View Full Version : Rank The Refs
ursula
22 Jun 2006, 10:55 PM
Go on. Some of you have been keeping close tabs on this. Who's doing a good job. Who is just not up to it? Any allowances for an especially tough match?
KMJvet
22 Jun 2006, 11:00 PM
Go on. Some of you have been keeping close tabs on this. Who's doing a good job. Who is just not up to it? Any allowances for an especially tough match?
I'll try a ranking later when I'm not so mad I could spit. But Dracula deserves extra points for doing the continuous downpour match with standing water on the pitch which was impossible because no one could stay upright and he got pretty much everything right.
AussieHarry
22 Jun 2006, 11:03 PM
Not sure about the best ones, but in order of worst to best I'll give you the top 3:
1. Graham Poll
2. Markus Merk
3. The Egyptian guy who did the Aus v Japan game
The V Bomber
23 Jun 2006, 01:19 AM
Not sure about the best ones, but in order of worst to best I'll give you the top 3:
1. Graham Poll
2. Markus Merk
3. The Egyptian guy who did the Aus v Japan game
The strange/scarey thing is after the first 2 merk and Egyptian guy we thought, hey we get the best ref atm, and according to the espn ref ratings for this tournament he was number one, and what goes and happens, he loses the plot.
acemundo
23 Jun 2006, 04:56 AM
Not sure about the best ones, but in order of worst to best I'll give you the top 3:
1. Graham Poll
2. Markus Merk
3. The Egyptian guy who did the Aus v Japan game
4. The swiss ref who did ukraine v spain
Andy TAUS
23 Jun 2006, 07:05 AM
Not sure about the best ones, but in order of worst to best I'll give you the top 3:
1. Graham Poll
2. Markus Merk
3. El FatahFixed.
The Three Amigos. :D
CJH68
23 Jun 2006, 07:11 AM
I'll try a ranking later when I'm not so mad I could spit. But Dracula deserves extra points for doing the continuous downpour match with standing water on the pitch which was impossible because no one could stay upright and he got pretty much everything right.
The key question here is...
Did his hair move at all during the rain?
Davros
23 Jun 2006, 07:15 AM
Not sure about the best ones, but in order of worst to best I'll give you the top 3:
1. Graham Poll
2. Markus Merk
3. The Egyptian guy who did the Aus v Japan game
Ok - no one likes blunders - but let's give Poll credit for being the first guy not to get sucked in by the coach talk. He let us play football rather than whistling up a storm at the slightest sign that any contact might take place with an Australian. Merk was heaps worse - less blunders in his Aussie game but a fair number in the US game. Merk clearly worst in my view and by a LOOOOOONG way.
Andy TAUS
23 Jun 2006, 07:26 AM
Ok - no one likes blunders - but let's give Poll credit for being the first guy not to get sucked in by the coach talk. He let us play football rather than whistling up a storm at the slightest sign that any contact might take place with an Australian. Merk was heaps worse - less blunders in his Aussie game but a fair number in the US game. Merk clearly worst in my view and by a LOOOOOONG way.I wonder what Lippi says about the AUS team? :p
Alberto
23 Jun 2006, 09:30 AM
I think that this guy has been terrific.
http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/w/ref/187224_MEDINA_CANTALEJO_Luis.html
Spain's Luis Medina Cantalejo
Klinsmannfan
24 Jun 2006, 08:40 PM
Go on. Some of you have been keeping close tabs on this. Who's doing a good job. Who is just not up to it? Any allowances for an especially tough match?
This ref from Singapore is very good so far - MAIDIN Shamsul
Hope he do the ref in the final game
Klinsmannfan
24 Jun 2006, 08:51 PM
I think that this guy has been terrific.
http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/w/ref/187224_MEDINA_CANTALEJO_Luis.html
Spain's Luis Medina Cantalejo
Not really, sending off Sobolewski GER-POL - a questionable yellow card
http://us.news1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/fifa/gen/fifa/20060614/t/4143444967.jpg
MidwestRef
24 Jun 2006, 09:20 PM
Of the guys I've seen, I've been most impressed with Busacca and Medina. Both guys are in great shape, work hard, and manage games well. Elizondo also has done well in the two games I've seen him work (missed the SUI game with the non-offside debate). I haven't seen Michel work yet, but he was great in the Confed Cup final last year that I watched on Fox.
