I can't help but cheer for Russia... Only for the sake of Poland scoring two in the last 2 min + AET...
The more I watch that replay, the more I feel bad for Eriksson. I bet, from his angle, it looks exactly like a dive. He'd be looking through the Russian's body, and shielded from the actual contact. And then Karagounis stumbles very awkwardly--bet it looked like he was trying to win the penalty (well, obviously it did!). Unfortunate poor call and doesn't look at the moment, thankfully, like it will affect things. Just wonder if there might have been a different decision if Eriksson waited a bit--or if the AAR/AR weighed in at all. If they did, this call is on them as much, if not more so, than Eriksson.
I'm sure Greece will appeal. For the first time ever, I'm not so sure what UEFA will do. Historically, they've never reversed cards. But since the last tournament, they have suspended players after-the-fact for diving that has been called wrongly. And they overturned one red card because it was shown to be a dive. Logic would follow that they could now waive cards related to diving that are shown to be 100% wrong. I think this is a good candidate. History says 'no way it gets overturned.' Recent practice certainly opens the door a bit. Fair Play and Respect cuts both ways, after all.
Most likely they won't get by Germany. But most likely they had no chance of winning this thing in '04. To take out the team leader and one of their top players on a silly and just plain terrible yellow hurts, for those of us cheering for the squad.
SimpleGame, the above is just not appropriate for this forum. We don't allow biased fans to come in here and just slag on referees. So we certainly can't allow referees to post their biases here either. You got personal biases about the teams or their play, take it to the main forum or team forums. Thanks. EDIT: that goes for everyone, please...
Well, the Greek attacker did not do himself any favors by dragging his right toe: as he was fouled on the left, what is the ref to do? In real time, it looks awfully like a dive. Real question to me is does the ref, swayed by the obvious Greek agony, give a makeup by not calling a foul on greece for blocking zirkov (?sp) off his run just outside the pa on the left? A fair result and a very good performance by the ref in a game that could have gotten very physical.
You can't miss what he missed and call it a "Very Good Performance" that isn't fair but it's the job. If a player misses two empty netters but scores the winner all is forgiven. Not so for referees.
Sorry guys. No excuse for the miss and then there were a few others that were head scratchers as well. And what is the use of the AAR if not for help here? If you can't get advice from them, get them off the field. Horrible call. Sorry, don't care about the replays or what his angles were, it is a botched penalty compounded by a death sentence on the attacker.
Have you ever seen the instructional video about positioning that shows how perception and angle can be determinative? Roy Keane's famous leg-breaker is featured prominently, and they use technology to show why David Elleray missed it (and, thankfully, the AR caught it). Yes, with AARs this should be gotten right. If the AAR stood silent or confirmed Eriksson's poor call, then this falls mostly on him, in my opinion. But given where Eriksson was and how this occurred, I could see why he personally got this wrong. It's not an excuse, but more of an empathetic explanation--if it can happen to a guy like him in a match like this, with hundreds of millions watching, then it surely happens to all of us from time to time on the local park with no replays.
I can see from one end of the field to the other, I still run to get into better angles to see the play. You can't say angles don't matter.
That is the real question. This is the sort of call that the extra eyes should help. I've never heard or seen anything that specifically describes the aar mechanics, but if they are not watching for this type of call, they must be doing nothing.
Everyone always talks about the AARs helping out for all these things. But, in reality, aren't they there for just ONE reason: to judge goal/no-goal? Then, after they added them to do that one thing....oh, what the hell...you're standing there...look around...help out if you can. If they really did have specific responsibilities, wouldn't they have specific signals? I dunno, maybe give them a flag or something ???
What everyone is overlooking is that Karagounis is one of the most notorious divers in Europe. He got his just desserts. Bad call by Errikson, but understood. Nor this is one of those clear cut pk's that shouldn't be missed. The yellow for simulation, though, tells me that Errikson know of Karagounis history and thought the Greek captain was trying to "buy" a pk.
I don't suppose that this revelation has anything to do with the fact that Karagounis plays for Panathinaikos?? PH
No, it has NOTHING to do with the fact he plays for PAO. It has EVERYTHING to do with the fact he's a well know "diver" throughout Europe...its not some big secret. He was a diver when he was at Inter, also.
Yes, I realize he is a well-known diver, not only in the PA either. But it was just a thought that occurred to me whether you would have still have taken the trouble to out him to everyone if he was a player for AEK, the fierce rival of PAO? After all as you say, it is no secret. Just pulling your leg a little!
I think I need to stop reading threads of this type. I just don't get the bagging on the referee. I've started watching the videos without reading the posts, so that I have to make the call myself. I was thinking I saw a dive before there was anything that might have been contact, and then I wasn't sure there was a foul after that. The referee could never have seen the contact from his angle, and the AR was shielded from it, and it really wasn't that much contact anyway. I don't get the criticism on this one...I never really do at all, I guess.