Saturday June 18, 2016 - 9:00 (EDT) - Bordeaux Referee: Cüneyt Çakır (TUR) Assistant Referee 1: Bahattin Duran Assistant Referee 2: Tarik Ongun Additional Assistant Referee 1: Hüseyin Göçek Additional Assistant Referee 2: Barış Şimşek 4th Official: Benoît Bastien (FRA) 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.2032253), 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.
Now that was a strange caution against IRL. Ref allowed a throw while a second ball was on the field, and then cautioned the player for kicking the original ball into the area of the second. DR I suppose. But strange.
I've been keeping track of the situations that caught my attention in the 1st half: 1' - Handling called against de Bruyne. Didn't appear to touch his hand/arm on replay. 15' A loud "f**k off" by an Irishman...Shane Long? picked up by the pitchside mics. Not sure who it was directed at, but came about 20 seconds after he felt he should have had a free kick after an aerial challenge. 19' AR2 visibly encouraged the Irish to speed up their corner. They have taken a huge amount of time over throw-ins and free kicks so far. Worth keeping an eye on. 22' Cakir has a word with Shane long after he kicks Vermaelen late. Pretty clear holding by Vermaelen missed about 2 seconds before the foul. 23' A bit of a mismanaged situation. Vertonghen running with the ball towards his own half, pursued and being held the whole way by Seamus Coleman. Eventually Coleman gets ahead of him, and Vertonghen pulls him down. AR2 appears to give the free kick Ireland's way, but Cakir calls it for Belgium. Cue Irish outrage. Whole thing could have been avoided with a quicker whistle on Coleman's foul. 25' Belgium goal disallowed for offside by Carrasco. Good decision by AR1. A matter of half a yard. 26' Dembele foul and free kick for Ireland greeted by loud ironic cheers. It's clear that the main area of contention in this game will be the aerial battles between Belgian defenders and Shane Long/the occasional Irish midfielders that gets forward. 40' Again, Cakir lets play go following a foul on Long and within a second gives another foul in Ireland's favour. A couple times now where a quicker whistle would have served him well. 42' Another situation that could have been managed better. Throw in for Belgium deep in Ireland half, and the Irish defender thought the ball stayed in play, and gestures 40 yards away towards AR2. Cakir blows his whistle sharply and runs towards the defender, presumably to admonish him. He then realises that Belgium want to take a quick throw, and backs away without speaking to the defender to allow this. However, he doesn't notice that the original ball is still on the field. The Irish midfielder Hendricks kicks this ball towards the ball that has now been thrown into play, with Belgium attacking down the wing. Cakir correctly stops play, cautions Hendricks, and restarts with an IFK. By slowing things down and speaking to the defender like he originally meant to, Cakir could have prevented this. 44' Another foul by Long. Might be time to consider PI. 44' Irish crowd are in on it now, and throw a second ball on to prevent a Belgian throw in the same position as the last one. 46' Another foul by Long. Arguably reckless. Cakir has a word, then ends the half. I'm surprised he didn't caution. All in all, not as strong as we're used to from Cakir. Let's see what adjustments he makes in the second half. I imagine Shane Long won't get far without a caution, but some of the Belgian defenders (Vertonghen especially) have been lucky to get away with holds and pushes on him as well.
Wow. After I just bragged on him, he totally blows this one. Irish player gets kicked in the head and Çakir lets it go only to have Belgium break down field and score. Absolutely horrible miss.
Disagree. From my scribblings: 47' Long gets kicked in the head on a cross, very high foot from Aldeweireld. One of those ones where you don't want to give a penalty, but it would be enough for a free kick anywhere else. On replay, not THAT much force. Playing on was the pragmatic, and probably correct choice.
I know it's hindsight, but could he have stopped play for the head injury without giving the foul? That would have been an out for what looked to me like a pretty clear call that he didn't want to make in the penalty area that was legitimate contact were an injury could have occurred
I think that would have been a reasonable out. It's certainly a bit rich that the Belgians complained about the Irish not knocking the ball out for an injured player a few minute ago when they scored from a similar situation (though I'm not sure Long was actually down, was he?)
Not really. He gets cleated in the shoulder and grazed in the back of the head. Regardless, he certainly reacted to the kicks rather than playing the ball. If you want to say there's no contact, at a minimum, you have a IDK for PIADM. If you see contact, it's a PK. https://vine.co/v/ilTD73z6aqg
By the book, yes, but when do you ever see PIADM given for the attacking team in the penalty area at this level? Would be a very strange decision.
I don't think it matters if it looks worse than it was. A boot that high has to be sanctioned, and sanctioned severely. It's simply about keeping players safe and that could have been quite bad. Of course, that doesn't change the fact that Ireland hasn't had much success doing, well, anything. Still can't see not giving a penalty here.
