Monday 18 January 2021

Jesús Valenzuela (replacing Leodán González) and Patricio Loustau in charge of Copa Sudamericana and Copa Libertadores finals respectively

A quick look at CONMEBOL, with referees appointments for 2020 Copa Sudamericana and Copa Libertadores finals.


Two national derbies will be played as finals in both competitions with  Leodán González from Uruguay handling a full Argentinian clash in Copa Sudamericana last act, and Patricio Loustau from Argentina officiating a Brazilian encounter in Libertadores' final. 

2020 Copa Sudamericana Final, 23 January 2021
Estadio Mario Alberto Kempes Córdoba, Argentina
Club Atlético Lanús (ARG) - Club Social y Deportivo Defensa y Justicia (ARG)
Referee: Jesús Valenzuela (Venezuela)
Assistant Referee 1: Nicolás Tarán (Uruguay)
Assistant Referee 2: Richard Trinidad (Uruguay)
Fourth Official: Andrés Matonte (Uruguay)
Reserve Assistant Referee (Fifth Official): Jorge Urrego (Venezuela)
VAR: Julio Bascuñán (Chile)
AVARS: Ángelo Hermosilla (Chile), Raúl Orellana (Chile), Víctor Carrillo (Peru)

2020 Copa Libertadores Final, 30 January 2021
Estádio Jornalista Mário Filho (Maracanã) Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras (BRA) - Santos Futebol Clube (BRA)
Referee: Patricio Loustau (Argentina)
Assistant Referee 1: Ezequiel Brailovsky (Argentina)
Assistant Referee 2: Diego Bonfa (Argentina)
Fourth Official: Darío Herrera (Argentina)
Reserve Assistant Referee (Fifth Official):  Julio Fernández (Argentina)
VAR: Mauro Vigliano (Argentina)
AVARS: Jhon Ospina (Colombia), Juan Belatti (Argentina), Fernando Rapallini (Argentina)

122 comments:

  1. Excellent and fair appointments I think. Reward for Loustau’s long career and for Gonzalez, he is now Uruguayan number 1.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Highlights of last saturday Argentina Torneo Complementación Final.
    3 red cards and 2 penalties.
    Ref: Patricio Loustau.

    https://youtu.be/FR5Lelw852k

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. IMO excellent Loustau. All the decisions are, at least, supportable.
      I am happy for him, he deserves Libertadores final. Good luck

      Delete
    2. Exellent refereeing! IMO all correct. Good spot on the second pen and third red

      Delete
  3. Appointments - Germany

    Bundesliga Matchday 17

    19th January

    18:30 Mönchengladbach - Werder Bremen
    Martin Petersen - Alexander Sather, Jan Seidel - Norbert Grudzinski
    [Timo Gerach, Mike Pickel]

    20:30 Leverkusen - Borussia Dortmund
    Felix Zwayer - Christian Dietz, Marco Achmüller - Frank Willenborg
    [Christian Dingert, Guido Kleve]

    20:30 Hertha BSC - TSG Hoffenheim
    Harm Osmers - Robert Kempter, Thomas Gorniak - Robert Schröder
    [Tobias Stieler, Holger Henschel]

    20:30 FSV Mainz - VfL Wolfsburg
    Sören Storks - Thorben Siewer, Philipp Hüwe - Patrick Alt
    [Felix Brych, Markus Sinn]

    ReplyDelete
  4. Question for english readers.
    Is there a criterion in making premier leagues appointments?
    I can't understand some appointments:
    Betts and Hatzidakis were on Liverpool's last match, before yesterday,
    Same for others assistant referees..
    Atkinson got Arsenal twice in a week, on matchday 16 and 17, if I am not wrong.

    Someone can explain this?
    I usually read from Chefren that Rizzoli doesn't appoint the same referees and AR for the same team for at least 3 round.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ** Betts and Hatzidakis will be AR in liverpool-Tottenham after being in Liverpool-Manchester United on Sunday

      Delete
  5. https://twitter.com/rrpetition/status/1351642187788931084?s=24

    Thoughts? Especially regarding the referee's manner and self-presentation.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Seems very unEnglish. Not necessarily bad but he looked like Marciniak in his mannerisms, which is obviously quite different from the typical English lower division referee!

      Delete
    2. And thus the reason why people should keep their hands to themselves. In this case, it goes both ways (referee and player).

      As a referee I've always been of the opinion. If you put your hands on a player, you make it okay for the player to put his hands on you.

      Delete
  6. I was actually looking forward to watching this match. But then the referee assignment was published. And any interest that I had instantly vanished. Watch Mario Escobar? No thank you!

    CONCACAF League Semi-Final #1
    20 January 2021
    Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto
    Alajuela, Costa Rica

    LD Alajuelense (CRC) vs CD Olimpia (HON)
    REF: Mario ESCOBAR (GUA)
    AR1: Gerson LOPEZ (GUA)
    AR2: *Victor RAMIREZ (CRC)
    4TH: Bryan LOPEZ (GUA)

    *Due to travel challenges, the originally appointed AR2 for this match could not travel to Costa Rica in time to ensure compliance with all CONCACAF pre-match protocols. As per competition regulations, CONCACAF has appointed a local FIFA Assistant Referee as a replacement.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There is no other referee in Concacaf? Escobar Gold Cup final, Escobar Champions League final, Escobar Concacaf League semi-funal...

      Delete
    2. Escobar at the moment seems to be in the exact same position within CONCACAF as Tobar is in CONMEBOL. They both seem to be the only referee worthy of any and all assignments.

      Yet there are people who will still say that Escobar isn't CONCACAF's #1. But he's a referee who is openly willing to spit on and trample The LoTG to appease his Ref Comm and their delusional views on "modern" refereeing.

      Delete
    3. Interesting comparison! Indeed, Escobar seems to be treated like Tobar in CONMEBOL.

      Who will get the Concacaf League final: Barton, Martinez or Calderon?

      Delete
    4. Costa Rican referee's (Calderon, Montero, etc) are out. Because Alajuelense made it to the Final and Saprissa is one of the teams in the 2nd Semi-Final.
      I'm thinking that the 2nd semi-final will probably go to Said Martinez. A surprise choice could be Daneon Parchment (JAM). The Final IMO would be between El Salvadorans Ivan Barton or Ismael Cornejo.
      Or the Ref Comm could surprise us all and use a Mexican, American, or Canadian crew in one or both the remaining matches.

      Delete
    5. Oh I almost forgot about Panamanian John Pitti. He's also a candidate for the 2nd Semi-Final or the Final.

      Delete
  7. Italy Serie B
    Matchweek 19

    Friday 22nd January

    21:00 Virtus Entella - Pisa
    Massimiliano Irrati - Filippo Bercigli - Francesca Di Monte - Lorenzo Illuzzi

    Saturday 23rd January

    14:00 Ascoli - Chievo Verona
    Antonio Rapuano - Daniele Marchi - Gamal Mokhtar - Giacomo Camplone

    14:00 Cosenza - Pordenone
    Francesco Meraviglia - Dario Cecconi - Tarcisio Villa - Matteo Gariglio

    14:00 Frosinone - Reggina
    Marco Serra - Francesco Fiore - Robert Avalos - Daniele Paterna

    14:00 Reggiana - LR Vicenza
    Alessandro Prontera - Giuseppe Perrotti - Luigi Lanotte - Matteo Marcenaro

    14:00 Venezia - Cittadella
    Riccardo Ros - Oreste Muto - Salvatore Affatato - Giovanni Ayroldi

    16:00 Salernitana - Pescara
    Valerio Marini - Domenico Palermo - Gaetano Massara - Matteo Marchetti

    Sunday 24th January

    15:00 Lecce - Empoli
    Fabrizio Pasqua - Michele Grossi - Fabio Schirru - Livio Marinelli

    21:00 Cremonese - Spal
    Ivan Robilotta - Salvatore Longo - Mauro Galetto - Daniele Amabile

    Monday 25th January

    21:00 Brescia - Monza
    Luca Massimi - Luigi Rossi - Andrea Zingarelli - Manuel Volpi

    next week the VAR will also be introduced in Serie B.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Germany Bundesliga
    Matchweek 17

    Wednesday 20th January

    18:30 Schalke - Köln
    Daniel Siebert - Lasse Koslowski - Robert Wessel - Marcel Pelgrim
    [Sven Waschitzki - Markus Sinn]

