa's forearm straight into Pepe's face as they challenged for the ball.

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    1. Crucial mistake from Rocchi and especially from VAR team!!

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    2. I would say especially VAR because Rocchi can be patient and ask for their help there. If that’s not a foul then what is?

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    3. Possibly hard to spot for Rocchi. So I'll give him a pass. But unacceptable by all those in the VAR room. All the angles available to them, and still not get it right.

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  18. Lot of controversies already.

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  19. Foul is so so clear from Diego Costa. What is the VAR team for?

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    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    2. You can't intentionally plant your forearm on the chin of another player without it being a foul.

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    3. In fact yes. That’s why this is a clear foul. Useless gesture with dangerous aspect...

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    4. No, you can't, I agree with that... He didn't do that at all, now you agree with me please -_-

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    5. I agree Benoit. Ronaldo PK, people say "soft" but supportable call. Pepe takes a forearm to the chin from Costa and people say it's "soft", but no need need to call a foul. If this is the "way". Then I don't know what to say.

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    6. He would never catch the ball?? It's not true, plus it's irrelevant. In football you can't put your forearm on your opponent's face. Period.

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  20. Ok, we have the first "serious" game at this WC.
    In my opinion, foul before 1-1.
    Irrati didn't assess it as significant... but many doubts there.

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  21. What a joke...what a poor decision by VAR to allow this clear foul by Diego Costa. This is unbelievable!

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  22. Now vooking for Fernandes.Good decision IMO.

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  23. In Germany there would have been an OFR, I‘m quite sure. I‘m not sure whether this goal was valid...

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  24. Rocchi is beginning to look flustered. Too early in the game for this body language.

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  25. Going by the first replay, there is a contact, but Pepe goes down to easily for my taste. He gets a bit of arm onto the shoulder, maybe the neck, but not the face

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    1. I have the same opinion. There is a contact, but Pepe was acting as usual. Definitely not the face.

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    2. What are you talking about? A new rule ? Whatever wasn’t on the face, it’s an obvious foul.

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    3. It's a contact doesn't have a big impact on Pepe unless he chooses too. He's not pushing down, putting him off balance in an unreasonable way or hurting him (in the face). There's no rule saying that a contact is necessarily a foul, is there? BBC commentary were very pleased with the decision as well

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    4. Agree Lewis. Only for british refs ;)

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    5. I'm willing to be persuaded either way if it was a foul or not. What I will say is that it was Pepe being Pepe.

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    6. Wrong. It was Diego Costa being Diego Costa :)

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    7. Just because it's Pepe or Sergio Ramos or any other dirty player. It doesn't mean that they don't get fouled too.

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  26. Now on some replay there was maybe missed penalty for Spain by Rocchi and his team???

    Challenging match for Rocchi so far.

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  27. Nevertheless a foul. At least Irrati should have made Rocci watch it himself.

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  28. Busacca made clear nothing would be missed with 4 VAR elements. It is absolutely ludicrous what just happened in Socchi with Spain's equaliser. It could have been a grey incident but it is monstruously evident. Curious to find out what Busacc will say and what will happen to this VAR team and to Rocchi as well because the foul should have been spotted by him too.

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    1. Where were you during the 1st 3 games? I didn't see you praising referees when they were good... Anyway Rocchi isn't putting in a good performance!

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    2. Again??? No patience. Stop commenting the comments. Grow up!

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    3. Can't really blame Rocchi.He was too far away from the incident. VAR is to blame.

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    4. Steve isn't wrong in his criticism of Rocchi for missing the foul. He's the referee on the pitch and he should have spotted that. Okay, he missed it. But how does VAR manage to miss it also? Furthermore VAR was not needed in games 1-3. So Steve's criticism of the VAR crew in this match is deserved.

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    5. Never said the criticism is undeserved... I'm myself saying that it's a poor display by Rocchi!!

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    6. Irrati, at least, must be sent packing. Otherwise the performance-based criterion comes a cropper and trust in Collina/Busacca's good faith is lost.

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    7. Busacca doesn't come into this World Cup too highly regarded as it is. Maybe, just maybe (one can dream), he'll finally step down. It's past his time and he's over stayed his welcome.

