Sunday 15 July 2018

2018 FIFA World Cup Match 64 (Final): France - Croatia, referee Néstor Pitana (discussion #2)

We can continue here the discussion about the final. 
Match #64
Moscow, 15 July 2018 17:00 CET
France - Croatia
Referee: Néstor Pitana (ARG)
Assistant Referee 1: Hernan Maidana (ARG)
Assistant Referee 2: Juan Pablo Belatti (ARG)
Fourth Official: Björn Kuipers (NED)
Fifth Official: Erwin Zeinstra (NED)
VAR: Massimiliano Irrati (ITA)
AVAR1: Mauro Vigliano (ARG)
AVAR 2: Carlos Astroza (CHI)
AVAR 3: Danny Makkelie (NED)

113 comments:

  1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkGIxhjj_p4
    Here the final confirmation that Pogba was ONSIDE.
    No mistake, regular goal, at least under this aspect.

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    1. But that's a crystal clear dive IMO... So with that poor call Pitana started defining the match... Unfortunate for Néstor!

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    2. Even if offside, he did not interfere with Croatian defender's (in)ability to play the ball.

      Offside position is not offside offence.

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    3. Even if offside, he interfere, thats my opinion

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  2. The appointment of Pitana was not a mistake. His performance was below par. The pk awarded via VAR is a correct interpretation of “deliberate handling” as defined by FIFA. I disagree but that is how FIFA wants it interpreted. May be it is better to remove “deliberate “ from the LOTG. I think the fk haunted Pitana through out 90 minutes.

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    1. Honestly I agree with you about removing the word "deliberate" from the LOTG and replacing it with something that more closely coincides with the way the rule is actually interpreted (something like if it's "his fault" that he handled the ball would be a much better summary in my opinion).

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  3. @Soham, true although Pitana looked not very convincing during the review and taking decision.. to me it looked he was a bit hesitant what decision to take, especially after taking the second glimpse at the monitor..

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    1. He was kind of affected when he realised about his free kick decision, I think!

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  4. My top 5 referees of this World Cup :

    1. Alireza Faghani
    2. Björn Kuipers
    3. Sandro Ricci
    4. Malang Diedhiou
    5. Andrés Cunha (after the Final Cunha has leapfrogged Pitana in my assessment)

    Cüneyt Çakir and Nestor Pitana follows after!

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    1. I still believe Sandro Ricci would deserve the final. If he is not injured, he should get the final match...

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    2. Mazic is in top 3 this WC. ;)

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    3. After a tremendously ultra-lineant line in disciplinary control in first 2 games, a possible missed foul in lead up to Mexico goal, wrong penalty assigned to Senegal, then came a crucial mistake in Brazil v Belgium with the missed penalty after which he hasn't been appointed any further... He might just sneak into the top 10 but no way in the top 5 ever IMO as so many inconsistencies are way too much to ignore!

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    4. Talking about errors? How arrogant you are.
      Mexico goal wasnt fault.
      Wrong penalty ? That was 100% penalty by watching live which was confirmed by Collina himself.
      Crucial mistake in BRA v BELG? Not his fault at all. Also there was SF and final left what do you want more?
      Talking about Kuipers and his crucial mistake in 115' missed penalty for SPAIN. want to talk more?

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    5. Also everyone was praising Mazic after BRA - BELG. Chief of USA refereeing said it was the best performance of the whole WC !
      Want to talk about Kuipers and his matchs? Crucial mistake when he gave PK to BRA ??

