Final game of matchday one, and déjà vu for Alireza Faghani - again he will handle a Brazil vs. Serbia tie, one of four matches he refereed (well) at the last World Cup. Discussion here.
Game 16 - Lusail (20:00 CET)
BRAZIL - SERBIA
Referee: Alireza Faghani (IRN)
Assistant Referee 1: Mohammadreza Mansouri (IRN)
Assistant Referee 2: Mohammadreza Abolfazli (IRN)
Fourth Official: Maguette N'Diaye (SEN)
Reserve Assistant Referee: Malick El Hadj Samba (SEN)
Video Assistant Referee: Abdullah Al-Marri (QAT)
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Muhammad Taqi (SIN)
Offside Video Assistant Referee: Anton Shchetinin (AUS)
Support Video Assistant Referee: Pol van Boekel (NED)
Standby Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Ashley Beecham (AUS)
Faghani has a great history refereeing Brazil. That he brings luck for us!!
ReplyDeleteThree fouls in first minute.
ReplyDeletePerfect moment for a very clear verbal warning but he chose a yellow card.
ReplyDeleteTwo hard fouls in 5 seconds, the first one like SPA.
DeleteAhahahah first foul and already first YC. Of course against famous actor Neymar. We can see that the ref prepared himself...
ReplyDelete@Nole you can see Faghani was going to wistle for foul on Paquetta. And I think yellow was for that foul, or for combination of both.
DeleteToo early for YC. Good for the referre,but not for the game as the red defender will be cut off play for the rest of the match
Delete+1
DeleteOh, so you mean the red defender will have to play honest/clean football for the rest of the match? Oh no, shocking!
DeleteI really liked the way handled the SRB players (like mitrovic) and then gave the caution. Love the style, the smile, bodylanguage. And he dared to take his time. Maybe the card itself was harsh definetly considering min6. But is supportable, and he sold it wel.
ReplyDelete+1 love his personality on the field
DeleteGreat personality skills displayed by Faghani!
ReplyDeleteBut on a tactical approach level: PORISL 2016 vibes anyone? :)
Exceptional personality skills!! But among the referees having been in action so far, an exception when it comes to physical appearance. And not an exception at the positive end I would say.
DeleteI agree, personality and player management is definitely his strength. What disturbes me a bit is the excessive whistles, it annoys the players and the spectators.
DeleteI just can't stand this Holywood actor Neymar! Turning and twisting after every foul. Faghani whistled every possible foul for Brasil but didn't in at least 3 times for Serbia. In the match of this importance specially for Serbia it is very important to get some fouls near PK area of the opponent. But Faghani is fascinated with Brasilian stars. I am afraid that if Neymar falls in the PK area like Christiano did today that he would whistle PK.
ReplyDeleteFaghani follow the game too far that he doesnt see little fouls. Additional time 1 minute only?? Just he spent 3 minutes talking with players, more a lot of stops due fouls, and Serbia delay to back the ball for game
ReplyDeleteFIRST HALF ANALYSIS - match incidents
ReplyDelete6" YC SRB2 after foul on BRA7 and BRA10(=Neymar). Very early YC, put defender in difficult spot for rest of 1H. It would be supportable if he kept this line for rest of the half or until both teams on yellow (were few opportunity's for YC to BRA). But it feels weird he gave this one. Eventough it is a small SPA. But I would have stuck with verbal warning.
Did really like his style, bodylanguage, smile and hand gestures during giving of YC and managing SRB players. I think it is the best I have seen so far:).
13" missed YC for BRA5 (IMO, definitely looking at previous matches were YC were given for this kind of contact) ellbow to the head after cornerKick. Good halt of play for head injury. I think Faghani missed the incident.
20-45" Lots of play on calls (in comparison to 0-20") I don't think they were missed fouls or mandatory fouls. So Faghani choose for a lenient approach. Wich doesn't make sense to me, because or early YC (6") and early lots of fouls given. But It didn't backfire on him, so I think right approach eventually. Just think YC is either wrong, or make sure you give one to opponent aswell (for +-reckless fouls) CFR. 13"
OVERALL:
Like to see him on the pitch:) Was for me potential final choice, and still is. His experience wil help him determine how lenient he can be in 2H.