    20:30 Leipzig - Union Berlin
    Markus Schmidt - Christian Leicher - Dominik Schaal - Benjamin Cortus
    [Sascha Stegemann - Mike Pickel]

    20:30 Freiburg - Frankfurt
    Guido Winkmann - Christian Bandurski - Dr. Martin Thomsen - Marco Fritz
    [Timo Gerach - Thomas Stein]

    20:30 Augsburg - Bayern
    Dr. Matthias Jöllenbeck - Christian Gittelmann - Rafael Foltyn - Florian Badstübner
    [Tobias Stieler - Guido Kleve]

    20:30 Bielefeld - Stuttgart
    Robert Hartmann - Christof Günsch - Markus Schüller - Sven Jablonski
    [Christian Dingert - Frederick Assmuth]

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Interesting situation from the game Borussia M-Werder B
      https://t.me/REF_EX/79

      Delete
  9. Germany Bundesliga
    Matchweek 17

    Wednesday 20th January

    18:30 Schalke - Köln
    Daniel Siebert - Lasse Koslowski - Robert Wessel - Marcel Pelgrim
    [Sven Waschitzki - Markus Sinn]

    20:30 Leipzig - Union Berlin
    Markus Schmidt - Christian Leicher - Dominik Schaal - Benjamin Cortus
    [Sascha Stegemann - Mike Pickel]

    20:30 Freiburg - Frankfurt
    Guido Winkmann - Christian Bandurski - Dr. Martin Thomsen - Marco Fritz
    [Timo Gerach - Thomas Stein]

    20:30 Augsburg - Bayern
    Dr. Matthias Jöllenbeck - Christian Gittelmann - Rafael Foltyn - Florian Badstübner
    [Tobias Stieler - Guido Kleve]

    20:30 Bielefeld - Stuttgart
    Robert Hartmann - Christof Günsch - Markus Schüller - Sven Jablonski
    [Christian Dingert - Frederick Assmuth]

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Two situation with the penalty from match Augsburg-Bayern
      Careless tackle-https://t.me/REF_EX/92
      Handball-https://t.me/REF_EX/93

      Delete
  10. England Premier League
    Matchweek 18 Wednesday - Saturday

    Wednesday 20th January

    19:00 Manchester City - Aston Villa
    Jonathan Moss - Harry Lennard - Dan Robathan - David Coote
    [Andy Madley - Simon Beck]

    21:15 Fulham - Manchester United
    Martin Atkinson - Peter Kirkup - Eddie Smart - Stuart Attwell
    [Kevin Friend - Marc Perry]

    Thursday 21st January

    21:00 Liverpool - Burnley
    Mike Dean - Darren Cann - Mark Scholes - Anthony Taylor
    [Lee Mason - Matthew Wilkes]

    Saturday 23rd January

    21:00 Aston Villa - Newcastle
    Simon Hooper - Darren Cann - Derek Eaton - Mike Dean
    [Paul Tierney - Dan Cook]

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Scandalous situation with the goal in Manchester City game, offside or not? https://t.me/REF_EX/81

      Delete
  11. https://we.tl/t-qQWznN880G


    FIFA Women’s World Cup Final 2007: Germany - Brazil
    Tammy Ogston - María Isabel Tovar, Rita Muñoz - Mayumi Ōiwa (AUS, MEX, MEX - JPN)

    OVERALL: Decent piece of refereeing by Tammy Ogston; most importantly for a final, she avoided controversy with her calls.


    APPOINTMENT

    This was Ogston's fourth match of the competition, third involving Germany (opener, QF) and first without her Australian assistants Sarah Ho and Airlie Keen.

    I guess the final choice was the result of a political compromise - Kari Seitz from the United States had SF controversy (incorrect RC to a US player vs. Brazil) and perhaps the wrong decisive freekick call in the ENGJPN match counted against her; the strong American lobby was not enough for her!

    Ogston had been pushed for quite a long time by FIFA, this her third WC, and had navigated three relatively low key and/or not challenging assignments well (GERARG, PRKNGA, GERPRK).

    To appease CONCACAF, at Ogston's side were Seitz' ARs from her two games, Mexicans María Isabel Tovar and Rita Muñoz. AFC Mayumi Ōiwa from Japan completed the appointment.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. KEY MATCH INCIDENTS

      63' - Penalty to Brazil + YC for Linda Bresonik
      > Correctly detected foul, Bresonik commits a clear careless charge. However, according to the LotG, Bresnoik should be sent off - if you pause the video at the moment of the foul (match time 62:01), you can see that Christiane has a clear path to goal. However, I don't think we can really blame Ogston too much here; in the men's WC Final a year earlier, a comparable situation occurred too!


      89' - Potential SYC for Daniela
      > Unfortunately there was no room for doubt here - Daniela's action was (at least) reckless and Ogston should have sent her off having already been cautioned.

      Australian referee used 'common-sense': given the context (WC final, decided game, not a malicious act), she decided it was a better solution to not issue a RC. Without doubt the more optimal call, in terms of 'managing the event', even if it's a clear mistake in the LotG.


      OTHER KEY MATCH INCIDENTS

      17' - Potential SYC for Kerstin Garefrekes
      Definitely not enough to eject a player in a WC final given there was no contact, but a quiet word with Garefrekes was needed.

      53' - Potential Penalty to Germany
      Looks like a clear handling offence! Without replays hard to be certain though.

      61' - Potential Penalty to Brazil
      In principle a pushing / charging foul, and therefore a penalty, but understandable that the ref decided it "wasn't enough", especially in such an important game.

      Delete
    2. LotG APPLICATION

      Ogston made a good start to the match in terms of foul selection / detection (1', 2' / 6') and disciplinary choices (warning at 4', caution at 7').

      In the more hectic part of the 1H, Ogston missed quite a few clear fouls (10’, 17’, 20’, 22’, 26’, 27’), and especially towards the end of that period, she was gambling with match control a bit. Personally, I would liked to have seen a yellow card issued at 23’ (tactical foul - SPA).

      Her verbal warning to Formiga at 37’ was well-timed / delivered, though cautioning Simone Laudehr at 41’ would have been an astute choice (SPA-element + PI). If Ogston had back-peddled more, earlier, in the latter scene, she would have been able to perceive what happened a lot better.

      Even if Ogston’s disciplinary control was more reactive than proactive in the second half, I liked her choices until the final stages. Australian correctly detected the challenge which presented the biggest ‘threat’ to her - 59’ – and issued a caution for it.

      When a comparable late foul was made this time by a Germany player (78’), referee should have taken the hint and again booked the perpetrator. Ogtson allowed a bit much at the end in my view (79’,83’; no increased presence), the denouement of which was the ugly kick at 88’ which should have resulted in an ejection, if not a probable violent conduct missed by the cameras c. kick off from Germany’s clinching goal.

      Even if Ogston missed a realtively high number of clear infringements, she kept phantom whistles mostly to a minimum (57’, 65’ – latter being an important one)

      Co-operation with assistant referees was a really weak part of this officiating performance; it was rather obvious this was an ad hoc trio. Most obviously at 25’, but there were a number of offside flags picked up late by the referee, in addition to the Mexican ARs not helping the referee with clear fouls in their respective vicinities.

      I liked Ogston’s determined and reasonable manner on the pitch; it aroused respect and quite a lot of trust from the players.

      María Isabel Tovar showed to be a very good computer of offside situations (14’, 84’); Rita Muñoz was a bit quitter in this regard but her flag at +93’ looked doubtful if not conclusively incorrect.

      Delete
    3. Ogston was a very good referee. Do you know why she retired early? Just because she already reached her pinnacle (WWC final) or another reason?