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    6. Only mistake was the penalty assigned to Brazil... The only instance when Kuipers was wrong and that is the reason he is No. 2 in my list in spite of being comfortably the best by miles in all other fields... Btho told you that the Spain v Russia situation was a mistake? It is evaluated as a 100% correct decision by the assessor... Really sorry to say but some of you Serbian fans (not generalising at all as all are not same, we have DrMr as the biggest exception to this) are absolutely disgusting and devoid of any objective discussion or analysis... Only thing you know is lobbying for your countryman and try to sell others that he has been the best even though we don't want to buy it, boring as hell... You are free to think that Mazic is at the top but why do you need to convince the same as if you're trying to get to acknowledge that my list has an error? Get over it and get a life, I don't rate Mazic as highly as you do just like you may not rate Kuipers as highly as I do... Just move on buddy, learn to respect others' opinion and don't get butthurt at others highlighting their views... Please ignore my comments as I am fed up of this Mazic fanboyism for the past 2 weeks, it's boring as hell and I'm just not interested!

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    7. Soham, I am OK with your 5 best referees.
      But I am not OK with the work of Collina.

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    8. Talking about life when you dont have one. Thinking you're the smartest one here. You're the biggest fanboy here and you're so funny. We saw who here is more disgusting. Serbian people here or you talking about Kuipers 24/7. I saw couple of times insulting others here and being selfish all the time. So grow up and you better get a life not me ;)

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    9. Soham, your list is OK. I think that you ubderestimated Cakir and Pitana, but they had some errors. Cakir has brilantly match ARG-NIG in my opinion and he is in my top 5. Jovan and serbians friends your are unserious. Mazic is weak obe the wirst in WC

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    10. @ Soham, let me respond with my top 5 referees with some explanation:
      1. Kuipers (because of his general coolness and courage to admit that he was wrong with PK for BRA)
      2. Pitana (because of getting opening and the final game)
      3. Mazic (because of perfect positioning and player management in BEL-BRA, for me that is the game to learn from)
      4-5. Faghani and Diedhiou (because of the great way how they represented their associations)

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    11. @Jovan Ask the blog owner his opinion on the matter and your delusion will be cleared up... I was discussing top 5 referees overall whereas you were attacking only with "Mazic, Mazic and Mazic"... Says a lot about where the fanboyism actually comes from, isn't it? ;)

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    12. @Pawel and @Niko Thanks for sharing your views... Such objective discussions keep this blog alive amidst the boring Mazic lobbying by some users... So thank you to both! :)

      On Cakir and Pitana : I didn't underestimate them but overall I felt the 5 refs I named maybe are marginally ahead in my assessment considering all the games of the tournament!

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    13. Sure, i can wait for his opinion.
      I never said Mazic, Mazic and only Mazic like you were saying about Kuipers whole WC.
      1. Faghani
      2. Mazic
      3. Kuipers
      4. Pitana
      5. Cakir/Diedhiou
      The only reason he didnt get the final is coz of Croatia :)

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    14. Haha good joke... I don't think I ever went on blabbering that Kuipers is planned for this, Kuipers is planned for that etc etc... I only discussed his performances like the other refs involved too and I'm entitled to do that!

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    15. Fifa Worldcup final won by France with the 4-2 score against Croatia in all important Fifa world cup 2018 Russia Final. Croatia played extremely well throughout the tournament but they remain unable to win final, this was the first time by when Croatia went into Final of Fifa Worldcup.

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    16. I can't say I agree with Ricci and Diedhiou being so high. Both did quite well and have nothing to regret from this World Cup, but in my opinion their games were easier. Cakir for instance had much more difficult games; he should be ranked above them.

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    17. They can referee only what is in front of them... How they are doing it that is what mattered... That's how I made the assessment!

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    19. Why was he not sent home then?? Why did he get the honour to act as 4th official in the Final and collect the medal from the podium in the end?? Infact after the Round of 16 Spain v Russia match, he was appointed for a QF Sweden v England immediately after that... A couple of 4th official appointments in one SF and the Final also followed thereafter showing who the best UEFA referee has been in this tournament... Kindly stop with your meaningless and silly speculations and don't make rubbish and false accusations on the blog operations!

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    20. This isn't speculations. It's true! Everything is known. Gentlemen, you will soon expect an explanation of my claims. Many soft details you will read about Soham and his 'Lord Voldemort'. Soon...

