Toru Kamikawa [ENG:TRI, Match 19] Referee Analysis [R]

Sadly you spoke to soon. There was a major incident that occured in the match in the 83 minute. Crouch from England received a long cross from Beckham and was being tightly marked by Sancho TnT's best defender. They were both looking to the ball and Sancho had the inside track. As they jumped Crouch went up and grabbed the dreadlocks of Sancho, causing a twisting motion as Sancho's head swung back similar to a facemask penalty in American football. It caused enough separation for Crouch to head the ball home and put England up 1-0. To Sancho's credit he did not dispute the decision. It was also a very tough call for either the referee or for the AR to see. I'm very disheartened by his actions. Certainly it tainted the result.

 

I didn't see the hair pulling. It looked like a borderline push in the back to me, but the T&T player seemed to be playing the man and not the ball anyway in an attempt to hold Crouch out. I was hoping they wouldn't score just so we could see the British press go into a complete meltdown, but ultimately I guess England deserved something out of that game. If there was hair pulling happening as you say it would have been undetectable by the AR who was on the opposite side of the field and the referee was probably fairly far away as well since it was such a long cross.

 

I saw no foul. Would have loved to see the English press printing England 10-1 Trinidad. What would they have done if they could never wear the whites again?

I wasn't entirely sold on Kamikawa after his first game, not that he was bad, just that he wasn't as great as everyone made him out to be. I'm starting to like him more, but still think he hasn't been stretched yet.

 

Was a foul by Crouch, hair pulling, before his goal.
But it was really difficult to see, no offense to referee.

 

Have a look at the official highlight reel at fifaworldcup.com. You can't see it on the first shot, but on the second he's definitely got his hair.

 

Wow I saw nothing during the goal or in the following TV replays, but I'll take your word for it. Was it that bad? I would think the guy would throw a hissy fit if he thought he was being mugged.

 

Excellent performance again from Kamikawa I thought. Got the cautions spot on, was calm when called on, and even spoke to players, who seemed to acknowledge that. He could/should have sent off Gray after giving him his final warning after he committed another foul after his caution, and then proceeded to jump into a tackle.

I thought there may have been a slight foul in the Crocuh goal, and I'm certain Dracula would have given it, but Crouch and that defender were at it all game, both grappling for the advantage, and this time Crouch got it (and finally scored!). I say 85/100.

 

Who is Dracula again? I'm not up on that joke yet.

 

Marco Rodriguez from Mexico (on the first English game).

Anyone who's still saying no foul on Crouch's goal, please go look at the clip and see if it changes your mind. I saw nothing in the game, and that was my first post. I saw nothing on the first shot in the FIFA highlight reel and was getting ready to say the people who saw it are nuts. Then I saw the second shot of it on the reel and was like .

 

Interesting..........I don't know what to say .

 

Are you not troubled by how Crouch scored? It was clearly a tainted goal. Did you not see the hair pull by Crouch. I understand you are English, but in the interest of fairness and sportsmanship his actions were reprehensible. They went at it all match, but I must say that Sancho is an excellent defender and he should really be commended for the class he showed following the goal.

 

i didnt see the goal, but can see the hair pulling, by the way i thought the ref was a little afraid to show an english player the yellow card and i left around the 65th minute.

 

In addition to the hair pulling controversy, Mr. Kamikawa seemed to be the "fussiest" ref to call a match so far, calling many fouls others have ignored. If he had been in the middle for the Poland-Germany match the only ones left on the field would have been the two keepers. And can you imagine him doing an Australia match? Of course, being Japanese that wouldn't happen, with both countries in the same group.

 

I thought he was pretty good and consistent. Only complaint I have is the hair pulling incident, and that would have been nearly impossible to see. Further complicated by the fact that the T&T player did not complain about it.

 

You gotta think that if most people didn't see it on the replay's, it is understandable that the Ref and AR missed it. No Sancho is not an "excellent defender" and none of this is "tainted." When Stevie G scored that second goal, this first goal became a distant memory.

 

I didn't see it, but if it happened or speaking hypothetically if it didn't, and Rodriquez were in charge, I hope he would be in position to see it and call it. He'd be right IMO. To do otherwise is to judge England more worthy and decide the match outcome on a judgement instead of what happened.

 

If you rely on poor sportsmanship to score, of course it's tainted.

 

I have to say, I didn't spot it on any of the replays I saw, but then I wasn't looking for it. If I were, I probably would, in which case it's obviously a foul, and should have been given, though I doubt it was intentional.

I did think he could have given a free kick for climbing, but as I said, they were both at that - Sancho holding him, and blocking him, Crouch pulling him, and climbing - so it was probably right to let that go.

 

Englishref here is a video link of the incident, please review it and I'd be interested in your comments.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJrHkMc5_J8&search=crouch

 

It certainly is tainted and it is a shame that many English fans who pride themselves on being so sporting and fair can't see it for what it is. I thought cheaters and divers were hated and dispised in England? Isn't the mantra always been we play fair and hard. No self respecting Englishman needs to resort to diving? How is this any different?

To your remarks on the result not being tainted, really how could you come to such a conclusion. The score was 0-0 or nil nil as they say in England. No goal, a foul against Crouch and a direct free kick restart for TnT and also a caution to Crouch for unsporting behavior. Who knows if Gerrard scores at that point?

Also why make disparging remarks on Sancho, quite honestly both in the England and the Sweden game he was terrific. He made some excellent plays and saved almost certain goals.

 

Yep I see it now. It was a foul. Never spotted it first time. I still think he meant to just use Sancho as leverage though, rather than deliberately reach for and pull his hair.

 

After watching the video 10 times, I still don't think it's an obvious foul. Because if the ref calls that, there should be a penalty given after 90% of all corners - there's a whole lot more grabbing and twisting going on there. So it shouldn't count as "bad" decision.

 

I completely disagree here. I think Crouch did it deliberately. He knew the referee was trailing and that the AR would be shielded. There's a big difference in feel between braided hair and a jersey. He would have let go instead of yanking him back otherwise if he inadvertantly grabbed his dreads.

 

Crouch has a hold of the guy's hair, rotates the guy's head 270 degrees, and you don't think it's an obvious foul? Do you really put that on the same level as corner kick jockeying?

I still won't count it as a bad decision. It was a very fast breaking play and it would have been amazing for Kamikawa to get into position to see that and the AR was on the blind side.