      Delete
  12. England FA Cup
    Fourth Round

    Friday 22nd January

    20:45 Chorley - Wolves
    Anthony Taylor - Adam Nunn - Lee Betts - Chris Kavanagh

    Saturday 23rd January

    13:15 Southampton - Arsenal
    Peter Bankes - Neil Davies - James Mainwaring - Graham Scott
    [David Coote - Stephen Child]

    16:00 Barnsley - Norwich
    John Brooks - Shaun Hudson - Akil Howson - Andy Woolmer

    16:00 Bournemouth - Crawley
    Andre Marriner - Scott Ledger - Craig Taylor - Charles Breakspear

    16:00 Brighton - Blackpool
    Darren England - Nick Hopton - Matthew Jones - Gavin Ward
    [Michael Oliver - Simon Bennett]

    16:00 Millwall - Bristol City
    Tony Harrington - Daniel Leach - Sam Lewis - Thomas Bramall

    16:00 Sheffield United - Plymouth
    Lee Mason - Timothy Wood - Wade Smith - Michael Salisbury
    [Jarred Gillett - Edward Smart]

    16:00 Swansea - Nottingham
    Kevin Friend - Simon Beck - Jonathan Hunt - Robert Madley

    16:00 West Ham - Doncaster
    Robert Jones - Harry Lennard - Peter Kirkup - Keith Stroud
    [Martin Atkinson - Sian Massey-Ellis]

    18:30 Cheltenham - Manchester City
    Stuart Attwell - Constantine Hatzidakis - Ian Hussin - Andrew Madley

    Sunday 24th January

    13:00 Chelsea - Luton
    David Coote - Dan Cook - Sian Massey-Ellis - Paul Tierney
    [Peter Bankes - James Mainwaring]

    15:30 Brentford - Leicester
    Michael Oliver - Stuart Burt - Simon Bennett - Darren England

    15:30 Fulham - Burnley
    Andy Madley - Eddie Smart - Adrian Holmes - Simon Hooper
    [Chris Kavanagh - Matthew Wilkes]

    18:00 Manchester United - Liverpool
    Craig Pawson - Gary Beswick - Richard West - Jonathan Moss
    [Andre Marriner - Marc Perry]

    21:00 Everton - Sheffield Wednesday
    Graham Scott - Mark Scholes - Nick Greenhalgh - Jeremy Simpson
    [Stuart Attwell - Stephen Child]

    Monday 25th January

    20:45 Wycombe - Tottenham
    Jonathan Moss - Marc Perry - Dan Robathan - Kevin Friend

    ReplyDelete
  13. England Premier League
    Matchweek 20

    Tuesday 26th January

    19:00 Crystal Palace - West Ham United
    Stuart Attwell - Dan Cook - Peter Kirkup - Simon Hooper
    [Graham Scott - Derek Eaton]

    19:00 Newcastle - Leeds
    Anthony Taylor - Gary Beswick - James Mainwaring - Peter Bankes
    [Jarred Gillett - Constantine Hatzidakis]

    21:15 Southampton - Arsenal
    Kevin Friend - Simon Beck - Eddie Smart - Keith Stroud
    [Robert Jones - Stephen Child]

    21:15 West Bromwich - Manchester City
    Chris Kavanagh - Adam Nunn - Sian Massey-Ellis - David Coote
    [Craig Pawson - Matthew Wilkes]

    Wednesday 27th January

    19:00 Burnley - Aston Villa
    Paul Tierney - Ian Hussin - Simon Bennett - Darren England
    [Stuart Attwell - Harry Lennard]

    19:00 Chelsea - Wolves
    Andy Madley - Adrian Holmes - Simon Long - Graham Scott
    [Lee Mason - Scott Ledger]

    20:30 Brighton - Fulham
    Craig Pawson - Stuart Burt - Richard West - Gavin Ward
    [Andre Marriner - Timothy Wood]

    21:15 Everton - Leicester
    Mike Dean - Darren Cann - Mark Scholes - Tony Harrington
    [Simon Hooper - Stephen Child]

    21:15 Manchester United - Sheffield United
    Peter Bankes - Neil Davies - Nick Hopton - Martin Atkinson
    [David Coote - Marc Perry]

    Thursday 28th January

    21:00 Tottenham - Liverpool
    Martin Atkinson - Lee Betts - Constantine Hatzidakis - Kevin Friend
    [Jonathan Moss - Dan Robathan]

    ReplyDelete
  14. ARGENTINA . APPOINTMENTS


    Campeonato de transición Primera Nacional 2020


    Segundo Ascenso - Segunda instancia, etapa eliminatoria

    Jueves 21 de enero

    17.10 Estudiantes BA – San Martín de San Juan en Atlanta (TV)
    Árbitro: Yael Falcón Pérez
    Asistente 1: Pablo González
    Asistente 2: Maximiliano Castelli
    Cuarto árbitro: Jorge Broggi

    19.15 Deportivo Morón – Riestra a las 19.15 en Tigre (TV)
    Árbitro: Adrián Franklin
    Asistente 1: Hugo Páez
    Asistente 2: Nahuel Rasullo
    Cuarto árbitro: Fabricio Llobet


    19.20 Atlanta – Ferro, en Platense (TV)
    Árbitro: Pablo Echavarría
    Asistente 1: Javier Uziga
    Asistente 2: Iván Núñez
    Cuarto árbitro: Héctor Paletta

    21.30 Defensores de Belgrano – Quilmes, en Estudiantes (TV)
    Árbitro: Pablo Giménez
    Asistente 1: Gerardo Lencina
    Asistente 2: Iván Aliende
    Cuarto árbitro: Cristian Cernadas



    ReplyDelete
  15. Appointments - Germany:

    Bundesliga Matchday 17

    20th January

    18:30 FC Schalke - FC Köln
    Daniel Siebert - Lasse Koslowski, Robert Wessel - Marcel Pelgrim
    [Sven Waschitzki, Markus Sinn]

    20:30 RB Leipzig - FC Union Berlin
    Markus Schmidt - Christian Leicher, Dominik Schaal - Benjamin Cortus
    [Sascha Stegemann, Mike Pickel]

    20:30 SC Freiburg - Eintracht Frankfurt Guido Winkmann - Christian Bandurski, Martin Thomsen - Marco Fritz
    [Timo Gerach, Thomas Stein]

    20:30 FC Augsburg - Bayern München
    Matthias Jöllenbeck* - Christian Gittelmann, Rafael Foltyn - Florian Badstübner
    [Tobias Stieler, Guido Kleve]

    20:30 Arminia Bielefeld - VfB Stuttgart
    Robert Hartmann - Christof Günsch, Markus Schüller - Sven Jablonski
    [Christian Dingert, Frederick Assmuth]

    * Matthias Jöllenbeck (33 years old) is part of the "Refereeing perspective cadre". Those referees are appointed to 5 matches in the 1st division throughout the season in order to prove whether they are ready for an 'real' promotion or not.

    ReplyDelete
  16. https://streamable.com/moqqjn

    Incident in penalty area during Udinese-Atalanta

    ReplyDelete
  17. FINAL
    Lanús vs Defensa y Justicia
    A: Jesús Valenzuela (VEN)
    A1: Nicolás Taran (URU)
    A2: Richard Trinidad
    4to: Andrés Matonte
    5to: Jorge Urrego (VEN)
    VAR: Julio Bascuñan (CHI)
    AVAR1: Angelo Hermosilla (CHI)
    AVAR2: Raul Orellana (CHI)
    AVAR3: Victor Carrillo (PER)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. https://970universal.com/2021/01/20/leodan-gonzalez-dio-positivo-a-covid-19-y-no-arbitrara-la-final-de-la-copa-sudamericana/

      Delete
    2. Really sorry.

      Delete
    3. Will he still be going to CWC?

      Delete
    4. He would need to quarantine for 14 days...

      Delete
    5. Wow, this is truly some bad luck for Gonzalez. He misses out on two major assignments. But these things can and will happen. It's the times we are currently living in.

      Best of luck to Valenzuela who steps up to take control of his first major Confederation Final. Having a "mixed team" IMO is not ideal. As these men, more than likely have never worked together as a crew. I just hope that lack of teamwork doesn't affect any part of their performance.

      Best of luck to the new crew and get better soon Leodan Gonzalez.

      Delete
  18. Very interesting statistic on 2021 FIFA referees at the following link:

    http://refereeingworld.blogspot.com/2021/01/longest-serving-match-officials-on-fifa.html?_sm_au_=iQW7T5sKrKbsmtRrcLpsvK618Vf61

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for posting. It was a good and interesting read.

      Delete
    2. They forgot to say there is another assistant referee turning 46 this year, Matthew Cream. They even mention him further down but fail to recognise he is 45.

      Delete
  19. So did anybody have the stomach and the patience to watch Mario Escobar last night?