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    21. Hi Mr. Troll... Butthurt because Serbia was eliminated in group stage? Or because Mazic got not even a 4th official appointment after the QF? Has the collective sadness of both these two turned you mad and into a troll?

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    22. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  5. Congratulations France you came to final from hell side and you deserved,,ccongratulations Croatia you deserved final surely and unlucky you played 3 times 120 minutes you were tieed,,and special congratulations to goalkeepers they saved Pitana's ass

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  6. Wow Griezman was selected man of the match.. so Fifas message is "cheaters will get rewarded"

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  7. What a disappointment at the end of this WC. The ref has influenced the result by two wrong decisions. And, of course, with him the VAR too. FIFA, go looking to the VAR in other sports (hockey, volley,...); there you can see how it has to work.
    Colina, your time has gone. We need good referees and not what we have seen in several matches during this WC. Appointments for matches need to be inspired by intrinsic qualities and not by geographic reasons.

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    1. Can't blame Collina for looking into the geographical reasons as that's how FIFA works... Anybody working in that environment has to abide by that!

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    2. Indeed, we know what FIFA means. Ask Thomas Kistner and Andrew Jennings. Very interesting to read, even accordibg to the role of the referees.

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    3. Can you share more on this?

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    4. Read "FIFA, Imperium" by Andrew Jennings and "FIFA MAffia" by Thomas Kistner. I read those books during this WC. So I saw this WC out of another point of view.

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  8. Congratulations to Pitana and his team on the Final game.
    Congratulations to Kuipers on his wonderful career.
    Congratulations to Mažić and his team and my friends on everything the showed us during this tournament.

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  9. Bad Pitana, bad the VAR.
    Always against Croatia.

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    1. Now, the World Cup is completed! :D

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    2. I agree, World Cup is now officialy completed and over, Alberto summirized refereeing in this world cup in just two sentences ;). Hehe, just joking - since I am from Croatia and I watched a game in public square and drunk liters of beer all I have noticed is that wrong foul leading to the first goal, everything else was ok. Would be happier that Kuipers was in the middle but, ...

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  10. It was a good World Cup for refereeing.
    Pity that the dive (which was challenging to spot in real time) and a situation that was not a clear and obvious error by any means were both decided in favor of a team that otherwise had 0 shots in goal in the first half.
    That’s why some people will never like football.

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    1. Refereeing was very good with VAR, I agree.
      But I would like to hear your mark for refereeing without VAR? :) How many crucial mistakes?

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    2. I can also rate the overall refereeing in Russia 2018 as very good.
      very few crucial mistakes. Kuipers, Pitana, Ricci, Cakir, Cunha, Skomina, Mazic, Faghani were really excellent. The only disappointment was Felix Brych.

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    4. I really don’t see Zwayer as Germany’s No. 2 or some massive conspiracy here. After all, aren’t there several AVARs that would catch on to this kind of thing?

      Also Aytekin IMHO is far more respected and would deserve a Euro or WC appointment more. I can even imagine Siebert leapfrogging Zwayer following the Cup Final issue for Zwayer and a very solid season by Siebert.

      Plus, couldn’t it be that Zwayer saw the Serbian player working substantially with his arms and judged that both parties were committing a foul in a somewhat simultaneous manner?

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    5. Was Zwayer VAR3 in BEL-BRA when they didn't call Mazic for OF for that possible PK?

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  11. Small mistakes, but an expected level performance overall. My mark will be 8.3.

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    1. Can you help me? Which match are you talking about?

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  12. Please what do you think if pitana was a UEFA ref do you think can he make the top 5 pr top 10 in Europe. Come on this appointment eas a fsr fetched one IMO even brych leaving the tournament early could have handled this one way better than today's performance.

