Match #20 - 18 June 2014 - 12:00 EDT - Porto Alegre Officials Referee: Djamel HAIMOUDI ALG Assistant Referee 1: Redouane ACHIK (MAR) Assistant Referee 2: Abdelhak ETCHIALI (ALG) Fourth official: Bakary GASSAMA (GAM) 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.2003380/), 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.
Tim Cahill receives a yellow which means he will miss the next World Cup match. Interesting to note that this is the first players to be suspended for a game on yellow card accumulation. The rules for the WC have changed that Yellow card accumulations are not erased until after the quarterfinals (used to erase after the group stage). Believe this was done to give a player a better chance to play in the Final. Will be interesting to see how the tournament referees will deal with players with yellows in this tournament.
Wow, surprised to see the defender go off on a stretcher after that. Yellow is definitely correct, but I wasn't expecting anyone to be injured for that challenge. The way they had his head braced must mean he tweeked something in his neck. Hope he's ok.
Thought the handling call was well harsh tbh (as was the one on van Persie in the first half IMO). Should make for a fun game though.
Well, that'll be a point of conversation. That one could have gone either way for me. It looked ball to hand, but it also looks like the defender extends the arm behind him just before the ball is kicked to make himself bigger.
I would love to see FIFA specifically address this kind of play. Obviously ball to hand, but the hand is wide of his body and he clearly blocks a dangerous cross. Is the hand in a unnatural position? Probably not. Should he know better in the box? Certainly. As you can tell, I have no clue what the "correct" call is here.
Hard to say it's "deliberate" in that instance - almost like punishing the player for negligently extending his arm before he even knew the ball was coming in. Tough call, but based on our advice and the interpretations, I think it's a defensible call.
I understand how it got called, but (admittedly with the assistance of replay) I don't think it's right. Almost no distance between players and the hand was natural, even if it was slightly away from the body. You don't run with the hands next to your body so it's natural for me. Did it look like the ref hesitated for maybe 1.5-2 seconds on the call? It almost looked like he got info from another of his ref team. Weird.
Another ridiculous penalty to add to the list. Not a chance that is deliberate. Hand by side, kicked hard from 2 yards. How anyone can see that as handball is beyond me. Poor.
But isn't that exactly what our instructions (at least in USSF) tell us what to do? The whole "arm in an unnatural position" part.
I hate being behind on Watch ESPN. I see everyone's post about something and then get to see it on the screen. At least I know when to look up from my work.
To me it looked like he moved the hand away from where he thought the cross would come, but we'll never know his intentions for sure so I guess I'll have to agree with IAR and say it's defensible...
From someone not bound by USSF interpretations... Graham Poll @Graham_Poll 7m Shocking penalty decision for handball against Holland. It's supposed to be deliberate. Oh dear.
I'm not saying it's indefensible, just that I don't think it's a good decision There was an older amateur (retired pro) who I used to ref a bit when I was in college I gave a penalty very much like that for his side and after the game (and several refreshing beverages) he said "let me show you how it's done" That close, and at that level, they can play the ball right into an arm that happens to be extended. He said it works at least half the time (see Italy-Chile in WC 1998. Did we ever see Bouchardeau again?)