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  29. Rocchi lost both the green sticker on the sleeve and his Fifa badge. Good quality

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    1. Maybe remote controlled by Bussaca. Mistake, thus your badge is removed.😉

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  30. I always maintained that Rocchi wasn't the best choice for this game... Whistling Napoli, Inter Milan or Juventus in Serie A is much different than refereeing Portugal v Spain as your debut match in a World Cup... Was always a risk and the risk has failed... And a major VAR fail to that must be mentioned... Rocchi is looking slightly flustered now and I'm worried... I hope the rest of his match goes all well

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    1. Agree. After his Madrid -PSG with a weak performance, another time, i’m not really convinced....

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    2. Collina is a patron... Had to give the best game to his fellow Italian...

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    3. This comment is quite unnecessary and rather wrong, if you ask me. If Collina wanted to help his countryman he would have appointed him for EL final, that would have been a much greater gift (and would it have been undeserved?).

      I think the strategy by FIFA is to test some middle-group refs at the beginning and keep the big names in low profile games for further clashes. Napoli vs Juventus is not easier than Portugal vs Spain, if you're playing for the League win. I was expecting the foul to be whistled on Pepe, also considering the strict line on the penalty, but overall the management by Rocchi is positive. And in my opinion this decision is no worse than the missed YC for simulation by Kuipers.

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    4. Opinion varies and we must agree to disagree. For me as I said before, that was not a mandatory YC while this is a clear and crucial mistake. And Rocchi overall has been pretty sub par but again that's my opinion!

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    5. Sub par? Meaning that he helps one team more that another? I actually think that he did the contrary... the penalty helped Portugal and the no-foul helped Spain. The problem is that sometimes you need to take brave decisions regardless of who gets advantaged

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    6. I'm with Soham on this one. Who has been the best referee in Europe this season? I would dare to say that Brych had the best year. So it only made sense to assign the best EURO referee to officiate a match between two of the top teams in Europe. Furthermore, the UEFA Ref Comm didn't even trust Rocchi with the UEL Final this season. Instead of assigning him, they recycled Kuipers.

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    7. As I write this, till now Rocchi has missed 3 absolutely clear YCs as per LOTG... But that's never going to be a point of me criticising him as I'm all for man management... Flexibly bending the LOTG to an extent as long as match control remains and there are no major problems is absolutely acceptable... Viktor made a great post on this in the Çakir thread... In Egypt v Uruguay also it was acceptable and I would still never show a YC for that... But as I said opinion varies and interpretation will also vary as per one's personal preferences towards a particular style etc!!

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    8. @Osborne By sub par I mean an average performance at best overall and nothing more than that... For the rest part it depends on one's interpretation... In your eyes it's a good performance while in mine it's not!

      @Sheriff I would agree with you... Would've gone with Brych for this match anyday ahead of Rocchi... Plus there were so many more experienced names than Rocchi like Kuipers, Cakir, Mazic and so on available but no!!

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  31. 42'. Red card for Pepe necessary and not even a booking.

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    1. IMO possible RC, but no clear mistake in that respect. YC at least though

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    2. To me too hurtful and dangerous, this stomp from behind,to just show a yellow card. But no card at all a joke.

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  32. Clear missed YC in 41‘. Very reckless tackle.

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    1. Rocchi lost control over his disciplinary management.

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  33. Missed booking in 42' for Pepe.

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  34. Missed evident YC some minutes before half time.
    Not a good first half in my opinion, but difficult game.
    Sato with a crucial mistake as well in showing at first a wrong added time (2 instead of 1).

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  35. I think an OFR would have been justified. I‘m convinced that Rocchi had no perception of that elbowing at all. So it would have been better to give Rocchi the chance to decide with some replays.

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  36. Rocchi made a very brave decision right at the beginning of the game and was managing it so well that he didn't deserve what Irrati did to him. I just reviewed Diego Costa-Pepe incident and there's no way you can miss that foul being the VAR. Is Irrati sleeping? What about VAR 1? What about Orsato, whose job also includes helping the leader of the VAR crew. VAR 2 is focused on offside situations.

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    1. You're right... Major VAR fail this one

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  37. Can someone explain me something? How is it possible to not see clear foul with VAR? In UEFA matches we sometimes cant understand role of AARs, but what to say for VAR

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    1. One theory is Irrati was sleeping... Another is probably he didn't want to overturn his countryman's call and disappoint him!

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    2. Due to the fact that FIFA normally is not very communicative here, we are possible never going to get an explanation by Irrati or one of the FIFA officials.

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    3. Busacca was so emphatic in pre-World Cup conference on Wednesday saying nothing would be missed with VAR that of course he has to speak on this.

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    4. Irrati missed it. Okay, understandable and possbile. But there are 3 other sets of eyeballs in the VAR room. All 4 of them couldn't have possibly missed it.