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  13. I copied and pasted an excellent comment by Refinho, on the opening game

    "The discussion about Pitana's body language is really an interesting one. And it might be a bit polarizing:

    Pitana profits A LOT from his natural authority on an optical level. He communicates with the aid of his physical presence, his outward appearance. As Collina stated, he is like a rocket, looks a bit like a 'pitbull'. Players will not start to argue with him a lot, at least not on a World Cup level where most teams specially from Eastern cultures do not argue with authorities much. This made him succeed in most of his World Cup games so far. If Black Pete approaches Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse off, they won't argue that much. :-) Of course I overdraw this image consciously, I think you get the message. And the difference is: Pitana is even able to smile, and have a chat with players. His behaviour is very widely ranged.

    Is his body language sophisticated on a technical, mechanical level? In my opinion the answer is no. His gestures were at times overly used, not very clear, and making a slightly exaggerated, overly eager impression (tendency / risk: being perceived as hectical, self-centred, irritating). It was a bit too much, e.g. at corners.

    So in my personal view, is it virtuosity, is it elegance and is it absolute calmness and solidity he displays by his technical body language? No.

    Is it calmness, stability, credibility, presence and assertiveness he displays by his optical impression, outward appearance and physical presence? Yes. And this makes him succeed!"

    I'm not going to try and improve on that analysis^.
    But Pitana did struggle today, but not thaaaat much, it wasn't a huge disaster overall IMO, there are also some positive points of his performance that we ignore. To be honest I am demotivated by the simplicity of the black/white comments on here to actually write an in-depth analysis, but it was 8,1/2 area IMO (one cannot ignore the 1-0, but it's only a long range FK, CRO defending is the bigger problem to be honest).

    BUT!- Rizzoli was not that good in 2014, Webb's approach didn't succeed in 2010, Elizondo struggled (from what I read) in 2006; to whistle a WC Final is almost asking too much of a human being IMO, at least without mistakes, in such climate we live. In twenty years, it will be impossible to comprehend that these huge matches took place without VAR I think.
    I don't remember a performance in a WC/EURO Final that was above expected level, since maybe Merk or Collina.
    My tennis hero Guillermo Coria was the best clay court player in the world at in 2004, yet he still managed to lose the RG Final from two sets up, to Gaston Gaudio who was unseeded (sorry for the OT).

    My point is: don't just blame the designation!

    Pitana deserved a very slightly less than Kuipers (and Mazic but CRO) from my view, but only minimally. Also all the referees in this WC, yes every single one, has some faults at this WC (and intrinsically with their style, no one was ever or will be perfect).

    Pitana could have been THE perfect name for this final on paper, but for whatever reason that wasn't self-evident on the pitch today.

    One can blame the appointments before, but just my feeling that this didn't make a big difference. If someone only whistled two games before WC Final, I suspect it would be pointed out that "he wasn't tested enough" or sth like this.

    Pitana was a decent choice for this final (not the best maybe, but it was a "photo-finish" decision between him and some others), and didn't whistle a brilliant match, but was still okay refereeing today, he should not be 'killed' for this performance.

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    1. Each referee brings different strengths and personalities. They were all here for that. For some it is positioning/fitness, for some their team, for some their ability to control with a "look" or "gesture".

      Is any referee perfect? I hope not! Is every referee human? I hope so.

      Pitana was duped by simulation. This can't be fixed. He did not have the position we had (from behind).

      Pitana and the VAR knew FULL WELL that the PK (or not) decision was a critical one. Hence it went to OFR; hence Pitana took a goodly while; hence he even went back for one more look. Ultimately, he was chosen to referee the final. Ultimately, it was his decision -- made with the best available views to him. Ultimately, that decision (his alone) must be fully respected.

      We can all sit and argue this or that; here or there. In the end -- it comes down to the person given to the whistle. That was Pitana -- not me or you.

      Well done. His ability to make the best decisions possible within the LOTG and spirit of the match did not impact the final result.

