Russia and Switzerland

[illuminatus]

I'm not surprised nobody has started complaining about some of the poor refereeing decisions, but i just want to make a statement of sympathy for the Russians and the Swiss. Both have had players sent off in their games, all the time quite harshly in my opinion. Russia's Sharonov was just clumsy, but the ref could have afforded him a couple more chances. The goalkeeper (forgot his name) was even more unlucky. From what i saw, i don't think he handled the ball at all, and even if he did touch it, he was only trying to stabilize himself and in no way clearly prevented a portuguese goal as hed already made the block. Same story for switzerland as well, the refs could've been a bit more lenient instead of killing the game, especially the switzerland england one where england were looking crap.

If you compare this with the tackle of Francesco Totti against Denmark, for example, you'll know what i mean by inconsistency. But credit to the Russians and Swiss, they were very dignified about all of this. If Totti had been sent off for Italy, who knows what the Italians would have been saying.

So well done to Russia and Switzerland, despite being the first teams out, i still think you guys were quite unlucky.

[SwissGCZ]

So well done to Russia and Switzerland, despite being the first teams out, i still think you guys were quite unlucky.
Thank you for your sympathy but we aren't out yet... ;)

[sendorange]

What a load of rubbish.

As for Switzerland, although they could have minor complaint about Vogel's second yellow in the first game if he genuinely thought it was his free kick, which I doubt, they can have no complaint about the sending off in the England game. At this level if a player makes a late and stupid tackle when on a yellow it's always likely that they will get a second yellow. In an ideal world I'd prefer a final warning from the ref, but they can have no complaints about the referee following the actual rules of the game and giving him the second yellow.

As for Russia, the goalkeeper impeded the roll of the ball with his hand outside of the area. Closeup tv replays showed it wasn't a deliberate action or really much of a touch, but from the ref's perspective they will always give a red in that situation when the goalkeeper comes out of his area and handles it when there's a striker with a potential goalscoring chance.

[illuminatus]

What a load of rubbish.

As for Switzerland, although they could have minor complaint about Vogel's second yellow in the first game if he genuinely thought it was his free kick, which I doubt, they can have no complaint about the sending off in the England game. At this level if a player makes a late and stupid tackle when on a yellow it's always likely that they will get a second yellow. In an ideal world I'd prefer a final warning from the ref, but they can have no complaints about the referee following the actual rules of the game and giving him the second yellow.

As for Russia, the goalkeeper impeded the roll of the ball with his hand outside of the area. Closeup tv replays showed it wasn't a deliberate action or really much of a touch, but from the ref's perspective they will always give a red in that situation when the goalkeeper comes out of his area and handles it when there's a striker with a potential goalscoring chance.


If you wanna be technical, then yes, Bernt Haas committed 2 bookable offences. Actually i didn't think the 1st one was, but what the hell. I don't think he was actually committing too many fouls throughout the game. As a neutral, that sending off killed the game for me, and i switched off the TV immediately. I almost never see red cards given out so easily, but i can't argue with you on the laws of the game.

The Russian goalkeeper was still very hard done by, as Pauleta (?) was on the ground and had no chance of beating him to the ball. It was in no way clear from the TV replays i saw that he actually touched the ball with his hand, let alone impeded it. Hopefully Russia can successfully appeal that one. What is the deal with this rule anyway? I see outfield players deliberately handle the ball all the time and get away with yellow cards or sometimes even warnings. A goalkeeper fell on the ball, MAYBE brushed his hand against it and gets sent off. Again, this incident killed the game for me, as it effectively sealed the result. Damn refs.

[illuminatus]

Thank you for your sympathy but we aren't out yet... ;)

All the best to you then. I want England out anyway. Swiss have a poor goal difference now so it will have to be a 3 goal win for them against France and a 3 goal win for Croatia against England. Highly unlikely, which is what prompted my statement, but may fortune smile upon you!

[sendorange]

All the best to you then. I want England out anyway. Swiss have a poor goal difference now so it will have to be a 3 goal win for them against France and a 3 goal win for Croatia against England. Highly unlikely, which is what prompted my statement, but may fortune smile upon you!
Ahh so now we see that your flimsy points were because of your bias. What a waste of time and space you are.

[SwissGCZ]

As for Switzerland, although they could have minor complaint about Vogel's second yellow in the first game if he genuinely thought it was his free kick, which I doubt...
It might be a minor incident to you, but to us it could turn out to be THE setback of the tournament. You know who gave the ball away in midfield on your first goal? - that's right, Vogel replacement Celestini. Vogel's 2nd yellow was a fabricated one and completely unjustified. period.

There is no argument about that one...

[illuminatus]

Ahh so now we see that your flimsy points were because of your bias. What a waste of time and space you are.

My bias? I was talking about the referees, not about the results. I pointed out unfair red cards in 4 instances for 2 different teams. I didn't think Russia should've had a player sent off against SPAIN, who are my absolute favourite team. Instead of responding to my comments, you dismiss them because i don't support the same team as you, which is obviously England. My topic was not so much in support of switzerland or russia as it was a questioning of the applied rules. You're the waste of space, buddy. Go pick your fights somewhere else.

[SwissGCZ]

All the best to you then. I want England out anyway. Swiss have a poor goal difference now so it will have to be a 3 goal win for them against France and a 3 goal win for Croatia against England. Highly unlikely, which is what prompted my statement, but may fortune smile upon you!
Actually a simple victory will do (combined with either a England or Croatia victory in the other game), but I have severe doubts it's gonna happen...

[Father Ted]

It just shows you how crap Ireland was in Euro Qualifying, losing to these two loser teams. Our team was in transition with a number of retirements after WC 2002 and we made the Swiss and Russian teams look like Brazil.

Thankfully World Cup qualifying is coming up and I think we quite fancy our chances with Switzerland and the so-far-unimpressive French in our group. We have enough quality in Duff, Roy and Robbie Keane, Carr and O'Shea to get by.

[SwissGCZ]

It just shows you how crap Ireland was in Euro Qualifying, losing to these two loser teams. Our team was in transition with a number of retirements after WC 2002 and we made the Swiss and Russian teams look like Brazil.

Bitter party of one...

To be fair - we did play a lot better in qualifying.

[realrussian33]

I'm not surprised nobody has started complaining about some of the poor refereeing decisions, but i just want to make a statement of sympathy for the Russians and the Swiss. Both have had players sent off in their games, all the time quite harshly in my opinion. Russia's Sharonov was just clumsy, but the ref could have afforded him a couple more chances. The goalkeeper (forgot his name) was even more unlucky. From what i saw, i don't think he handled the ball at all, and even if he did touch it, he was only trying to stabilize himself and in no way clearly prevented a portuguese goal as hed already made the block. Same story for switzerland as well, the refs could've been a bit more lenient instead of killing the game, especially the switzerland england one where england were looking crap.

If you compare this with the tackle of Francesco Totti against Denmark, for example, you'll know what i mean by inconsistency. But credit to the Russians and Swiss, they were very dignified about all of this. If Totti had been sent off for Italy, who knows what the Italians would have been saying.

So well done to Russia and Switzerland, despite being the first teams out, i still think you guys were quite unlucky.

Thanks for your sympathy.

We will try to beat Greece(After all its in the best interest of Portugal and Spain), so I guess we won't get as many red and yellow cards.

cheers