    ReplyDelete
  20. https://we.tl/t-nl74NwfFCN


    Women's World Cup 2011 Quarterfinal: Brazil - United States

    Jacqui Melksham - Allyson Flynn, Sarah Ho - Etsuko Fukano, Saori Takahashi (AUS - JPN)


    OVERALL Wow! What a remarkable game for Jacqui Melksham, who had an incredibly high number of Key Match Incidents (>10!!) to assess. Number of disciplinary sanctions issued in this match remains an all-time Women’s WC record to this day; Australian referee was in the eye of the storm (which didn’t end at the final whistle).

    Melksham must have been absolutely shattered at the end of this game – any referee at the tournament would have been in huge trouble here. Penalty, dismissal, retake sequence was most memorable but that is not even half the story.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. FIRST HALF

      01 – Goal to the United States!

      03 – Clear foul missed.

      04 – Given the tackle’s ball-orientated nature, shielding of the Brazil player, relative lack of force, and stage in the match, I would argue that no card here is not even a bad choice; but it MUST be accompanied by a strong warning, and wasn’t. Whistle language at least was good.

      09 – Actually more of a SPA foul than not in my eyes (very promising on the far-side); card there would make the players more, not less, anxious. Sensible to ‘under play’ this foul as the ref did.

      12 – One of the best lessons I was taught as a young referee was “don’t make decisions you don’t have to”; Melksham obviously reacts to the Brazil players look they are preparing for a goalkick (very few United States players too). If she just stood there and waited briefly, the players would have decided for her! Maybe Etsuko Fukano shouted in the micro? Very hard to accept in a World Cup quarterfinal…

      19 – Such cynical fouls really should result in a caution, for LoR if not even SPA. That being said, no sanction there was tactically a decent choice I think! Booking there could (would?) have set the card threshold too low for this match.

      23 – SPA? To be honest I had the feeling the foul call itself was (expected but) soft.

      25 – Closeish-to-SFP reckless tackle (IMO should be 7 on RAP scale) by Marta. Melksham is screened, you can see the player who was in her vision, but regardless – she HAD to open the cards here, between the AFC quartet someone had to recognise the recklessness of this challenge.

      26 – Easy and correct offside call by Sarah Ho; Melksham really should have warned the offender of the off-the-ball foul she plays advantage from, no hint from her whistle that she did.

      28 – Clear attacking freekick missed; I find it really irritating when such anti-football unfair play is allowed to prosper!

      29 – Cari Lloyd should be ejected, her tackle is a close-and-shut case of Serious Foul Play (straight leg, excessive force, simply an attempt to hurt her opponent). Melksham only issues a caution. Flynn / Fukano should have been screaming down the comms; referee has something of a zero angle. Clear mistake.

      31 – Similar to the 19’ incident, this is actually a clear yellow card, but Melksham’s choice in this game was understandable and even a good one in my eyes.

      34 – Does the attacker do anything illicit here? Or was she simply fouled by a recklessly acting goalkeeper? Hmmm.

      44 – Melksham decides to caution a deliberate standing foul from behind against Aline. A good tactical choice in my eyes.

      Australian referee then brilliantly increases her presence to caution Marta for dissent; this was the Björn Kuipers approach par excellence! Melksham is extremely lucky that Marta isn’t further angered by the Aussie’s arm going near her face (referee didn’t mean that, to be fair). Top class!

      [1H – in principle I found Melksham’s approach actually very good! Waaaay too many basic mistakes though including a crucial one; also to note, duels involving Abby Wambach were not well-assessed by the ref (5’, 23’, +46’)]

      Delete
    2. SECOND HALF

      51 – Referee should instantly caution Carli Lloyd for her handling offence, totally deliberate and breaking up a promising United States attack. This would have seen her ejected. Either Melksham overthought it (see Zwayer in Shakhtar – Atalanta), or wanted to keep 11v11 at almost any cost.

      57 – Very important mistake by Allyson Flynn in a crossover situation.

      59 – If I may say so, this would never happen at a men’s WC. If the handling is an attempt to score then already cautioned Aline has to go. Weirdly, I don’t actually think it was; especially after the Lloyd situation, nobody seriously asked for a SYC here by the way, sensible not to make her walk.

      62 – Off-the-ball striking foul missed by the ref. Even a red card here would not be totally wrong, but for me it is more a very reckless tactical block, where a yellow card is appropriate. Aline is the perpetrator, who should be sent off having already been cautioned.

      65 – THE KEY INCIDENT OF THE MATCH!


      1) Penalty call itself is supportable.

      Holding ON Marta does seem to be more significant than the holding BY her, but any referee who assessed that as six of one, half a dozen of another (a nice English idiom there :)) I would back too.

      What seems to actually annoy Marta is that foot-to-foot contact which prevents her kicking the ball at goal. Isolatedly, I would disagree with Marta’s case in this aspect - Rachel Buehler has won the position and makes a reasonable attempt to play the ball herself and actually succeeds. But has Buehler won the position FAIRLY?

      To be honest I would say the more astute call here is to play on, given the mutual nature of the holding and fair nature of Buehler’s challenge on the ball; penalty call should 100% be backed though. Very interesting situation!


      2) DOGSO call is correct. Etsuko Fukano didn’t have the guts to send off a United States player in their match prior, Australian referee did. Well done for that.


      3) Penalty retake is THE call of this match and it is actually the result of a very amateurish mistake by Melksham! When the penalty is kicked, you can see her look away from her area of visual control and take a ‘peak’ at the penalty shot, which is saved. When she looks back,
      Christie Rampone is well inside the penalty area.

      Short penalty run up and Rampone’s top speed combine to give Melksham the impression that she was much further inside the box when the kick was taken than she educatedly guessed. I guess Melksham’s heart dropped a little bit in the debrief when she was shown the comparably minor infringement on video.

      Technically, Rampone did enter, so the call isn’t wrong, but considering that she didn’t play the ball especially, in modern refereeing officials should have more game feeling than to make a call like this. I would be pretty sure that if Melksham didn’t fail to stay in her visual control the penalty shouldn’t have been retaken.

      To add: Melksham uses a rather poor ACME Thunderer whistle, which is inaudible in the stadium at such a raucous moment. You can see the call is a surprise to her AR Sarah Ho! A textbook example of doing this better is Carlos Batres in Paraguay – Spain.

      Goal for Brazil!

      Delete
    3. 80 – Allyson Flynn getting a throw-in wrong is the catalyst for a Carli Lloyd dissent at her. It’s ridiculous to talk about sending her off for that. On a management level, much better for Melksham to simply ignore this act rather than verbally censure Lloyd for it (inability to calm her, wrong call instigating it, lack of wider reaction, game temperature).

      82 – Very, very clear last-touch mistake. Luckily for Melksham nothing comes from the corner.

      85 – Despite the lack of appeal, it does seem as though that’s a clear foul – Daiane Rodrigues wins the position and either-or tripping from behind / impeding her progress, Christie Rampone prevents her from getting any further. Hard to the blame the referee here though.

      86 – Agitating against a DtR offence here was good; a rare occasion where a team from that position threatened not to get the tall players into the opposition’s penalty area and play it high towards them! Calling the ball back was fine, but Melksham gave too pedantic / dictatorial an IMPRESSION by how she did it.

      89 – I hope that Allyson Flynn informed Melksham of that foul in her visual control despite not flagging; if the referee had to take that decision on her own…

      90 – Megan Rapinoe is briefly but decisively held by Marta. Melksham doesn’t blow immediately, and Rapinoe frustratedly goes into a sliding tackle on Formiga. Restart is correctly ordered as a United States freekick, and Rapinoe issued with a caution for the later tackle.

      Make no mistake – her tackle is a case of Serious Foul Play in my eyes. US player only takes the top of the ball and the studs contact with Formiga is really dangerous.

      Practically, Melksham’s solution of ordering Rapinoe to her and only cautioning her is probably best (Aussie should have insisted she came right to her though). Awarding the freekick for the holding foul (quicker) would have totally avoided that tackle; even if it was somewhat out of the blue.

      +93 – Alex Morgan is carelessly fouled outside the penalty area; freekick should be given

      [2H: neither the penalty call nor the retake were clearly wrong, though they were both their respective distances away from optimal; in reality it was the retake call that caused Melksham the biggest problem. Australian referee lost the overview. For me which more problematic was not sending off Aline and especially Lloyd; Rapinoe was also very lucky]

      Delete
    4. EXTRA TIME

      91 – Extremely tight flag by Sarah Ho, looks more wrong than right, to be supported.