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    2. I agree 100% with Aldawg and Mikael. Ultimately his mistake was the simulation by Griezmann but nothing big or crucial after that. All in all a decent final performance I thought.

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    3. @Mikael excellent analysis as always, you are one of the best contributors to this site.


      I do not remember how the refereeing was in 2006 or 2010, but certainly the highlights indicate that both Elizondo and Webb made critical errors (opening PK in '06, de Jong challenge in '10). I'm sure Elizondo is thankful that a more, erm, *high-profile* refereeing decision stole all the headlines in his game; had it not been for Zidane, we would all remember the PK in that game.

      Rizzoli's case is a strange one to me. Watching it live, it was clear he was in full control and was a good presence in the game, and got all the little things right. But in my opinion, he had two critical mistakes: Howedes should have been sent off for his challenge (Rizzoli only showed yellow) and Neuer should have been called for a PK for his challenge on Higuain.

      So yeah, the trend shows that the World Cup Final is not friendly to referees. But I don't think Pitana was so bad. The free kick I think is a decision he can live with without losing sleep for the rest of his life. It was soft but there was contact, you can argue it was a foul. And the moments that referees celebrate the most? Advantages!! Pitana played some fantastic advantages in the match today; and I'm sure he'll remember those fondly.

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  14. My final comment is that, you will see a lot less of me after this WC on Law5.
    Maybe nobody will miss me (I don't know), but the comments during this WC made me very frustrated.
    Too much cheerleading, some people who should be ashamed by how immature their comments are (trying to piss higher up the wall re their favourite referee), some pure trolling by some people whom are very sad IMO, comments with no real relevance to top level refereeing (only seeing everything as black/white).
    That's not to say there aren't excellent commenters on here (two of the best already gave up during this WC), for sure they are, but unfortunately they apparently are the minority.
    I used to really enjoy going on this blog (and TTT), but I would be lying to say I do these days.

    I just wanted to say thank you to Chefren for doing a brilliant job running this blog, you really have my respect for how much time/effort you put into it, I am sure we can all agree on that.
    Thank you to all the commenters during these years and The Third Team 'era'- you really made me the referee that I am today.

    Regards!
    Mikael

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    1. Another voice of reason. lol

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    2. @Aldawg I really miss RayHD :( But there was one user named refinho who wasn't my favourite and I'm really happy that he left in peace in the early stages of World Cup!

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    3. Mikael, I know I haven't commented much, but I'd just like to say that I will certainly miss you :(. Your comments have been excellent and this blog will be worse without you.

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    4. Thanks for sharing tje discussions here, Mikael. Take a break and be a silent reader... I still hope to have you back here some day...
      Enjoy your time!

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    5. +1 I also am leaving the blog, not that anyone will care. I only stayed for the conclusion of the world cup. Thanks to those like Mikael and Aldawg and RayHD.

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  15. My review of referees:

    1- faghani ( best performance of wc- shoild be in the final)

    2- cakir ( very solid performance- should have one more match at ‘R16)

    3- ricci ( over my expactations- no huge mistakes- shoukd be in the opening or final match)

    4- Diedhiou ( absolute perfect- deserved st least semi final match

    5- kuipers ( huge mistake on pk desicion for brazil- except that he was very good)

    6- mazic ( only one mistake on pk desicion in the brazil match- i like his way of refereeing)

    7- pitana ( generally very good except the final- two decisive mistakes in favor of france)

    When you consider fifa send brych home after one match with one mistake, the referees are generally very successful.

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    1. Very nice analysis... Refereeing in general has been very positive in this tournament... 2022 will present a very different picture with lots of new names and many big hitters from this year are not going to be involved... To name a few : Pitana, Ricci, Cáceres , Kuipers, Rocchi, Mazic, Brych, Shukralla, Diedhiou, Grisha, Aguilar, Geiger... Also Skomina, Cakir, Cunha and other 1976 born refs will be 46 years old by Qatar World Cup do they maybe out as well... It is going to be a vastly different pool of officials next time round!