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    5. Soham, maybe is too much Vodka in the VAR room..

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    6. Of course they must have seen it... Most probably they judged it as no foul :/

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    7. @Andreja Maybe that's sent by Collina to relieve them of the stress? :D

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    8. @Soham, I think you're right 😃😃..

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    9. In the press conference too, Collina was very worried about VARs sweating in the VOR and being under immense stress :D

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  38. It looks like referees will just trust VAR or they will go and take a look by them selfs. Contacts before PK and the first Spain goal were soft - IMO both calls were supportable. If would be nice that Rocchi reviewed it.
    Nobody said that we had first GL technology situation at WC.
    Pepe should be booked at 42'

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    1. I agree with every word

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    2. Can they go and take a look themselves unless invited by the VAR?

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    3. Both "soft". But you whistle one and not the other?

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    4. Regarding the two "soft" contacts, I think Rocchi and his team a very consistent in the way that they let the players make the mistakes.

      In the penalty incident, the defender goes into a challenge he doesn't have to take and on top of that uses the wrong leg to do so.

      Before the goal Pepe is caught off guard and looks for an alibi in a soft contact.

      One may argue that this is not the easiest line to sell to the public eye, but I like that the team is not trying to make themselves advocates of struggling players. Wouldn't be surprised if that is wanted by the governing boards, it is for example in line with the loosening of the offside rule a couple of seasons ago which makes it easier for strikers to take advantage of defensive mistakes.

      Nevertheless, not the best performance by Rocchi

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    5. @Soham: Theroretically yes, but why should they do that, when the VAR tells them, that the decision is OK?
      Would be similar to giving an offside against the AR's opinion.

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    6. Yeah that's the thing... Once the VAR says "check complete", the main referee won't think of moving to the screen and re-watch a scene anyway!

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  39. Same problems as we already know from Bundesliga. Very sad for FIFA that it already happened in fourth match, first match which is high leveled. Very poor Rocchi

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  40. There are 4 VARs, they surley rewatched the goal incident, since goal is allpwed obviously VAR company thought it was not a foul.

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    1. And that is very debatable!

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    2. There is no way one can argue it is not foul. I mean, watch it. Over and over again if you can't spot the obvious on the first try.

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    3. OK, they thought it was not a foul. But they are world class referees and they have VAR. It is not 50-50 decision. It is enormous mistake.

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    4. And they were, for sure.
      So much complaining and yammering on this blog, so far.

      All decisions are, at least,supportable

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    5. And "!" is used 835 times, to complete the yammering.

      !!!!

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    6. There's that word again. "Supportable" It's the covers it all word that glosses over any and all made ir missed calls.

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    7. Yes, yes. Refereeing is all black and white, you are right.

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    8. In your eyes it was supportable... But surely others don't feel the same!

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    9. The foul before 1-1 was definitely black and white. But we referee's create the so called "grey area" when we are inconsistent with our calls.

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    10. And that's not the problem. The way of expressing opinion is wrong.

      Some people here are mistake hunters, we have minute to minute report of the 'mistakes'.

      Plus beautiful blaming of Rocchi, VAR, Bussacca etc.

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    11. So who deserves the blame? Credit where it's due and similarly criticisms are due too when merited

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  41. The problem with the no foul call before Spain 1-1 is different... In isolation the call may be acceptable... But the kind of soft penalty Rocchi whistled, the goal had to be disallowed on consistency grounds... Not whistling the foul just made him look inconsistent there with no clear line!

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    1. Very well said. We can support PK, but this...

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    2. Exactly! Plus the overall display has been more than shaky!

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    3. Here I agree with you Soham

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    4. And that's exactly why I always feared that Rocchi wasn't the right name for this game... Debut World Cup match is a different occasion altogether and referees are humans too!

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  42. I am referee myself. I will always understand mistake by REFs on pitch and support them. So, I am not blaming Rocchi, I just cant believe what a mistake Irrati made.

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    1. I understend. But I don't think that blaming anyone (in this case, VAR) is good for the discussion.

      Grey area is always interesting for discussion but I think this one goes wrong direction...

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    2. Exactly Barinho... The missed foul before 1-1 is not supportable! With VAR that had to be called!

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  43. Cristiano Ronaldo blatantly asked for booking the opponent and then he had also a reaction against the referee, dissenting behavior.
    I can't understand why he is never booked for that.