      93 – Allyson Flynn simply lost her concentration here in the inconspicuous nature of the pass; very clear missed offside, very crucial (and nearly decisive) mistake.

      Goal to Brazil!

      98 – Christine Rampone CLEARLY impedes Marta’s progress and gets away with it! Absolutely infuriating call, very clear foul, I can’t believe players get away such behaviour time-after-time! Marta then hauls Rampone to the ground; to send the Brazil player off there would be a tragedy.

      101 – Correct call by Allyson Flynn. Freekick was taken outside the penalty area for an offence that happened inside the penalty area so Flynn keeps her flag up and forces Melksham to order the kick taken again. AR lost the overview here – it was a matter of a few (meaningless) yards! More game-feeling / understanding needed here.

      +106 – Another correct offside decision by AR Flynn.

      HT

      106 – First of all, that’s a foul throw isn’t it? From the ensuing play a very, very clear missed penalty for the United States. It’s a clear trip. It seems Amy LePeilbet accidently falling into Formiga fooled the referee. Melksham really should have had a decent insight angle there: poor mistake.

      Later a missed caution to Maurine for her handling.

      110 – Was that a violent conduct by Alex Morgan? No, too trifling for me.

      111 – Correct no penalty call, simply good defending this time.

      Then, Carli Lloyd seems to be annoyed at AR Allyson Flynn for briefly metamorphing into the corner flag and keeping the ball in play, and she commits a foul that could easily be construed as reckless. Lloyd could have been sent off four times now.

      112 – Good caution for delaying the restart.

      Then a crude kick by Shannon Boxx on Christiane (not too far away from a RC) eventually results in a caution, my only explanation is that in trying to keep up with play Melksham needed a teammate’s shout as to who committed the foul.

      115 – A pretty comical scene results in a correct and rare (non-WC 1994) caution for “Simulation – Injury”, and a correctly large additional time at the end of extra time. Good officiating!

      +121 – Goal to the United States!

      +124 – Additional time should actually be enlarged further to allow the Brazil corner.

      FULLTIME -> PENALTY COMPETITION

      First penalty is correctly ordered a retake; only other save is regular.

      [ET: Two crucial mistakes by the officials’ favour Brazil; Australian team were lucky the game was ultimately decided by a penalty competition! Melksham should be praised though for her dealing with the time-wasting tactics]

      Delete
    5. BALANCE

      Melksham had to face an extremely challenging match where she had at least ten(!!) Key Match Incidents. While the Australian referee avoided a total disaster and in some aspects had the right idea, she simply made too many basic and crucial mistakes. Perhaps turning away from her visual control at the penalty was the ‘biggest’ mistake, even if the final decision was technically okay.


      (World Cup 2010 blog will return tomorrow :))

      Delete
    6. If I recall correctly, that match ended Melksham's career.
      Flynn somehow went to another WWC in 2015, while Ho is now pre-selected for her 4th WWC on home soil in 2023.

      Delete
    7. Melksham struggled a lot with injuries (she missed tournaments on the road to WWC 2011) but I think she was active locally until quite recently. To be fair to her, I think ANY referee (at this tournament) would have struggled greatly in this match. I would have liked to see how Steinhaus would have gotten on, actually.

      re. Ogston - yes, I liked her style a lot! 2007 was her third WC, so you can understand her packing it in having reached the pinnacle. She moved away from football altogether in 2011 (Melksham is an AFC instructor btw).

      Another interesting match in this field would the United States - Canada SF at London 2012 with Christina Westrum Pedersen, have to see if I can find a full quality replay of it.

      Delete
    8. Oh, yes, it would be great to analyze that much-debated indirect free kick!

      Delete
    9. @Mikael W: the full game is available on YouTube.
      => https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jH7ZiJjVFqw

      Delete
  21. ΟΤ

    Slavko Vincic (UEFA Elite) will handle the PAOK-AEK clash on Sunday. His assistants are Tomaz Klancnik and Andraz Kovacic. VAR will be Matej Jug.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Another "win" for Greek referee's?

      "No pressure, no diamonds. No pressure, no pearl. No pain, no gain. No cocoon, no beautiful butterfly. It's in the uncertain and dark and unclear and broken times that we learn who we really are and what we are capable of."

      With Clattenburg, Greek referee's will never know what they are capable of.

      Delete
  22. Italy Serie A
    Matchweek 19

    Friday 22nd January

    20:45 Benevento - Torino
    Piero Giacomelli - Valerio Vecchi - Fabrizio Lombardo - Federico Dionisi
    [Aleandro Di Paolo - Damiano Di Iorio]

    Saturday 23rd January

    15:00 Roma - Spezia
    Luca Pairetto - Alessandro Lo Cicero - Valentino Fiorito - Rosario Abisso
    [Luca Banti - Stefano Del Giovane]

    18:00 Milan - Atalanta
    Maurizio Mariani - Alessandro Giallatini - Fabiano Preti - Federico La Penna
    [Daniele Chiffi - Sergio Ranghetti]

    18:00 Udinese - Inter
    Fabio Maresca - Davide Imperiale - Rodolfo Di Vuolo - Francesco Fourneau
    [Gianluca Aureliano - Luca Mondin]

    20:45 Fiorentina - Crotone
    Marco Piccinini - Giovanni Baccini - Valerio Colarossi - Simone Sozza
    [Paolo Mazzoleni - Giacomo Paganessi]

    Sunday 24th January

    12:30 Juventus - Bologna
    Juan Luca Sacchi - Mauro Vivenzi - Emanuele Prenna - Davide Ghersini
    [Gianpaolo Calvarese - Pasquale De Meo]

    15:00 Genoa - Cagliari
    Marco Di Bello - Marco Bresmes - Orlando Pagnotta - Ivano Pezzuto
    [Paolo Valeri - Alberto Tegoni]

    15:00 Hellas Verona - Napoli
    Michael Fabbri - Stefano Alassio - Niccolo Pagliardini - Antonio Di Martino
    [Luigi Nasca - Filippo Meli]

    18:00 Lazio - Sassuolo
    Antonio Giua - Giorgio Peretti - Ciro Carbone - Eugenio Abbattista
    [Marco Guida - Alessio Tolfo]

    20:45 Parma - Sampdoria
    Gianluca Manganiello - Filippo Valeriani - Marco Scatragli - Alberto Santoro
    [Daniele Doveri - Stefano Liberti]

    ReplyDelete
  23. OT

    In addition to Undiano, it seems that Enrique Osses from Chile now has a role with FMF (Brizio Carter stays too). Reported by an assortment of websites.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. From what I've read and from what I've heard from my contacts within FMF and the FMF Ref Comm. Only the hiring of Osses is a done deal. Osses will become the new Director of Instruction.

      In regards to Undiano Mallenco, he was viewed as only another temporary fix. The idea is to avoid hiring a character who only comes for a while, as has happened in recent years with the nearly 20 instructors, nationals or foreigners who came through without leaving a profitable process. What is desired is that a FIFA certified referee instructor may be hired eventually, with the intention of giving courses to Mexican officials.

      For now, the organization chart of the Referees Commission will remain the same, with former referee Quetzalli Alvarado as technical instructor, Mauricio Morales Ovalle field instructor, Julio Escobar technical instructor, and Miguel Ángel Chacón as Head of the VAR.

      Delete
  24. Appointments - Germany:

    Bundesliga Matchday 18

    22nd January

    20:30 Mönchengladbach - Dortmund
    Manuel Gräfe - Guido Kleve, Markus Sinn - Sören Storks
    [Tobias Welz, Mike Pickel]

    2nd Bundesliga Matchday 17

    22nd January

    18:30 Düsseldorf - Greuther Fürth
    Frank Willenborg - Thomas Stein, Fabian Porsch - Lukas Benen
    [Markus Schmidt, Thomas Gorniak]

    18:30 VfL Osnabrück - Erzgebirge Aue
    Alexander Sather - Oliver Lossius, Daniel Riehl - Florian Exner
    [Felix Zwayer, Christian Leicher]

    ReplyDelete
  25. World Cup 2010 blog returns with two matches each day.

