Saturday, 12 June 2021

UEFA EURO 2020 Match 4: Belgium - Russia (discussion)

Antonio Mateu Lahoz in charge of Belgium - Russia, let's discuss his perfomance here. 


Group B
St. Petersburg, 12 June 2021 21:00 CET
BELGIUM - RUSSIA
Referee: Antonio Miguel Mateu Lahoz (ESP)
Assistant Referee 1: Pau Cebrián Devis (ESP)
Assistant Referee 2: Roberto Díaz Pérez Del Palomar (ESP)
Fourth Official: Fernando Andrés Rapallini (ARG)
Fifth Official: Juan Pablo Belatti (ARG)
Video Assistant Referee: Alejandro José Hernández Hernández (ESP)
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 1: João Pinheiro (POR)
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 2: Iñigo Prieto López de Cerain (ESP)
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 3: Juan Martínez Munuera (ESP)
UEFA Referee Observer: Pascal Garibian (FRA)
UEFA Delegate: Artur Azaryan (ARM)

49 comments:

  1. Dutch TV commentator just mentioned again that Mateu is retiring after this tournament. These claims/rumours are now so persistent that I am starting to wonder if they are actually true. Are we sure he is contuining?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Maybe the source they have is the false rumor, it was denied by Mateu himself who released a very clear interview.
      With the maximum respect, football commentators are not so much expert and insiders about refereeing.

      Delete
  2. Excellent NO OFFSIDE decision by Pau Cebrián Devis: deliberate play.
    This must ba absolutely praised.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Very well done. Excellent team work

      Delete
  3. Correct no offside decision prior 1–0. AR1 and Mateu were concentrated, ball came from the opponent.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Not enough to say that, ball came from opponent with a deliberate play, in case of deflection, offside should have been whistled.

      Delete
    2. Indeed Chefren to be more precise "came" in an intentional literal sense. It was an intentional defending action.

      Delete
    3. Can you explain why you consider this play 'deliberate'? My first thoughts were 'deflection', because I didn't really see a (kicking) movement towards the ball. Yes, the defender was positioning himself to play the ball, but he didn't really do anything once in position. So I felt it was more of an unlucky contact with the ball, which would deem this a deflection.

      Delete
    4. See my comment further down:

      https://law5-theref.blogspot.com/2021/06/uefa-euro-2020-match-4-belgium-russia.html?showComment=1623527457850#c4744895005193109629

      Delete
    5. 1 tuingereedschap is tot site, The Russisch defender had never control of the ball And there tot nog advantagyou of the offside position. Buy whatever is worse, this isn't a place on the field where even should play on because iets so close to the goal where Lukaku was offside and the offside rule is so bad because a player game advantage of his position. In this case the Defender should try to play the ball while the offside rule was changed to keep pace in the game and now you see players having advantage what never can be the reason of the rule change. The was designed more for wrong decisions by assistent referees and the rule is play on and look at the result and after that play the van let the VAR do his work, but this play on the goal the defender het control of the ball and he was in a offside position and got benefit of the mistake. Remember that if you play on you would have speed in the game and if the defender even would try to play the ball it would have been offside and how many seconds would play have been dead? To long as we often see time wasting. Advantage should be advantage, but this isn't a spot for playing on.

      Delete
  4. Excellent decision, but I'm sure it will be very controversial.

    ReplyDelete
  5. what about passive offside?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Belgian player had no impact on play until after the ball was deliberately played by the defender.

      And anyhow, "passive offside" isn't a concept in the Laws.

      Delete
    2. I agree with you Alex F

      Delete
  6. What is the difference between the offside before the goal and the 'offside' in the PL, where IFAB clarified that it should have been an offside? It was M. City vs. A. Villa, Rodri scored after taking the ball from Mings. Both times the attacker is in the back of the defender.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bernardo Silva scored, but Rodri stole the ball from Mings.
      Clip here: https://youtu.be/okV8wNWHv6M

      Delete
    2. In the PL the attacker challenged the defender for the ball - today he didn't.

      Delete
  7. Will the Belgium substitution count as medical sub (the 6th sub) due to the head injury of Castagne?

    I saw Lahoz talking with the bench and 4OF
    Same now with the Russia substitution.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. As I know this rule was just tested in some games but I haven't heard that it was adopted.

      Delete
  8. Possible red card for Mertens in 31 min? After I saw the replay I have some doubts? What do you think?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I also have doubts, but one can't really be sure, that it was intentional.

      Delete
  9. That´s not a deliberated play by the defender. Clear offside missed.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If you explain why, your opinion would be more accurate and interesting to read.

      Delete
    2. How about this?

      The ball came from a fair distance (~20m) at a not high pace. This gave the player time and options, it was not an unexpected ball.

      The player had control of his body when he stepped to the ball to play it. This was a conscious action (as opposed to an instinctive reaction).

      The player made contact with the ball. The result of the action does not matter.

      The sum of these considerations scream "deliberate play"

      Delete
    3. Clearly a deliberate play, easy situation.

      Delete
    4. Excellent summation Alex F. Couldn't have put it better myself.