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    1. So basically Rocchi has missed 3 clear YCs now but apparently that's fine for all who were complaining about Kuipers and Cakir missing YCs earlier :D :D

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    2. You know it's not "fine" with me. I'm not one of those. Lol ;)

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    3. Yes Mr. LOTG, I know :D

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    4. Not fine at all. I am pretty disapointed with Rocchi's performance tonight. It would be very hard to asses the mark for him.

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    5. My early prediction will be that if Rocchi receives a 2nd group game then that's not going to be even close to being sonorous!

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  44. Missed YC for Ronaldo for disrespectful behavior (complaining etc.)

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  45. The dissent by Ronaldo is amazingly unacceptable. It’s not okay to let that go. Clear yellow card for Ronaldo.

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  46. Highly animated and excessive dislplay of dissent by Ronaldo. He runs up to Rocchi, gesticulates, and as Rocchi tries to talk to him he flings his arm in the air and walks away ignoring the referee.

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  47. 63' Rocchi with missed booking.

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  48. Missed YC after foul Moutinho 54th min.

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  49. Hopefully the last match for Rocchi at this tournament. He didn't meet the requirements of such clashes.

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  50. Sorry but Rocchi is clearly a so-so ref with lack of personality. It’s unacceptable to let Ronaldo doing this behaviour without strong answer. Poor.

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  51. Rocchi is simply struggling and the appointment has failed... If this ends up being Rocchi's only World Cup, the only people to blame will be the FIFA RefsCom as this game wasn't meant for Rocchi in the very 1st place!

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  52. Rocchi is underperforming, true, but the one who's ruined it all was Irrati.

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  53. Sadly for the teams and the players who have gifted the World the first truly enjoyable match of the World Cup. The major talking points from the match will be controversial referee decisions and the first situation in which the highly touted "all solvable" VAR failed.

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  54. I dont think, altough, Rochhi did not do god job, that he will be main talking point. I think tomorrow everybody will be talking about this trilling game

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    1. good job, sorry. My keyboard is not working like it should

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  55. Before Ronaldo's 3rd goal the wall was not more than 7,5 meters from the ball!

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  56. Two mandatory YCs missed: Pepe (stamp in 42') and Cristiano Ronaldo (dissent in 60'). The YC to Bruno Fernandes has to be rewatched carefully. The goal should not stood and it's a mistake of both Rocchi and Irrati. 7.8

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    1. And match changing error too the goal decision! 3-3 draw might have been 3-2 win for the other team!

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    2. If the first goal was annuled, who knows what would happen... Might the final result would be 1-0, but also it could be 3-1 for Spain, for example.

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    3. Either way that's a crucial mistake!

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  57. It's a pity a horrible VAR decision tarnishes such an epic match that totally lived up to the expectations. Something needs to be done as far as VAR is concerned. VAR refs cannot be afraid of stepping in. Otherwise this is just a waste of money for FIFA.

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  58. If I am right, and all 35 referees will get a match as main referee, there will be a lot of referees with only one match and unfortunately for him, Rocchi could be one of them.

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    1. All 35 referees won't get a game as main referee... That's for sure!

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    2. It will also be interesting what will happened with Irrati-Valeri-Orsato. Will they be appointed again and how many times.

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    3. One can expect Rocchi to appear for another time in some already decided low profile match on MD3

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    4. @Soham: I am sure it is not sure. I never saw statment from FIFA that some referee will act only as support referees.

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    5. This should depend on the performance of the others. If there are 4 or more referees, who perform worse, he should have good chances for a 2nd game. If not, he might indeed change to a specialist VAR (with the chance of a good tournament in that role).
      About the VARs: I could imagine, that Irrati won't be VAR anymore, but only AVAR. I think, Valeri and Orsato won't be affected, but work as VAR. So maybe, we will have a trio Valeri-Orsato-Irrati on the weekend. Or at least something like Vargas-Orsato-Valeri (maybe on Ramos' game).

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  59. OT:

    Not a good performance at all by Rocchi and specially Irrati but what a game!

    Quite disappointed myself, anyway Spain played an excellent match and we have lots of good feelings for the next match, but Ronaldo in front, and so close... :/

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  60. Rocchi started off very well spotting a penalty very early in the game. Good foul detection, some inconsistency in card management though. Good fitness and positioning, as always. ARs were very sharp. A regular performance ruined by an unbelievable VAR crew. Again, Irrati must be sent packing for the sake of coherence. He was given the best match of the entire group stage and fell flat.

