11 cards given out through two matches. Obviously the sample size is small, but I've heard repeatedly from interviews of FIFA officials that they're going to be quicker to card sliding tackles that miss the ball. So a few questions: 1) Do you agree with the new policy? 2) Has there been a bigger emphasis on the sliding tackle? 3) Is the officiating so far fair? 4) Is this going to affect the US more than other teams?
1) Yes... 2) Hard to tell so far, I thought it was more of an emphasis on the nasty tackles rather than just a failed tackle (IE coming in from behind, studs up etc...) 3)Hard to say with only 2 games gone hehe... I only saw the Uruguay vs France game but so far the Refs have been spot on. He called a great game and most cards given were justly deserved. The tackle on Sanga could have even been a straight red. 4) I doubt it
i'd be surprised if we finished the game tomorrow with 11 players. the officiating is never fair and as a result video technology of some sort should be instituted efforts will be made to ensure south africa gets out of the group, i.e. mexico's goal coming back. it's apparent that fifa want france out of this group as well. i don't think theres any emphasis on slide tackles. after a few more games where lesser sides are told to play on after being dispossessed it'll be apparent.
yes! those sneaky, cheating, nefarious referees, enforcing the offside rule correctly! seriously buddy, watch it again. that was the right call. confusing, because it is one of those rare times when the goalie wasn't the last man back, but correct. also, the red card in the france game was very justified. these were 2 well-called games today.
you're 100% correct. I watched it real quick with the volume down and thought the ball came in directly from the corner. it was offside. doesn't mean the refs aren't incentivized to get SA through. the henry free kick at the end of that game was incredibly bad
Well, fair enough. I'm not on board with your theory but still glad to see you man up and admit when you're wrong!
Great refereeing today. The first match was very clean, with positional defending as opposed to constant hacking like the Uruguay - France match. If matches were more like the opening match, then refs would have less of a hassle, but that hackfest in the second match makes things difficult. I'm actually amazed there weren't many debatable calls there. If Uruguay goes into hacking mode against South Africa, reds will likely be flying all over the place.
I think the key things are is that there are always some calls that are debatable whatever way they're called and nobody can reasonably expect the referee to get absolutely evrything right. In these two games the standard of refereeing has been excellent which is encouraging fot the rest of the competition.
I don't think I saw ANY errors in either match today by the referees, top class...unlike the performances from the players.
Yep, the refs clearly outperformed the players today. Which is a great thing to see. I hope they will be rewarded with games in the knockout stages.
Oh, there were errors, of course, and in any game there are going to be errors, that's the human element. I think I saw a bad offside call against Mexico in the second half and the second yellow in France/Uruguay probably could/should have been a straight red. But they were relatively insignificant which is why they aren't remembered and when they had to make a big call they got it right. They handled what the games threw at them as well as can be expected from anyone.
Right, well that's what I meant Which bad offside call are you talking about? I'm not sure I remember that one.
I wouldn't be able to recall exactly where it was, but I believe it was against Blanco when he received a ball that had been played back by South Africa.
Based on the first two games, I think the officials are striving hard to punish some of the chippy fouls and professional fouls that often is allowed to go unpunished. In general, the calls seemed to favor the offensive players in the first two games. I'm glad we have depth at holding mid. I think it will be tested.
Really? The only real punishment (yellow) I saw that was questionable was for time wasting in the Mexico game when I didn't think any was going on but that is objective. I think the defensive players were actually favored and tackles that I usually see called fouls in international matches (Confed Cup last year), were let go faily.
