Friday June 10, 2016 - 9:30 (EDT) - Chicago Referee: Joel Aguilar Assistant Referee 1: Juan Zumba Assistant Referee 2: William Torres Fourth Official: Victor Carrillo (PER) This thread is for all pre-match, play-by-play and post-match discussion and analysis of the refereeing team. Per the forum guidelines (http://forums.bigsoccer.com/threads/welcome-forum-guidelines.2032251/), this thread will be heavily moderated. For more general or partisan discussions of the match, please go to the general Group thread or the individual team forums.
Aguilar has never been my favorite. But he's refereeing out of his mind right now. This has been an incredibly tough game and he hasn't shied away from doing what he needs to do. Only quibble I have is the Godoy 2CT could/should have been VC. But it absolutely doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things. The "headbutt" and simulation/game disrepute double yellow was smart refereeing, in my eyes. I think some purists or disciplinarians would say the "headbutt" needs a red, but I don't think that's what the other 20 players on the field or the vast majority of fans expect or want.
I was impressed with what I was seeing, logged in here, and was similarly shocked to see Aguilar's name.
Credit where credit is due, he's improved exponentially since we first saw him in 2007 or so. That can't be debated. He's had so much exposure to big games and big events and he's a pretty good referee now. I still say I don't trust him in the biggest of matches with the biggest of decisions. The Mexico-Panama qualifier, where he physically went to signal for full-time but then allowed one last attack when he realized there was the beginning of a scoring opportunity, will just forever stick in my mind. It's the type of call, like Irmatov giving a goal in the Confederations Cup even after he clearly whistled for a penalty, that I can't get over because it shows the psyche of the referee and I don't think that ever changes. But I don't want to derail the thread! Aguilar is still demonstrably better. He knows how to call a good game and he actually has really good management abilities now. And he's reffed a great game tonight.
Aguilar did a good job of controlling this match overall. The play and antics of the Panama players was really ridiculous, and there could easily have been one or two more red cards. They were totally outplayed and the difference in individual skill levels was enormous. This leads to difficulties for the referee but he clearly recognized this and dealt with it well. It was an uninspiring match until Messi came on and showed everyone how it is supposed to be done! This is one of the problems with this Copa, there are several really bad mis-matches due to the differences in quality between the top and bottom teams. I think the Euros are better matched, although with the increase to 24 teams this year there could be a mis-match as well. PH