    Today's games:

    Mexico - Uruguay, Viktor Kassai
    France - South Africa, Óscar Ruiz

    All reports and highlights can be found on:
    wc10refs.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete

  26. ARGENTINA. APPOINTMENTS
    Campeonato de transición Primera Nacional 2020


    Segundo Ascenso - Tercera instancia




    Domingo 24 de enero

    18.20 Atlético de Rafaela - Quilmes, en Newell's (TV)
    Árbitro: Darío Herrera
    Asistente 1: Diego Romero
    Asistente 2: Alejo Castany
    Cuarto árbitro: Nazareno Arasa


    20.25 Estudiantes - Atlanta, en Tigre (TV)
    Árbitro: Fernando Echenique
    Asistente 1: Miguel Savorani
    Asistente 2: Ernesto Callegari
    Cuarto árbitro: Eduardo Gutiérrez

    22.25 Platense - Dep. Riestra, en Estudiantes (TV)
    Árbitro: Andrés Merlos
    Asistente 1: Cristian Navarro
    Asistente 2: Walter Ferreyra
    Cuarto árbitro: Mariano Negrete

    ReplyDelete
  27. DUTCH EREDIVISIE APPOINTMENTS:

    MATCHDAY 18:
    Friday, January 22nd

    20:00 Willem II - PEC Zwolle
    Sander van der Eijk - Rob van de Ven, Mark Janssen - Martijn Vos
    [Richard Martens - Patrick Inia]

    Saturday, January 23rd

    16:30 ADO Den Haag - FC Emmen
    Bas Nijhuis - Mark Strijker, Ralf van Vlokhoven - Nick Smit
    [Stan Teuben - Nils van Kampen]

    18:45 Vitesse - FC Groningen
    Björn Kuipers - Sander van Roekel, Erwin Zeinstra - Richard Martens
    [Luca Cantineau - Jan de Vries]

    20:00 PSV - RKC Waalwijk
    Danny Makkelie - Hessel Steegstra, Mario Diks - Marc Nagtegaal
    [Clay Ruperti - Charl Schaap]

    21:00 Heracles Almelo - SC Heerenveen
    Jochem Kamphuis - Peter Janson, Maarten Ketting - Alex Bos
    [Joey Kooij - Bas van Dongen]

    Sunday, January 24th

    12:15 Fortuna Sittard - Ajax
    Dennis Higler - Johan Balder, Dave Goossens - Luca Cantineau
    [Jeroen Manschot - Christian Dobre]

    14:30 FC Utrecht - Sparta Rotterdam
    Serdar Gözübüyük - Joost van Zuilen, Rogier Honig - Jesse Rozendal
    [Erwin Blank - Freek Vandeursen]

    14:30 FC Twente - VVV-Venlo
    Martin van den Kerkhof - Erik Kleinjan, Michael Osseweijer - Laurens Gerrets
    [Edgar Bijl - Roan van Marrewijk]

    16:45 Feyenoord - AZ
    Allard Lindhout - Charl Schaap, Nicky Siebert - Christiaan Bax
    [Pol van Boekel - Ralf van Vlokhoven]

    MATCHDAY 19 (Midweek)
    Tuesday, January 26th
    18:45 PEC Zwolle - Heracles Almelo
    Marc Nagtegaal - Frank Jansen, Jermain Lapar - Sam Dröge
    [Serdar Gözübüyük - Yorick Weterings]

    20:00 FC Emmen - PSV
    Jeroen Manschot - Richard Brondijk, Don Frijn - Clay Ruperti
    [Siemen Mulder - Thomas Krijt]

    21:00 FC Groningen - ADO Den Haag
    Rob Dieperink - Rens Bluemink, Kevin Bodde - Robin Gansner
    [Jannick van der Laan - Erik Koopman]

    Wednesday, January 27th

    18:45 AZ - FC Utrecht
    Dennis Higler - Roy de Nas, Freek Vandeursen - Erwin Blank
    [Martin van den Kerkhof - Mark Janssen]

    20:00 VVV-Venlo - Vitesse
    Allard Lindhout - Dyon Fikkert, Nils van Kampen - Alex Bos
    [Ingmar Oostrom - Stefan de Groot]

    20:00 RKC - Fortuna Sittard
    Laurens Gerrets - Jan de Vries, Peter Janson - Edgar Bijl
    [Martin Pérez - Erwin Zeinstra]

    21:00 SC Heerenveen - Feyenoord
    Pol van Boekel - Richard Polman, Christian Dobre - Richard Martens
    [Edwin van de Graaf - Erik KLeinjan]

    Thursday, January 28th

    18:45 Sparta Rotterdam - FC Twente
    Edwin van de Graaf - Mark Strijker, Thomas Krijt - Stan Teuben
    [Alex Bos - Dave Goossens]

    21:00 Ajax - Willem II
    Siemen Mulder - Bas van Dongen, Sjoerd Nanninga - Jannick van der Laan
    [Bas Nijhuis - Peter Janson]

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Most important appointments:
      Allard Lindhout with his first big match (Feyenoord - AZ)
      Laurens Gerrets (32) finally with his eredivisie debut. He is already six and a half years in Masterclass (lowest group of professional football).

      Team Makkelie finally complete after an injury for Mario Diks, just in time for FIFA Club World Cup.
      Also Siemen Mulder back after a long injury. His last match was in October, before his return last week in the first division (Go Ahead Eagles - MVV)

      Delete
    2. Gerrets became known last season, when he abandoned a match due to racism from the stands. He got a lot of compliments for that.

      Mulder already did a Cup game as well. Good game for Lindhout. Kamphuis had Ajax-AZ in the cup. I think he didn't do badly, but he got lot's of negative feedback. A lot of that was due to two mistakes by AR2, but he also 'missed' a penalty. Even if I don't think the VAR would have come on the line for that.

      Delete
    3. It wasn't just those moments, it was also general management. For instance calling Tagliafico for a warning but not waiting for him to get back to his position when resuming play (which led to YC for another player). In general, I think Kamphuis (and his assistants) showed that they were not ready for such games.

      Also, I don't think the first goal is a mistake by AR2. It is a mistake by at least both of them because Kamphuis had to deliver input on active / passive offside, but I wouldn't blame referee in this case, this is very hard to solve without VAR.

      Delete
  28. PORTUGAL
    League Cup - FINAL

    Saturday 22nd January

    20:45 Sporting CP - SC Braga
    Dr. Magalhães Pessoa Stadium (Leiria)

    Referee: Tiago Bruno Lopes Martins
    Assistant Referee 1: André Campos
    Assistant Referee 2: Pedro Mota
    Fourth Official: Manuel Mota
    VAR: Hugo Miguel
    AVARS: António Nobre, Ricardo Santos

    ReplyDelete
  29. 1/22/2021 Kick-Off 2:00pm (PST) *In about 10 minutes
    CONCACAF League Semi-Final #2

    MATCH: Deportivo Saprissa (CRC) vs Arcahaie FC (HAI)
    REF: Reon RADIX (GRN)
    AR1: Henri PUPIRO (NCA)
    AR2: Karen DIAZ (MEX)
    4TH: Nima SAGHAFI (USA)

    As you can see it's a "mixed bag" of referee's. Not sure why the Ref Comm decided to do it this way. And CONCACAF and its Ref Comm decided to "finally" published the assignments only about 3 hours ago. IMO, unacceptable.

    Best of luck to the crew. It'll be my first time watching Mr. Radix.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. For those in the United States. You can watch the match on TUDN (Spanish) or Fox Sports 2 (English)

      Delete
    2. 15 minutes in and Radix has done a good job. There's been 1 or 2 late and somewhat heavy challenges by Haitian players (expected when Caribbean teams play against Latin American teams). Which Radix correctly whistled and followed up with strong verbal admonishing of the offending player. As is the case with Caribbean referee's. Fitness and the ability to run on the pitch is no problem. Radix has been very mobile, always able to stay close and be up with play. He has also shown impressive sprinting ability.

      The assigning of Reon Radix to this match makes sense to me looking at the big picture. I feel that this assignment is a "make up" assignment by the Ref Comm. As Radix was the only center referee who was not given an assignment as a main referee during the recent CONCACAF Champions League Final phase played in Orlando, Florida.