And again for the second half: 47' Long gets kicked in the head on a cross, very high foot from Aldeweireld. One of those ones where you don't want to give a penalty, but it would be enough for a free kick anywhere else. On replay, not THAT much force. Playing on was the pragmatic, and probably correct choice. 48' Goal Belgium, from the counter attack following the above. 49' Foul Vermaelen on Long, then kicks the ball away. Caution for DTR. 53' Foul Carrasco on Long. He may need some ice after this one. 54' Big handling shout against Witsel on the edge of the Belgian PA. Looked inadvertent to me (and Cakir). 61' Goal Belgium 70' Goal Belgium. Ciaran Clark launches himself into a leg breaking challenge on the halfway line that luckily misses his opponent. The Irish defense is accordingly exposed, and Lukaku puts this one to bed. Wonder whether Cakir had a word with Clark while we were watching replays/celebrations. It was a really bad tackle. 79' Shane Long replaced by Robbie Keane. No matter what you make of the potential penalty situation @Sport Billy and I have been discussing, I can't imagine Cakir will be too happy with how he's managed Long's battles in this game. All in all, a quieter second half for Cakir. There might be some controversy about the penalty situation, but I can't imagine it will affect his appointments going forward. Too much of a grey area for me. Don't think he had a great game overall, but I'm sure he'll get another game based on his performance all season and standing in UEFA's eyes.
But @colman1860 here's the deal. The Ireland player very clearly prevented from playing the ball for fear of injury. According to the Laws: This is text book PIADM (assuming no contact). We both agree there is contact. When PIADM and contact is made, the laws are very clear. I don't think "enough for a PK" is a consideration. If PIADM + Contact = DFK or PK Strange? Yes, but it's what the laws demand.
I understand that. But Ireland have 8 goals in their 11 pervious games. They are not an offensive threat. Their only real chance in this game was to defend and counter. The non-call resulted in Ireland losing their shape and giving up a goal. Once down, they had to abandon the counter and defend game plan. If Ireland get the PK the deserved and actually score, they will go into a defensive shell rather than open up. No way of knowing if any of those other goals happen in that scenario.
The laws demand an indirect free kick every time the keeper holds the ball for more than 6 seconds. Surely we both agree that there are times when it's sensible to deviate from the laws. Watching your vine, I just don't see a clear cut penalty. Aldeweireld plays the ball, and then his boot brushes against Long's head on the follow through. It wouldn't have been absurd to give it, and as you said, can be justified by the laws. But calling it an "absolutely horrible miss" is over the top.
I agree that there should have been a PK for that high challenge. This was a critical decision, and would be a points deduction for a KMI. It completely changed the game. Ireland would have been 1-0 up (obviously assuming they scored the PK), instead of 0-1 down a minute later. That is a 2 goal swing. Instead of pushing up to equalize, Ireland would have been able to consolidate in midfield and defense. Now I know that it is entirely possible that Belgium would still have pushed hard and perhaps scored more goals anyway, but this certainly was a mistake that had an enormous impact on the result. Take together with the list of other strange decisions this was a poor match for Cakir, and strangely to say, one of the weakest performances in Euro-16 so far. PH
Horrible analogy. You agree it's PIADM You agree there was contact. The only real options you have is PK or trifling. I don't see a kick to the head which keeps the attacker from playing the ball as trifling. Under your scenario, you agree it was PIADM (assuming no contact). Ireland should get an IDF. But once contact is made, you're suggesting Ireland get nothing. Where's the logic in that? I think any miss that substantially alters a 0-0 match and results in a team having to abandon their entire game plan is an "absolutely horrible miss". It took an entertaining game and killed it.
I disagree that Long was prevented from playing the ball. The contact happened after Aldeweireld's clearance. I didn't consider there to be enough force in it to give a penalty kick. I think giving an IDF here would be bizarre. It's a PK or nothing. We've both made our arguments, and I don't think we're going to convince each other either way. This is a stretch in my view. At the moment of the "absolutely horrible miss", the ball was in the Belgian PA. Ireland were still fully capable of defending Belgium's attack. By all means hold him responsible for Ireland not getting a PK, but blaming him for a goal at the other end 30 seconds later is conjecture.
Are you guys focused on #3? If so, I think you're barking up the wrong tree. #2's actions look like a clear foul. Straight leg. From the blind side. Into the shoulder. It's the reason the Irish player grabs himself in pain. Yellow and PK if seen correctly. That said, if you're focused on the challenge between the attacker and #3, it's easy to see why you miss it.
I may agree a bit with the call, I think the problem lies is that the Belgium player clears the ball first. I can see your point of view as well though. I cannot agree with a team losing form that quickly. They still had to traverse the entire pitch, a missed tackle and Ireland playing some spotty defense had more to do with giving up that first goal