Saturday, 15 June 2024

UEFA EURO 2024 Match 4: Italy - Albania (discussion)

Debut in a big tournament for Felix Zwayer: he is in charge of Italy - Albania in Dortmund. 


Game 4, Group B
Dortmund, 15 June 2024 21:00 CET
ITALY - ALBANIA
Referee: Felix Zwayer GER
Assistant Referee 1: Stefan Lupp GER
Assistant Referee 2: Marco Achmüller GER
Fourth Official: Daniel Siebert GER
Reserve Assistant Referee: Jan Seidel GER
Video Assistant Referee: Bastian Dankert GER
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 1: Christian Dingert GER
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 2: Rob Dieperink NED
UEFA Referee Observer: Howard Webb ENG
UEFA Delegate: Peter Lundström FIN

74 comments:

  1. Golden jerseys? That's a new one...

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    1. I'm not saying it looks bad but I'm kind of conservative.. :D As a referee, I want to go unnoticed as long as I can. I only want to stand out when I have to. So I'm not the guy to wear fancy shoes or pink or golden jerseys. Apparently, UEFA has a different opinion. :D

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    2. The way you dress doesn't make you noticeable or unnoticeable. It's how you perform on the pitch that does that.
      I was ecstatic in 1994 when FIFA and Adidas finally introduced some color and did away with the boring pallbearer black.

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    3. Try wearing pink for Sunday league and you WILL be noticed, no matter how you perform.
      I'm not saying I don't like color. Adidas 18-24 blue or the new red and yellow are really nice. But for me there's a limit... :D

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    4. That's whole point of having a variety of colors available to the referee's. So you can stand out from the teams.
      I wear Pink often. From U-9 matches all the way up to men's league matches and everything in between. It's overtaken Green as my favorite color to wear. I've actually gotten more compliments than any negative remarks in regards to the color. But none of that matters if I have a terrible game. Because the color of a shirt isn't going to make me a good or bad referee. I've got the black jersey. But I can probably count on one hand the times I've worn it.
      What is more important is your appearance in your uniform. Do you look sharp and fit (like Liga MX and Serie A referees)? Or do you look like a unfit slob (like Phil Dowd and Jon Moss)?

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    5. Nothing new at all, the referees in WC 1994 in USA had this colour already
      https://www.google.com/search?q=wk+94+spain+switzerland&oq=wk+94+Spain+Swit&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqBwgBECEYoAEyBggAEEUYOTIHCAEQIRigATIHCAIQIRigATIHCAMQIRigAdIBCTEyMTE0ajBqN6gCALACAA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:7b440c45,vid:3EQn0sVO-HE,st:0

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    6. That WC 1994 jersey was more of a yellow shade. While today's is Gold. I know because, I actually still have those WC 1994 jerseys. That summer, I was a 13 year old kid who had just gotten his referee license.

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  2. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  3. Are referee's going to announce their decisions after OFR's?

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    1. Turpin hasn't spoken after his OFR yesterday, iinm. My guess is that the explanations will be (only) written on the stadiums' TV screens.

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    2. So, we at home get nothing? LOL : )

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  4. Well this game is going to be a lot tougher for Zwayer than what might have been expected...

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    1. No idea why people were underestimating this game anyway. Albania topped their group in qualification, Italy needed a play-off. And a reigning champion traditionally has a tough EURO…

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    2. And this isn't the Italy of old. It's an Italy that's going through a generational change.

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    3. Why??? Early goal doesn't mean that the game would become tougher for the ref, even when underdog scores.

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    4. Yeah, fair to say my analysis wasn't the strongest in this case. Completely expected type of game since

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  5. Atmosphere is going to be a big factor today. I walked around Dortmund city today and the whole town was flooded by fans in red. Totally peaceful but incredibly dedicated to their team. The opener in the first minute just pushes them even more. Excited for how that's going to develop....

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  6. Really hope to get a great game by Zweyer. Very good referee with alot of quality but often being omitted due to stupid history. Wish him a good tournament. He deserve it.

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  7. With GK being the captain of Italy, Jorginho has been elected as the player allowed to talk with referee, according to Rosetti guidelines.

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    1. I was actually going to ask about GK captains. Thank you for reading my mind and answering my question. LOL ; )

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  8. Possible foul before 2-1, I think if attacker hit only opponent, this must be called by VAR.