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    2. Well I am waiting for UEFA making Elite-Group bigger to give.around 10 more talents the chance to go in those big footsteps. This year in CL we saw that there are mot enough alternatives.
      And I still hope for UEFAexchange of toprefs with CAF and AFC.

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    3. Andreas, it's been nice having you here. I am particularly drawn to the subject of UEFA exchange of top refs, Please include CONMEBOL which is in dire need of such exchange.
      Soham, for the new Brazilian ref to make it to WC 2022, please look at Claus or Daronco. Claus in particular fits the bill.

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    4. It will be really interesting to see the new names perform in various FIFA tournaments leading upto the next World Cup!

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    5. Good point Soham, the referee list in 2018 was pretty similar to that of 2014. In 2022 we should see a ton of new faces.

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  16. I am Croatian and when I started my own refereeing career I said that I'll never blame referee because I know how difficult job is that. I am very sad but proud on big success of my country. I want to congratulate France on winning. Last but not the least. Congratulations to Nestor Pitana. Maybe his performance was not the best, but name is written in World Cup history. Wish him all the best in rest of wonderful career.
    And of course, thank you readers and administrators of this blog on good work and comments. This was surely best World Cup for referees. Looking forward to European competitions. By then I would like to thank everyone and greet you all.

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    1. I am also Croatian and agree what BarinhoREF said. The good thing in European competitions that are coming is that there is no stupid instruction to avoid yellow cards as much as possible. I remember that the same situation happened in 2014....

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  17. To all referees, referee observers and fans of this blog:
    With VAR implementation we need to reset our point of view and the way how the referees evaluation is performed. If referee make a call and use OFR to review and change his decision, this cannot be treated as a mistake anymore. The mistake will be to keep the wrong decision just because of the perspective that if he change it that will be marked as an error. We have seen some referees with a lot of courage here to admit that they first call was not good enough, and that it will need to be changed.
    Also, I would like that referee could ask for OFR even if he hasn't received that recommendation from VAR. Good example will be Brych in SER-SUI and Mazic BEL-BRA potential PK calls. Everybody would except those calls if they did OFR.

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    1. Do you really think, the Serbians would have accepted Brych's decision, if he had confirmed it after an OFR? I doubt that. Would they not say: "If he still thinks no penalty with seeing the replays, he must be biased"?

      For the first point: Yes, referee evaluation needs to be changed. And yes, the final decision should be the most important one for the evaluation. But whether we also look at the referee's first decision or ignore it completely is up for discussion. Is a referee with a lot of VAR help during a season really as good as a a referee, who gets his KMIs right directly?
      And there are more aspects to consider: E.g., how to evaluate a referee, who changes his decision after OFR, although the situation is clearly in a grey area? Support him, because his final decision is supportable or criticize him, because he should not have changed it (maybe even see changing as crucial mistake in some cases)?

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    2. You mention Serbians in every second post,or defending Mr Brych, average.
      Whats the problem? :/

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    3. OK, maybe I should write "the Serbian national team, their officials and their supporters" instead. I think, those are the people, who have been most critical about Brych.
      On defending Brych: My statement here is, that no penalty after OFR would not have been any better than no penalty without OFR, because I don't see how the OFR would be beneficial without change of decision in case of a clear error.
      I think, I have already stated previously, that nevertheless penalty would have been the better decision.
      So the problem here was, that I disagreed with the sentence "Everybody would except those calls if they did OFR", nothing more.

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    4. Hi Philipp S: I'm actually sure that Brych and Mazic will correct their decisions if they had the chance for OFR. Since VAR never called them, with assumption that they had a sense that they missed something (because every good referee has that), would they initiate OFR by them self?

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  18. Soham, you said that Kuipers would continue his career for at least 2 years. Any new information about it?

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    1. He said in an interview that he can continue for another year or so in UCL etc as he is finding it too exciting to stop... Nothing more yet, let's see what he does!