In all fairness, Faghani is the right man for the final. He has it all - experience, personality, technical know-how. Unless he makes a horrible mistake influencing the outcome of a game, he should get the opportunity to referee the final in what would be a much-deserved prize for a brilliant career.
DeleteEvery contact for Brasil is called, few for Serbia haven't. Early yellow. It will be interesting to see how Faghani will handle Brasilian simulations in the second part.
ReplyDeleteI feel like he is not having the same criterium in whistling little fouls,some thongs that he would whistle for Brasil,he does not whistle for Serbs.
ReplyDeleteThat's why we saw them suround Faghani near the end of 1st half,if he keeps his criterium like that he could make Serbians angry and make game harder for himself.
64' missed call when Brazilian player put hand to Serbian player's face and then YC to Serbian player for protesting. I feel the game may get out of hand in the remaining time.
ReplyDeleteInstead of foul and YC for Casemiro, Faghani gives YC to Lukic for protest. What a shame. That's just what I wrote on halftime.
ReplyDeleteLeave your Serbian bias aside. This is refereeing analysis.
DeleteI’m not Serbian, but on this particular scene I completely agree. 50/50 calls often fall into South American direction.
DeleteI'm Serbian and Faghani had great 1st half. The only mistake was missed foul from Casemiro on Pavlovic, which was Casemiro's revenge for Pavlovic's harsh foul in the 3'.
DeleteBut in the 2nd half he missed the same kind of foul from the same player (Casemiro) but now with a more serious consequence-missed YC, which led him to protest of Serbian player (YC for dissent).
Which leads me to the conclusion that the referee does not recognize the tactical fouls of Brazil's roughest player.
A pitty, because a part of that, his performance was good.
Fully agree with you, DrMr. Regarding particular incidents, that is the most important mistake for my taste.
DeleteFor the second time a elbow/arm of Casemiro unpunished
ReplyDelete63' Clear foul on Tadic and YC for Casemiro missed... After that YC for Serbian player for dissent.
ReplyDeleteFolks from Serbia, take it easy.
ReplyDeleteYou got arguably the best ref in Qatar, who by the way is in a class of his own.
What a personality and management in a quite hot contest.
Any other ref would have already ruined the game.
have always a big fan of him, another faultless perforamnce. congrats!
ReplyDeleteGame management excellent. One of the best referees on the tournament.
ReplyDeleteStill a lot of "small calls" went for Brasil. This is what we referees call "protect the home team". Interesting that that stopped after 2nd goal. 🙂
Very good Faghani today. Hot game (until 2nd goal) with excellent control and player management. One of the best managers, and probably best ref in Qatar.
ReplyDeleteOne mistake with missed YC in 64', which consequences YC for dissent for Serbian player.
I full agree with @David Hatfield, comment 21:31
"In all fairness, Faghani is the right man for the final. He has it all - experience, personality, technical know-how. Unless he makes a horrible mistake influencing the outcome of a game, he should get the opportunity to referee the final in what would be a much-deserved prize for a brilliant career."
Addicionally I'm very curious - who will be a referee for Serbia-Switzerland - this game can be a hottest in group stage. My bet is Marciniak.
Siebert :D :D :D
DeleteEverything but the German ref for obvious reasons - Brych 2018 ;)
DeleteOr Makkelie.
DeleteMakkelie, Cesar Ramos and Marciniak are my top 3.
DeleteIf this was a test for a championship match assignment, Faghani passed it with flying colors.
ReplyDeleteLets say that this was currently best performance at the tournament. Faghani deserve final, I strongly hope that we will se him there.
ReplyDeleteSorry but Orsato's was imo better ,more crucial decisions to make and both teams were satisfied with his performance.
DeleteThere you have Serbia and their players who are not happy with Faghani's performance.
Sorry but how do you know that about Serbian players, or you are speaking about their reactions during the match?
DeleteSpeaking about reactions during match,they did not like his style at all.
DeleteIf not them,then media,how can they,in the media,have guts to say that the ref was rotten tonight?
Thanks for the answer.
DeleteAbout media, thats not media statement but a statement from a guest in the studio, which is of course, shameful. Please, don't generalize.
Ok,glad to type with someone who can be in normal discussion.