      Delete
    3. 45+2 Radix correctly opens up the cards.
      After applying a good and correct "advantage" for a from behind and late foul committed by an Arcahaie player near the top on the penalty box. The ball ends up in a promising position for a Saprissa player who takes an unimpeded shot on goal which is saved. At the next stoppage, Radix cautions the guilty Arcahaie player who accepts the card without any fuss or complaints.

      1st half done. Reon Radix has done a good job. He's been hepled by the fact that both teams seemed solely focused on playing football. The early verbal admonishments that were needed were given by Radix and did their job. Radix has also been helped by Saprissa dominating ball possession and being the team controlling the flow of the match. But Arcahaie has been dangerous on the few counter attacks that they've mustered. With the score 2-0 in Saprissa's favor, Arcahaie will have to become the aggressor in the 2nd half if they hope to to get back into the match. Hopefully this aggressiveness doesn't become recklessness.

      Delete
    4. 70 minutes done.
      Saprissa is now leading 5-0. The game continues to flow fairly smoothly for Radix. As both teams continue to focus on simply playing football. Fortunately for Radix taking into consideration the score. The Haitian team and its players have not lost their cool and resorted to foul play out of frustration. I applaud the Haitian players for this. Bravo!

      Delete
    5. 76th minute
      Two footed lunge type tackle by a Haitian player. Radix whistles for the foul and choose (erroneously IMO) to only verbally admonish the player. The Saprissa players are not happy with the verbal warning and make it known to Radix. Upon seeing the replays, it is further enforced that the player should have been cautioned.

      77th minute
      As expected, the still mad and frustrated Saprissa player who was fouled gets his revenge foul. In this case Radix chooses to caution the Saprissa player which angers (and rightfully so) the Saprissa team.

      Delete
    6. Finally the Haitian team seems to be letting their frustrations out. They are now continuously coming in late and leading with their studs on challenges.

      Delete
    7. The Arcahaie players are not even attempting to hide their misconduct. They are very openly and freely hacking Saprissa players anytime they can. This has led to Radix cautioning two Arcahaie players in 2 minutes on subsequent plays.

      Delete
    8. The Saprissa players are also getting in their hits on the Arcahaie players. Radix is whistling for fouls but is failing to caution the Saprissa players in order to keep things fair and even.

      Delete
  30. Reon Radix makes the most sensible and IMO the correct decision to not add any added time.
    Radix was good when the teams were willing to help him by simply playing football. But when things started to get a little hectic, he seemed unable to match the temperature level of the match. I see why The Ref Comm was unwilling to assign him as a main referee during the recent CONCACAF Champions League Finals phase. As is typical in Cartibbean referee's, fitness is their strongest point. But foul detection and timely/proper use of cards when the match temperature is rising still lacks.

    ReplyDelete
  31. https://youtu.be/hkNmxX5AisM
    (watch at your own discretion, not a pleasant video)

    CAF decision - two match ban (plus four more matches if he spits at match official again). Behaviour described as "regrettable".

    Sorry but that's absolutely disgusting, CAF should be absolutely ashamed of themselves.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That is not okay. And in no way am I lessening the severity of the act with what I am going to say.
      But, if "modern" world football is perfectly fine (actively encourages) with referee's being tolerant, permissive, and overly lenient with players on the pitch. Why should we be surprised when disciplinary committees act in the same way off of the pitch?

      Delete
    2. Two match ban? CAF has definitely lost the head. FIFA must intervene there!

      Delete
    3. The punishment is simply laughable. They just sent the message "We don't care about the referees being physically bullied". This will not be even close to arouse respect from players, as they can act as disgusting as this while being (under)under-punished.

      Delete
    4. Referee's are constantly being pushed to be more and more player friendly on the pitch. The LOtG are constantly being modified to further constrain referee's from cautioning and/or ejecting players. Yet we're supposed to be up in arms when a disciplinary committee acts in player friendly manner? Either you want discipline all around (on and off the pitch) or you don't. You can't have it both ways. Discipline starts on the pitch with the referee.

      Delete
  32. Appointments - Germany:

    Bundesliga Matchday 18

    23rd January

    15:30 Bayer Leverkusen - VfL Wolfsburg
    Marco Fritz - Dominik Schaal, Marcel Pelgrim - Thorben Siewer
    [Markus Schmidt, Christian Leicher]

    15:30 SC Freiburg - VfB Stuttgart
    Tobias Stieler - Christian Gittelmann, Eduard Beitinger - Nicolas Winter
    [Florian Badstübner, Markus Schüller]

    15:30 FSV Mainz - RB Leipzig
    Christian Dingert - Benedikt Kempkes, Timo Gerach - Marco Achmüller
    [Felix Zwayer, Sascha Thielert]

    15:30 FC Augsburg - FC Union Berlin
    Felix Brych - Mark Borsch, Stefan Lupp - Martin Petersen
    [Guido Winkmann, Christian Bandurski]

    15:30 Arminia Bielefeld - Frankfurt
    Robert Schröder - Jan Neitzel-Petersen, Robert Wessel - Patrick Ittrich
    [Günter Perl, Thomas Gorniak]

    18:30 Hertha BSC - Werder Bremen
    Daniel Schlager - Sven Waschitzki, Markus Häcker - Marcel Unger
    [Tobias Reichel, Christian Fischer]

    2nd Bundesliga Matchday 17

    23rd January

    13:00 SC Paderborn - Würzburger Kickers
    Lasse Koslowski - Max Burda, Henry Müller - Bastian Börner
    [Robert Hartmann, Tobias Schultes]

    13:00 Karlsruher SC - FC Heidenheim
    Patrick Alt - Lothar Ostheimer, Katrin Rafalski - Tom Bauer
    [Daniel Siebert, Patrick Kessel]

    13:00 Braunschweig - Hamburger SV
    Robert Kampka - Jonas Weickenmeier, Marcel Gasteier - Marcel Schütz
    [Pascal Müller, Thorsten Schiffner]

    ReplyDelete
  33. HB Situation in Australia
    https://t.me/Therefereepro/2550

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I´m not a fan of the laws in these situations, but it's not a penalty as the ball deflects from his own body and onto the hand.

      But I understand the call from the opposition, and you can also see that by the reaction of the defender that he was expecting a whistle there.

      Nevertheless, by the law, it's play on.

      Delete
  34. Today's duo of matches from World Cup 2010:

    Nigeria - Korea Republic, Olegário Benquerença
    Greece - Argentina, Ravšan Ėrmatov

    All reports and highlights:
    wc10refs.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  35. Very good performance by Mariani in AC Milan-Atalanta. Good penalty kick call

    ReplyDelete
  36. Nothing special so far for Jesús Valenzuela in the Copa Sudamericana Final. Expected level performance in a (very) easy first half so far. Potentially missed a foul (and a YC for the reckless nature of the challenge?) in 5'.

    Only moment I found a bit odd: AR1 Nicolás Tarán (who attended WC 2018 with team Cunha) did not delay the flag in 19' and VAR in place. The decision was quite close.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. IMO the incident at 5'-6' is simply a missed foul by Valenzuela.
      Both players attempt to play a high ball with raised legs/feet. The Lanus player gets the touch on the ball. And the DyJ player kicks the outer calf of the Lanus player. I'm all for showing "must" cautions. But again, to me this was just a missed foul.

      Delete
  37. I would like to ask next question. If one men|women want to be referee instructor of uefa or fifa, must he be ex fifa referee, or at least fotball referee, or he need to be just educated on a good way? Thanks in advance.

    ReplyDelete
  38. For those who are interested: Jesús Valenzuela delivered an expected level performance in the 2020 Copa Sudamericana Final. Referee stayed most of the game in the background of the action, and only stepped in when necessary: the cautions he gave were the expected ones, he could also have given cautions for the offences in 5’ (which was not even whistled by the referee) and 86’ (reckless stamp). However, the YC given in 72’ should no longer be given according to LotG: LAN6 committed a SPA offence, Valenzuela rightly allowed to let play continue and cautioned LAN6 once play was interrupted. LotG state though that “if the offence was […] stopping a promising attack, the player is not cautioned.” Two possible explanations why Valenzuela might have given it: a) because he assessed the foul as reckless (which would be harsh) or b) because the majority of football fans would expect it.

    What I liked a lot about Valenzuela was the strong way how he signalled throw-ins, fouls, which displayed confidence in every decision he made and aroused respect among the players. Both assistants referees executed their duties on expected level.