Merk has to be near the top of the worst list, or at least the "most disappointing list". I've watched lots of Bundesliga and CL games, and I've thought Merk's foul recognition was good, even if he was a little fussy. That has gone totally downhill in this World Cup. Merk is the referees' version of the Czechs - recognized as one of the best in the world before the World Cup, but a major disappointment during the tournament.
Larrionda is also at the bottom of the list of the guys I've seen. He lost control of USA-ITA and turned it into a card fest when it really didn't need to be a card fest. Even if his straight red on Pablo was the right call (I still don't think so, but it's a defensible decision), he was still awfully bad.
dirtskier
24 Jun 2006, 09:31 PM
who was the swiss ref who did the Mex/Arg game today? I felt like he was a breath of fresh air after some of the recent games. Only fell for a couple dives considering it two of history's most notorious diving teams out there.
MidwestRef
24 Jun 2006, 10:36 PM
who was the swiss ref who did the Mex/Arg game today? I felt like he was a breath of fresh air after some of the recent games. Only fell for a couple dives considering it two of history's most notorious diving teams out there.
Massimo Busacca of Switzerland. In my opinion, he has been outstanding the entire tournament. He called a great game in the England-Sweden game in the first round. A definite final candidate in my book.
EDIT - no wonder Busacca communicates so well - he speaks five languages according to his FIFA bio, and his mother tongue is Italian. He would have had little to no difficulty speaking with any of the Argentines in Italian or Spanish as well as the Mexicans. Must be nice to have that linguistic dexterity.
Autogolazo
24 Jun 2006, 10:49 PM
1. Lubos Michel
Instinkt
24 Jun 2006, 10:52 PM
Massimo Busacca of Switzerland. In my opinion, he has been outstanding the entire tournament. He called a great game in the England-Sweden game in the first round. A definite final candidate in my book. He made some glaring mistakes today. He ommitted a penalty against Rafa Márquez late in the game. He let Heinze off with a yellow card after a textbook red card challenge when there was no one between Fonseca and Abbondanzieri. I have no qualms about his physical condition, he was very close to the action. He influenced the final score, and when you're a referee, that's the worst sin you can commit.
MidwestRef
24 Jun 2006, 10:55 PM
He made some glaring mistakes today. He ommitted a penalty against Rafa Márquez late in the game. He let Heinze off with a yellow card after a textbook red card challenge when there was no one between Fonseca and Abbondanzieri. I have no qualms about his physical condition, he was very close to the action. He influenced the final score, and when you're a referee, that's the worst sin you can commit.
Marquez flopped. Busacca was right to wave that one off. It was relatively easy to see that one in live action before looking at a replay. The Heinze challenge would have been red by the fussier referees, but it was correctly cautioned. Red is defensible, but I agreed with the caution. I felt all conditions for DOGSO were not met. That one is a debateable point. The Marquez dive is not, in my opinion.
dirtskier
24 Jun 2006, 11:12 PM
ah, so he IS of italian heritage. I kept noting that he looked a little creepily like Luca Toni.
MassachusettsRef
24 Jun 2006, 11:30 PM
He let Heinze off with a yellow card after a textbook red card challenge when there was no one between Fonseca and Abbondanzieri. By no means textbook. You can disagree with his decision, but it was clear why he made it. He pointed to the middle of the field where Argentina's center (or right) back was standing. That player had immediately begun to sprint back once the goal kick was intercepted. You could tell Busacca was telling the Mexican players who were asking for a red that that was the reason why he went yellow.
Could it have been red? Yes. As MidwestRef says, it is a defensible position as it is debatable as to whether or not the Argentine defender could have prevented the goal-scoring opportunity.
Was it textbook and clear? No.
And, to be brutally honest, the mantra from announcers and fans this World Cup has been either 'why is he showing yellow when he could talk to him?' and why is he showing red when he could give a yellow?' This was a true case of a borderline call. Had Busacca pulled the red, he would have been inserting himself into the game where he didn't need to. I think he deserves credit for not doing that.