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    1. I don't there was a foul. But then again, I haven't seen a clear and conclusive replay. Initially my doubt was onside/offside. Which is what I think VAR actually checked for.

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    2. It looks like it wasn't clear foul, maybe both opponent and ball were hit.

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    3. No clear foul for me as well, nothing for the VAR to intervene on. Zwayer has a good game so far, IMO, with a clear YC to ITA10 in 21', optimal foul detection and full control over a game of normal difficulty, IMO.

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    4. Control and acceptance are kind of expected with the behavior guidelines. It's one less thing referee's have to worry about. They're now free to focus on foul detection/recognition, disciplinary actions, and other technical aspects of their games.

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  9. I've got to say it. That referee jersey is sharp!

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    1. The best kit, I think this already deserves the final. In case teams must be informed to wear different colors than referee :D

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    2. One could question the decision to use both neon yellow and golden kits at this Euro, they're quite similar. Nevertheless I agree, the kit is great :)

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    3. Yes, one can wonder, in which situation the yellow kit is possible, but not the golden one.
      The other way around, the golden kit is quite useful, if one GK wears yellow like today.

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    4. As referee's we are the Gold Standard and now we have a referee kit to show it.

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  10. Good first yellow by Zwayer. If he stays without VAR, he might as well go for the final!

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  11. This YC to Broja, dissent? Otherwise unofficial advice by VAR following what had happened before, but I don't think Rosetti would allow that!

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    1. Apparently there was a check for a potential RC for the elbow to the face. I thought it was against protocol for VAR to advise yellow card but I have no doubt it happens

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  12. It seems Zwayer got to YC-YC via the “check for VC complete, Felix” route but absolutely right call in the end, even pretty refreshing that it finished with the attacking Albania freekick. Sending off Broja would have been quite exaggerated imo, (mostly) trying to break free.

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  13. And the ‘mobbing’ of the Italian players, including goalkeeper coming out of his goal, was still at the acceptable side of the scale?

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    1. Some referee's are going to struggle to implement the directives. They're going to be hesitant to show cards because they've been conditioned for far too long to swallow/ignore dissent.
      This is unfortunate and unacceptable.

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  14. Now a nice offsite call by AR1. Can we use this occasion to quickly recognize that this is Stefan Lupp's 9th (!) Euro game and his 7th big tournament (counting in ConfedCup and Olympics)... He's surely one of the most experienced ARs out there.

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  15. First mistake, corner should have been given. Goalkeeper touched the ball.

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    1. I would call the ‘caution by VAR’ for #11 Albania a mistake as well, but IMHO from all 4 performance so far this was the best.

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  16. Yeah very clear corner, don't understand how they missed it

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    1. Clear corner after three slow motions from the right angle.
      There's only a slight touch by the thigh so I can understand that it's very hard to spot especially after a rather quick attack. Mistake yes but not a blatant error.

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    2. It’s very hard as a referee to spot (or at least, be sure) that there was a touch when you aren’t standing ‘behind’ the position of the shot, ie. when the player shoots from on the linesman’s side across the goal to the other side. Better to give the goalkick if you aren’t sure!

      Good job by Zwayer. If the last big tournament taught us anything - don’t get too excited after the first couple of days. But: if this level of refereeing continues, there would be no problem to exclude Turpin for a lack of other options.

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    3. Oh Mikael, don't crush my dreams. ; )
      I hope the Referee Committee stays the course and allow things continue this way.
      Don't bring me back to an ugly reality that I dislike. LOL

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    4. “no problem to exclude Turpin for a lack of other options.”

      Well, Vincic certainly isn’t better than Turpin!

      The Slovenian was just lucky that he didn’t have any incidents in or near the box. His foul detection is always far from flawless. He doesn’t have a clear line. And he’s lucky that faults (e.g. missed advantages) don’t have major consequences, due to the scoreline.

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  17. Overall, good performance by Zwayer. Full control, first game without VAR intervention. Unfortunate that the crew did not give the corner in 90+1‘. But if we have to mention a missed corner, this shows that we saw a good performance.

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    1. Fully agree with your comment, nothing special to add. Zwayer can be satisfied with how he performed tonight.