    Conclusion of this small report: Jesús Valenzuela can reflect on a successful performance in this final, having had to step in for Leodán González. Good job, well done, congratulations!

    On another note: I’m still sorry that Leodán González had to miss out on this game because of his Covid-19 infection, I hope that he can recover as fast as possible and that he can one day referee such games as well.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks very much for this report! Glad to see Valenzuela delivered the game successfully.

      On González: his attendance at the Club WC is still possible, pending a second COVID test being returned negative.

      Delete
    2. Or not - Esteban Ostojich takes his place, reported by Arbitro Internacional.

      Really sorry for González :/

      Delete
    3. Ostojich is not on the WC pre-selected list (unless it was recently updated). I wonder why FIFA did not a choose another CONMEBOL referee from the pre-selected list as replacement for Gonzalez, especially during these times, with less FIFA competitions?

      Delete
    4. To be honest I think the pre-list is now de facto redundant. Remember that eg. Frappart and Alves Batista are not on it; especially without any FIFA youth championships this year (and maybe no Tokyo Olympics either if one believes the news), it really will be 'open season' in the race to attend WC 2022.

      Delete
  39. Who was the best in Mexico archundia benito or felippi ramos rizo or Rodriguez or brizio carter ?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. IMO:
      1) Felipe Ramos Rizo
      2) Arturo Brizio Carter
      3) Marco Antonio Rodriguez
      4) Benito Armando Archundia

      He's on your list, but the worst has been Cesar Ramos Palazuelos.

      Delete
    2. Archundia benito was the worst in this list why ?

      Delete
    3. I personally didn't like his style when working international matches. IMO he was too lenient and too permissive.
      But this is just a matter of personal preference.
      As I prefer referee's who are more "by the book" disciplinarians who don't shy away from using their cards.

      Delete
    4. 1. Archundia, 2. Brizio, 3. Rizo, 4. Rodriguez.

      Delete
    5. Archundia benito was the best his record in world cup tell him

      Delete
  40. Brizio carter imo then archundìà

    ReplyDelete
  41. Seria A Penalty Area Incident https://t.me/Therefereepro/2555

    ReplyDelete
  42. Rbfa published that Lawrence Visser (Bel) and his AR are selected for UEFA Euro U21

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well considering the group stage starts in March makes sense that referees are starting to be revealed.

      Among those promoted last summer I'd like to see Rumšas, Jović, Mariani and Veríssimo officiating.

      Delete
    2. https://www.rbfa.be/nl/nieuws/team-lawrence-visser-geselecteerd-voor-ek-u21

      Delete
  43. Jesús Valenzuela's performance in CA Lanús v CSD Defensa y Justicia:

    https://ok.ru/video/2638430603884

    ReplyDelete
  44. Appointments - Germany:

    Bundesliga Matchday 18

    24th January

    15:30 FC Schalke - Bayern München
    Sascha Stegemann - Frederick Assmuth, Philipp Hüwe - Harm Osmers
    [Robert Hartmann, Markus Schüller]

    18:00 TSG Hoffenheim - FC Köln
    Sven Jablonski - Norbert Grudzinski, Arno Blos - Matthias Jöllenbeck
    [Daniel Siebert, Thorsten Schiffner]

    2nd Bundesliga Matchday 17

    24th January

    13:30 SV Darmstadt - Holstein Kiel
    Arne Aarnink - Eric Müller, Andreas Steffens - Fabian Maibaum
    [Patrick Hanslbauer, Henrik Bramlage]

    13:30 SV Sandhausen - VfL Bochum
    Michael Bacher - Tobias Fritsch, Johannes Huber - Manuel Bergmann
    [Florian Badstübner, Tobias Schultes]

    13:30 FC St. Pauli - Jahn Regensburg
    Bastian Dankert - René Rohde, Steven Greif - Tim Skorczyk
    [Johann Pfeifer, Mitja Stegemann]

    13:30 FC Nürnberg - Hannover
    Florian Lechner - Rafael Foltyn, Jan Seidel - Wolfgang Haslberger
    [Tobias Reichel, Justus Zorn]

    ReplyDelete
  45. Some clips from the Southampton - Arsenal game handled by new FIFA ref Peter Bankes [VAR: David Coote].

    55' - No sanction for SOT no.3 (tackle); caution for SOT no.5 (aggressive behaviour)
    https://streamable.com/5tf02f

    69' - Penalty (handling)?
    https://streamable.com/hma4ub

    83' - Potential SYC incident - no foul given
    https://streamable.com/wk0due

    88' - Penalty (tripping)?
    https://streamable.com/gh1gyw

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 55' SYC would be correct, but I don't mind not giving it. Standing on oppenents foot is not always YC, so SYC depends on the refs style.
      69' Not enough for VAR, but the ball travelled a long distance and hit the arm directly. So PK for me.
      83' Can't make a judgement, looks very risky from the defender. Maybe the striker went down with minimal contact.
      88' PK for me. But good No-intervention from the VAR. I think the attacker could have stayed on his feet.

      Where did you get that 1080p50fps feed from, Mikael? zkfootball?

      Delete
    2. IMO

      55' - Rather YC for me, as there is a clear standing on the foot. However, no card is absolutely okay for me.

      69' - That's a penalty for me. The ball isn't reflected and the arm enlarges the body surface, while the movement of the arm is towards the ball. I would like an OFR here.

      83' - Difficult to assess, hoewever I think it's a YC.
      You can see the holding here: https://ibb.co/QYMRHHq
      Taking into account the small amount of contact, the decision is supportable.

      88' - Borderline situation, however, I like the decision. There is no contact at the feet and the little contact at the legs doesn't seem to be the reason for the falling of the attacker: https://ibb.co/0r3bQTQ

      Delete
    3. My views:

      55' - stamp is not the result of careless play but a deliberate attempt to stop an opponent, mandatory YC (David - no sanctions had been issued in the game before this incident!). Bankes under-reaction to the foul causes the commotion that follows, not good preventative refereeing.

      69' - most astute call would be a defensive freekick, IMO. More accidental handling there in my eyes, but I can accept other views. In England, definitely not "clear and obvious" enough for intervention after PGMOL's changed course re. handling.

      83' - seems to be a clear tactical foul, but impossible to be 100% sure.

      88' - penalty for me, attacker is at the very least impeded with contact. After the change of possession, Bankes focuses on running forward when he should try and run left IMO. Given he totally misperceives what happens (corner decision), then VAR should intervene in my ideal, but again it's not "clear and obvious" enough for England.

      -> Disappointed by Bankes overall, not really a talent for the international arena on the evidence of this game.

      Delete
    4. David - fullmatchesandshows dot com :)

      Delete
  46. OT

    Felix Brych (UEFA Elite) will handle the Greek SL clash Olympiakos - PAOK (27.01). His assistants are Mark Borsch and Stefan Lupp. VAR is Bastian Dankert.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Who is Fourth Official and AVAR?

      Delete
    2. FO is Diamantopoulos and AVAR Nikolakakis (both FIFA).

      Delete
    3. Thank you for the information, Edward :)

      Delete
  47. OT

    Atromitos - Olympiakos Ref Tsagkarakis VAR Papapetrou

    39' YC or RC

    https://streamable.com/oyf55m

    41' Penalty appeal

    https://streamable.com/g8xdn2

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. IMO

      39' - very hard tackle, however, YC is supportable for me.

      41' - Penalty for me. The hand is clearly above the shoulder and enlarges the body surface siginficantly: https://ibb.co/Nngdcnv

      Delete
    2. 39' - without the live sequence one can't draw a definitive conclusion, but if I perceived the challenge correctly, then for me it's a shame that the football authorities don't want to remove tackles like that from matches with red cards anymore.

      41' - agree with Flip in the current LotG that a penalty should be given, but personally I don't have a bigger problem with play on here. Referee and VAR team totally fail in allowing the game to restart though!

      -> Nothing against you personally Flip, but IMO your comment is an example of modern refereeing in some aspects being on the wrong trend: happy to forgive almost anything as not SFP, but then very rigorous on handling offences.
      For me - it's a shame!

      Delete
    3. Thanks for your reply, Mikael.
      I maybe have to admit that you are not totally wrong with your assessment about my views.
      However, I still don't think that my comment above is wrong.
      But: Different opinions isn't something bad :)

      Delete
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    ReplyDelete

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