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    2. Please keep us updated!

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  19. For me today Pitana was disappointing. But not as bad as some suggested here. The free kick before the 1:0 was in no way a diver easy to see. By first view for me and others it was a foul cause of a contact of the legs. Difficult to see Griezmann fell before the contact. We needed several replays. So no crucial mistake. But at least 1 wrong and 1 missing YCs. More minor mistakes, foul detection not on his normal level. So I come to 8.1 all in all.

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  20. So many here giving out the TOP 5 or 10. I follow with mine...
    1. Ricci
    2. Kuipers
    3. Faghani
    4. Cakir
    5. Ramos
    6. Skomina
    7. Diedhiou
    8. Pitana
    9. Mazic
    10.Cunha
    Not rated because only 1 or 2 games, but over expectation/ good:
    Shukrallah
    Gassama
    Marrufo

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    1. I would put Conger instead of Gassama in your second category

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    2. I cannot see Ramos in top 10. Actually this WC was not good for CONCACAF referees.

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    3. Other than Geiger in ENG v COL and to a lesser extent Ramos in SUI v BRA. CONCACAF referee's for the most part performed well in the rest of their matches. To include Ramos who recovered well after a shaky first assignment.

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    4. @Ahmet Ramos's case is very strange. By MY judgement, I did not like his style in ANY of his three games, but FIFA rewarded him so they must have a different opinion...

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    5. My Top 10 (as a mix of performance and appointments)
      1. Pitana (best appointments and overall good performances, also the final was not bad, just average)
      2. Kuipers (good or very good performances with only minor negative points, the QF gets him above Faghani)
      3. Faghani (good or very good performances with only minor negative points)
      4. Ricci (good or very good performances with only minor negative points - but only three matches and one of it very easy)
      5. Ramos (three solid, good performances)
      6. Cakir (NGA-ARG was not so convinvcing IMO)
      7. Skomina (after an unlucky start two good matches followed)
      8. Cunha (Not so convinced by his SF appointment and performance, but I liked his GS matches)
      9. Diedhiou (Had some questionmarks after his first match, but he certainly improved and had a very good R16 match)
      10. Rocchi (the foul on Pepe remains a clear mistake IMO, otherwise reliable in partly difficult matches - but also never very good)

      Before someone asks: IMO, Mazic made important mistakes in all his three matches. That's why I can't have him in my Top 10. But I know, this is not the majority opinion - no need from my side to discuss that again :)

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  21. Sad story...

    http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/world/2018/07/15/World-Cup-referee-questioned-by-Iranian-federation-for-shaking-woman-s-hand-.html

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    1. This is such a shame... Faghani seems to be very angry and rightly so!

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    2. I don't understand how this can be a problem in modern 2018... This is normal all over the world except a few countries, and Faghani has poor luck coming from such a country.
      Iran should be proud of having such a good man in World Cup.

      Further question: If he really considers not to return to Iran, could that be the end of his career? Because then he would lose his FIFA place of Iran, see Clattenburg as example, he also went to another country and lost his FIFA badge.

      Delete
    3. I'm speechless. Instead of being proud to have one of the best or even the best referee at this World Cup they are concerned with his attitude, which is respectable, polite and normal in the rest of the world.

      Delete
    4. Unfortunately, the news is a lie and this has not been said by the federation

      In Iran, all the newspapers and television programs congratulated him

      Delete
    5. Please people, let's check the news and than make a conclusions.

      Delete
  22. What do you think that are the european top referees for the future? Zwayer? Turpin? Gil-Manzano? Zelinka?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Why do you think that Miroslav Zelinka could become not only an Elite referee (Gil Manzano, Turpin and Zwayer already are ones) but even "top of this category"? So far, he did not handle a single Champions League match and last season just two group-stage matches in the Europa League but no one in the K.O. stage after seven and a half years on the FIFA list. His appointments in the World Cup qualification last year in the Kosovo and Andorra also do not sound that prestigious ...