DeleteIn the end of Matchday 1 the best actuations
ReplyDeleteso far was Orsatto (ITA), Rappalini (ARG), Sampaio (BRA), Mohamed (UAE), Turpin (FRA) and Faghani (IRN)
I liked the performance of Alireza today. Full control of the game, but this forum of people making him ready to take the final as he is the only option... Come on. Sorry to say that but yes today he showed that he is the only one besides uefa referees that is in top level but its too early for finals appointments. Please make more sensible comments. Once again congratulation on performance tonight of the referee and his team.
ReplyDelete+1
DeletePS I would just exclude Siebert and Vincic from your "UEFA referees that is in top level" statement, in a terms of performance.
I think that many people remember that Faghani deserved for final in 2018 (he didn't get final appointment due to sponsorship reasons..) And this can be a reason for many comments here.
DeleteBut fact is it, a final referee will be Faghani or one of UEFA referees.
Faghani and Orsato are the 2 refs that come to my mind.
DeleteI would thought of Makkelie,but I just sont see that he will get WC final before he even had CL final.
Same goes for Marciniak.
The story of 2 teams. One is clearly superior to the other skill-wise. The lesser-skilled team, in an attempt to "even" the playing field, adopts an aggressive and overly physical style of play. Faghani unlike Turpin chooses (correctly IMO) to not allow this and clamps down early on Serbia's tactics. Did Brasil get more fouls called? Yes. It's logical, if you possess the ball more, you're probably going to get fouled more. However, this doesn't absolve Faghani from erring in not cautioning Casemiro. But as we've seen time and time again. Casemiro seems to be one of those players who always get away un-carded. It happened in La Liga, it happened in the UCL, and now in the Premier.
ReplyDeleteMy predictions:
ReplyDeleteJPN-CRC: Oliver/Mukansanga (Valeri)
ESP-GER: Taylor/Frappart (Kwiatkowski)
BEL-MAR: Conger/Abdulla Hassan (Bin Jahari)
CRO-CAN: Gassama/Gomes (Al-Marri)
Good performance by Faghani tonight, IMO. Regarding specific incidents, the only important mistake for my taste is the missed foul (and probably YC) by Casemiro on Tadić in 63', resulting in a YC for dissent to Lukić (correct in regard to dissent itself, but still a bad image).
ReplyDeleteOverall, exceptional personality skills and body language IMO, which ensured complete control of the game (even with the players protesting about some decisions, control was never in question, IMO). Some minor mistakes in foul detection, but I don't think that everything "small" went against the Serbian team (maybe I'm wrong).
Is it just my impression or Faghani really does tend to fall behind play a bit, whistling from a certain distance? Maybe this led to some minor mistakes.
OT: No red cards in whole MD1
ReplyDeleteAnalysis
ReplyDeleteThe very experienced referee from Iran handled the last game of Matchday 1, here's a few words about his performance:
Faghani maintained the game under control without problems, thanks to his sharp soft-skills coupled with a serene approach (often smiling, able to reach players with small chats). This is a strong asset he know how to use throughout the game
Disciplinary control started with an interesting choice at 6', when he decided to show the opening card after two consecutive careless fouls. I believe it would have been quite suitable to solve the situation with a stern verbal warning, but the Iranian chose to reach his pocket: a supportable outcome IMO (+ a brillant management of the Serbian reactions before issuing the card). He cautioned SRB8 for a clear reckless tackle/SPA in 49' and SRB16 in 64' for dissent, after missing a FK+YC to BRA5 in the process.
Given his first card, I believe BRA5 should've gone in the book in 13' for a very late charging offense, but Faghani completely missed the incident. I'd have liked to see a verbal warning for BRA7 as well (careless vs reckless kick, 10'), but he decided otherwise.
The one concern I have about his officiating is the rather limited possibility he showed to go deep in foul selection: He struggled a few times to correctly assess challenges (23',33',48',64',67'): causing a loss of line, and in a certain extend some frustration from the players. The obvious advantage missed in 32' doesn't looked good as well.
Quiet evening for both assistants, expected level.
While Faghani showed the top soft-skills we know him for, I must say I am moderately convinced he will be a top performer in the next stages (understand final candidate), especially if he is given a game requiring a more developped technical accuracy.
( 7 - 7 - 7 - III )
Bravo!
DeleteI just don't understand the ratings, but I guess they are good
https://mikaelreferee.blogspot.com/p/evaluation-scale.html
DeleteAgree with the assessment.
DeleteFaghani or orsato for the final
ReplyDelete