      Delete
    5. I sense this might be an unpopular opinion bu I disagree with the deliberate play here.

      The ball passes by the player’s teammate, who at first looks like he will head it - only after the player sees that his teammate doesn’t head the ball does he raise his leg to play it.

      His body is clearly off balance and it looks more like a reflex to raise his leg to play the ball rather than a conscious action.

      In this case, he doesn’t have nearly as much time to react. He has to see if the ball is played by his teammate before he can react. To me, it’s pretty clear that he didn’t expect the ball to come through to him based upon his awkward body shape and lack of balance, and the fact that he’s backpedaling to mark the attacker rather than moving towards the ball.

      So, in summary, these are the relevant considerations as I see them:

      - The ball is moving towards the player, the player is not moving towards the ball

      - The ball is not expected

      - The raise of the leg was a reflex / instinct, not a deliberate attempt to play

      - The defender does not have much time to control himself to play the ball

      - The defender is off-balance

      As I see it, based upon these considerations, it’s definitely not a deliberate play I think.

      Delete
    6. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    7. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    8. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    9. Apologies I didn’t mean to post the same comment 4 times!! I will delete three of them.

      Delete
  10. It is funny observing Lahoz not giving a YC every time there is a dissent from players. He is having a hard time! :D

    ReplyDelete
  11. The penalty shout at 42’ is indicative of a clear line to minimize VAR intervention. I can’t think of another competition where VAR would not have intervened. I wonder how much communication there is with the referee to restrict the scope of the review. Does Lahoz tell the VAR ‘I saw the contact, and deemed it incidental/normal’, and the VAR therefore does not challenge that judgment? Would the VAR have intervened if Lahoz told him he did not see contact? Or does the VAR decide completely in isolation?
    I wonder, because I think most VAR referees would likely have deemed it a penalty - so if UEFA tightened the ‘clear and obvious’ error, how does that work exactly?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Interesting to hear your opinion. I was actually surprised that the VAR check took so long because for me, it was quite clearly no penalty. Like on Friday, it is not the defender who initiated the contact but the attacker. You could see that the attacker's leg hit the defender's calf which is, in situations like this, a sign that the defender did not initiate the contact. Defender's leg was "passive". Mateu was right in his perception. VAR intervention would have been wrong in my view as it was a correct decision.

      Delete
    2. Right. I might have misjudged it. Overall, though, I wonder how much deference VARs give to how a referee reaches their judgment. In the MLS communications I’ve heard, there seems to be no communication before the VAR recommends a review (beyond ‘check’, ‘hold’, confirming the decision on the field, etc.), so the VAR basically judges in a silo.

      Delete
    3. VAR footage from the last World Cup showed, in a couple of cases, the VAR asking the referee what they saw before stating "check complete" or recommending an OFR.

      I get the impression that MLS prefers to not go down that route based on their VAR clips.

      Delete
    4. IMO, communication can be useful in some situations. E.g. at Taylor's penalty today, VAR should have checked (and maybe did check), whether the decision was based on the contact by the knee or the referee had the wrong perception of something more.
      Sometimes it can also be enough if the referee directly explains his situation in the comms - without the VAR asking.

      Delete
  12. Rapallini had to do just one thing, but he failed. Mateu saved situation with his charisma.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I have watched online 2nd half but Lahoz had fantastic time and game feeling. His management and personality top level

    ReplyDelete
  14. I really liked Lahoz tonight! I would say the best performance so far at euro. Easy second half, just 1-2 questionable events in first half. Good job!

    ReplyDelete
  15. And another good performance by Mateu without a single YC. One must say, great start for Rosetti and the referees. Four matches without OFR, no referee in media's focus. Seems like a good strategy to appoint the top referees of the top referees for the first games.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Indeed Ref_1707. Big compliments for Rosetti for his good and smart appointments. So far solid refereeing at the EURO. Media in Europe seems to be very positive until now. Let’s hope we can continue this level.

      Delete
  16. Good job tonight by Mateu, expected level.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Some previous comments have been deleted. I must remember this is a blog about refereeing, so please find other places to discuss about different arguments. Thank you so much.

    ReplyDelete
  18. A very boring game due to Russia's incapability.

    Great alertness and interpretation of the offside law by Antonio and Pau in 10'! Well done! The tackle in 34' should be carefully rewatched before making a final judgement but the replays offerred were poor to be honest (not the first time during this EURO...). The biggest talking point should be the tripping penalty incident at 40'. I think it's the attacker who initiated the contact and the optimal decision has been made. Interesting, would there be a VAR intervention if penalty was whistled?

    Antonio took the back seat during the second half that was extremely boring with Belgian carrying the two goals advantage and Russia had nothing to offer. He should've booked two players (Dzyuba at 65' and Dendoncker in 83'). The rest was standard Mateu with many talks, gestures and mimics. Personally I love his unique style (e.g. 85', 90' :))

    ReplyDelete
  19. HIGHLIGHTS

    https://we.tl/t-gZobQKCeEv

    ReplyDelete
  20. watch all spanish daramas here in HD quality ·estrenosdoramas

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for writing a comment on our blog!