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  18. Good performance by Zwayer, missed corner,but notihng that can negativly affect on performance. No VAR, correct cautioning with YC, good criteria on both sides! I would give 8.0 .

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    1. How do you explain a 8.0 mark after those comments about his performance?

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    2. Ref Fot, you should explain according to which scale you give 8.0 because for UEFA this mark, even if it doesn't mean referee committed crucial mistakes, is definitely not good.

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    3. Chefren, my fault,you right, i was about 8.3. Thanks for constructive approach. Cheers

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    4. @Ref Fot would you give this performance 8.3? -0.1 for what exactly? Based on your comment it feels like a satisfactory performance?

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  19. Corner kick missed, the pulling on the Manaj by ITA defender missed too. So overall rather bad performance in the last 20 min by the German ref.

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    1. My god, some comments here are unbelievable

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    2. What was wrong with my comment in your opinion fella

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    3. "My god, some comments here are unbelievable"
      It's his opinion. Is he no entitled to express it?
      Or are we only allowed bow down and praise the referee's?
      Get over yourself!

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    4. Yes but saying bad performance due to a missed corner is out of reality. This means you don't understand which factors are important in assessing a referee's performance. We have the full right to say our opinions, but we can't ask for perfect referees. The mistakes that must be discussed belong to other categories.

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    5. I understand that. But his comment is no different from those that come from people who are obviously only "cheerleading" for certain referees. At times, their comments don't reflect the reality of a referees performance. Especially if it's been under par.

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  20. I'm Not a friend of Zwayer but I must say, It was the best Performance by a refree in this tournament until now.

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  21. Good job from Zwayer. Didn't like that missed corner but it can happen. Much much better than the previous three.

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  22. It is a pity for UEFA, they didn't select some of the people on this blog, since they have the ability of faultless foul detection and decision making... Where did it go wrong in the selection process?!? Rosetti and co will have to have a tough evaluation after this Euro...
    Perhaps not judging from within the cosy sofa, but rather empathize in the referee's job, which should not be that hard for most of us on this blog. The missed corner kick was only a slight touch from the GK. One could have made the decision based upon the GK's reaction, but missing this in real life speed and from further away than we as TV spectators is at most a pity, but nothing more than that

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    1. They're called personal opinions. We're all entitled to express them openly and freely. No where does it say that we must only worship and bow down to any and all referee's. If anything, your lame attempt at sarcasm is worse than what anybody else has posted.

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    2. Thank you for your opinion. I don't worship any referee, nor do I only sum up mistakes or call them blatant. When a referee is faced towards a certain situation, it does not mean he actually sees what really happens. The focus determines everything and one can be slightly distracted, because of other actions.

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  23. I liked Zwayer tonight, good performance. Not much controversy tonight, a missed corner and there is a question around that YC but this is not much. Also, the kit is superb, indeed. I could not watch the first previous two games today, I am really looking for videos with the highlights tomorrow morning if possible. Unless I miss something this was the first game without VAR involvment, right?

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  24. In real time at full match speed. The ever so slight touch off of Donaruma's side is nearly indecipherable. I'm definitely not going to pile on Zwayer nor AR2 for this missed corner.

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  25. Highlights

    https://files.fm/u/a6nbbpupst

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  26. Some aspects missed in the discussion so far:
    - no caution for climbing the fence at Albania's goal celebration (1')
    - possible offside interfering with an opponent by 2ITA at Italy's first goal (11') but to be called only live, not something VAR could intervene for
    - some no-captains were allowed to talk to/with the referee: 18ITA (24', 51'), 10ALB (52'), 16ITA (85') - not something really bad as all of them were very respectful talks but quite different to what we have seen so far

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    1. And what about the holding penalty incident in 80'? Albanian player continued to fight for the ball but the shirt pulling was really blatant and slightly threw the Albanian off the balance there. Perhaps not VAR stuff but...

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    2. Talking about that holding in 80', watching it live yesterday, I had an impression of a holding with no significant consequences, something that wasn't enough to warrant a penalty. I've rewatched it now and, although I'm still of the same opinion, I have to admit it was really, really close and Bastoni was playing with fire there. Therefore, I can perfectly understand your question about this. Interestingly, there were no protests by Albanians, nor have I read anything special about this in the media. It seems it went pretty unnoticed.

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  27. Video clips:
    https://files.fm/u/s7ngwzp5jd

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