      Delete
    2. Oliver, Bastien, Makkelie...

      Delete
    3. With a lot of talents upcoming...

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    4. I mention only the referees that I saw in action, I think they have a huge potential and that are born 1978 or later

      ELITE
      Benoît Bastien (1983)
      Jesús Gil Manzano (1984)
      Danny Makkelie (1983)
      Szymon Marciniak (1981)
      Michael Oliver (1985)
      Clément Turpin (1982)

      FIRST
      Andreas Ekberg (1985)
      Serdar Gözübüyük (1985)
      Srđan Jovanović (1986)
      Georgi Kabakov (1986)
      István Kovács (1984)
      Ivan Kružliak (1984)
      Davide Massa (1981)
      Daniel Siebert (1984)
      Tobias Stieler (1981)
      Slavko Vinčič (1979)

      Delete
  23. All in all great refereeing throughout WC 2018. One of the best thing of watching the WC is that you get new favourites; referees you did not know of. For me: Irmatov 10, Pitana 14 and now Diedhiou 18. It is also just great to watch some referees perform really well in multiple games, e.g. Faghani, Kuipers, Ricci, Cakir.

    There are, IMO, things that should change for WC 2022:
    - Better definition of VAR intervention guidelines; what does ”clear and obvious mistake” really mean? The VAR intervention SWE-KOR seems perfectly legit, but what about the PK awarded to FRA in the final, is this really a ”clear and obvious mistake”? I would also like VAR to check diving offences.
    - instead of appointing SF referees for a total of 3 games and final referee 5 times: appoint 12 refs for one KO stage game each (R16/QF). Let these 12 refs compete for the last four games.
    - 35 refs are too many. I would prefer 30 complete referee teams: 24 + 6 supports (one from each confederation). The intention is that 24 referees have 2 GS games each. If FIFA says a referee team has an unsatisfactory first game performance, they should be replaced by the support referee team from the same confederation (which I suspect was the case with Brych/Kasarev, Aguilar/Marrufo and Gassama/Grisha).

    ReplyDelete
  24. Chefren why you don't make poll about top 10 referees,so we can see bloggers top 10 at this wc

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Something is planned to follow, just wait :)

      Delete
  25. ex-Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg, speaking on ITV, said Pitana got it wrong.

    He said: "His hands are in a natural position. No movement towards the ball. No penalty."

    On Griezmann's free-kick, Shearer raged: "It was a ridiculous decision.

    "Croatia are losing this game to a free-kick that wasn't a free-kick and a penalty that was no way a penalty.

    "He [Griezmann] wasn't expecting to be hit and he wasn't and went down.

    "He [Brozovic] doesn't touch him. He dives."

    ReplyDelete
  26. Peter Schmeichel:
    “In a World Cup Final it is a big moment, and the referee stole that moment. It deflated them. All the bravura, all the extra energy, everything they showed in the previous three comeback games disappeared,” said Schmeichel. "This is exactly what this final did not deserve."

    ReplyDelete
  27. Don`t make it ridiculous with all this leavings. What you expect, when a blog became more popular it is reasonable to have more pointless comments(also more good comments) plus and a matter of taste but is that such a problem?
    Mikael I forgot to wrote that i found interesting your video about Stark, could talk about the music in, but not big issue.
    I think Faghani was the best performerq too, but how about that -
    SF: Cunha - 1,73 + Cakir 1,76
    F: Faghani - 1,76
    Pitana with his 192 stm made a good balance there.
    Interesting shorter referees did good job, sm to think about.

    ReplyDelete
  28. When we give comment, sometimes we are too emotional. We are all human beings. At a certain moment we need to be at an objective level to make the evaluation of a ref. We’ve seen very good refs, but also bad ones. One conclusion: the VAR system need to be optimalised in the near future.

    ReplyDelete
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    ReplyDelete

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