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  61. Chefren15 June 2018 at 22:05
    Rocchi in POR - ESP.
    Very challenging game, for sure the most challenging game of the tournament so far, this was not difficult to guess.
    I think that the performance was affected by a clear crucial mistake (foul missed before 1-1 by Spain). Foul should have been whistled: it can't be a grey area, if you want to back the referee for the previous penalty decision (and of course, Rocchi can be backed for that) then it would be not consistent to back the referee for this missed foul. Pepe made it bigger but contact in face existed, this was enough for a whistle. So for me clear mistake. The mistake very likely has been made by VAR Irrati, who has not invited referee to rewatch the incident, but we can't be sure about that, we can just make speculations. In any case, in order to be sure, I would have invited the referee to rewatch the incident. Rocchi will take this crucial mistake but it must be shared within the officiating team, including VAR.
    As said, penalty was OK, regarding the disciplinary control in my opinion we have two more than blatant missed YC for Pepe in first half, and then Cristiano Ronaldo in second half. In addition, one could discuss about other situations, but for me these were absolutely clear and referee can't be supported.
    So, the final mark, given also the difficult context and the very challenging game, should be: 7.8 (8.2) which means one crucial mistake (missed foul before goal), otherwise satisfactory performance with small areas for improvement (missed YC).
    I think it would be unfair to be even more harsh than that assessment.

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    1. Very reasonable assessment... For Rocchi I think one more low profile group game will follow... Then he will be either sent home or used only as VAR in KO stage!

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    2. Excellent analysis! But I could imagine that FIFA internally don't see a mistake at 1-1.

      This match did remind me on JUV-NAP, LAZ-INT, matches which Rocchi handled excellently. I think one can understand FIFA RefCom decision to send him to this match, his style worked on the whole.

      But I think having at least six months to prepare, I wonder whether Rocchi was the best option. I think they might have 'soured' his WC, like Mazic in 2014 starting with GER-POR. A very challenging match, which called for top five best referees in the world. Rocchi is a great referee, but not a 'special' referee, he is still 'human' (I hope you understand my words, I can't explain it another way).

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  62. My thoughts:
    -Rocchi did not impress in this game. Some missed YC and the debatable foul on Pepe before Spain scored.
    -VAR should have spotted the foul, it's hard to justify play on in this case.
    -This was the first truly challenging game, so it does not really makes sense to compare this game with the others (at least with yesterday's opener, which I also watched)
    - I would bet that Rocchi will get at least another game. There are many exaples of referees getting further games after average/lower average performances (Undiano Mallenco after Germany-Serbia 2010, Medina Cantalejo after Italy-Australia 2006, Rizzoli after Spain-Netherlands 2014)
    -I don't think that media will talk about Rocchi tomorrow. At the same time, I think Rocchi will hardly progress to the knock-out stage

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    1. A little off-topic but back in 2014 what were the major problems that Rizzoli faced in Spain v Netherlands game?? Would be great if someone shares!

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    2. And, final comment, it is again disappointing to see that certain players (Ronaldo today) don't get punished for strong dissent. There must be a middle point between a referee making a card show and one tolerating any kind of protest. FIFA does not seem to have found this middle point yet

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    3. I remember the mark given to Rizzoli on "3rd team" blog was around 7.8 or less. I seem to recall a wrongly assessed penalty incident and a few other situations, but the general comments were not so different from today's ones. I couldn't find the assessments on 3rd team now, they probably were removed

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    4. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bwkc3sKcCNy9T2c1QmNIMjUxR0E/edit?usp=sharing

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    5. So Rizzoli was even worse than Rocchi - and was appointed again in that tournament ;)

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    6. 1 Quarter final and the Final... But that's mostly due to Argentina requesting for him because of his excellent reputation and palmares... Sadly Rocchi hasn't got that nor will Argentina ask for him at any stage!

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    7. Soham, it seems as you know everything. :)

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    8. Thanks Mikael, that was precisely what I was referring to!

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  63. Referee expert here in Montenegro said that both penalty and allowing goal were good calls. He said that only mistakes were some missed cards. Especially the one for Pepe

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  64. You guys are so harsh on the referees. Players seemed happy with them at the end of the game.

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  65. It is a pity that Irrati did not give Rocchi the opportunity to rewatch the incident, I am quite sure he had no perception at all. I don‘t blame Rocchi too much for this incident, however, we must say that his overall performance was not the best. Nevertheless he will get at least one more game, two more games are possible, too (remember that Collina has a lot of influence). Indeed, Irrati will also get some more games. I don‘t think FIFA cares too much, maybe Rocchi‘s performance is not considered that bad.

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