Thibault Courtois and the rest of the Belgian team cost Brazil their place in the WC...man for man, pretty much every Belgian player outplayed their Brazilian counterpart. FWIW, I don't think any of the Neymar "incidents" were PK's....it's a football match, contact is to be expected, and just because there was some contact, doesn't mean it was a foul. With regard to the Kompany tackle, I'm fine with the no PK call, even though it technically was a foul. We've seen plenty of fouls in the box on set pieces not get PK calls, and in this case it the ball was headed out of play and a scoring opportunity was not denied.
Reffing aside, that was one hell of an entertaining game. Or not reffing aside...Mazic was really good.
I remember this exact play happen in the group stage and it was given the PK. Hard touch heading out, but player was fouled. Sorry, can't remember the play. Maybe someone else will remember.
And we had a discussion about not really being an expected call, but being the kind of call that is harder not to make once you have VR. VR can show that there was a foul and that the ball was in play. Which will probably be on the front page of Brazilian newspapers.
I have to agree, I thought Mazic did very well. There are always close calls, but overall he managed to keep control of the Neymar theatrics and the general match intensity without getting overly card or whistle happy. Never seemed to be losing control of the match like in some others I've seen in this cup. He was always seemed close to the action, and well positioned from an officiating technique standpoint as well.
If all of Brazil’s chances go their way, it’s a blowout. Maybe 5 great scoring opportunities. Two for Belgium, and only one goal resulted. I will say that when Neymar dragged the foot to go down, he got back up and wanted that game restarted so he woukdn’t get carded and miss the next game!!
I hope you took this one back after the replay. Neymar threw his right leg out and created the contact. ANY other situation and it’s a yellow for diving. But him being the only superstar left, and already having a yellow, he got his one free cheat.
You can't caution for simulation via VAR unless you initially award the penalty without VAR. You can't retroactively give a yellow via VAR unless you give the penalty kick.
Hmmm...I don’t think I mentioned VAR in my post. All i said was he wanted the game restarted and quickly.
Plus, I distinctly remember John Strong saying they were checking the play. In other words, FIFA told the entire world the play was under review. Wow.
To the refs in this forum: About the Kompany foul that was possibly a PK, is the controversy here really about whether or not the ball went out of bounce before the contact was made? Wouldn't be the first time I learned something new about the LOTG during this world cup in this forum, but I have never heard that before that this is an important consideration. On a related note, one thing you see a lot in soccer is a player shooting, a defender attempting a sliding block but arriving late and hitting the player instead. When the shot goes wide, can the defender ever be called for a foul in that situation? If not, is this so because the attacker exercised his advantage by making the shot? If not, can he receive a yellow card for reckless play although a foul cannot be called?
One of the requirements for a foul (and therefore PK) is that the ball must be in play. If the ball is out of bounds you can go with misconduct (e.g.yellow card) but it wouldn’t change the restart.
I'd say this is mostly true--and in practical application probably completely true. On a technical basis, there could be other ways it ends up for review. For example, if the VAR thought it should be a PK (i.e., that the ref clearly and obviously missed it), the R could theoretically review and determine that the VAR had been conned and it was blatant simulation--once he is reviewing, the R can issue the caution for what he sees on the video. But that is a pretty out-there scenario to get to a caution other than in reversing a PK--it would seem to require another angle being found while the R was reviewing or some other strange. (And in this WC, I can't imagine any way in which a PK is going to be wiped and the attacker cautioned for a dive.) There is NO circumstance in which a free kick can be awarded for anything that happens when the ball is out of play. And yes, a foul can be called after a shot is taken (if the ball has not left play). But it is more likely to be seen as trifling if th attacker has no chance to do anything.
It was arguably a penalty. Meunier placed his arm over Neymar, which arguably prevented Neymar from getting to the ball. Whether it did or didn't, he has no excuse to place his arm there like that. The problem is Meunier didn't play the ball, he played Neymar which that right there sells me on a foul. A defender must play the ball or cut the angle, not the man. The moment a defender plays the man, he opens himself up to a justifiable foul call against himself. He's taking a risk, no matter how softly he lays his arm on the opponent. That said, Neymar did himself no favors in the lead up to his game. Referees were eyeing him with suspicion. The problem with Neymar is that he has spent a lot of the tournament going to the ground easy and making more out of fouls than they are worth. So referees aren't having any of it from him at this point. However, he played with more maturity in this game and I think the referees have failed him truth be told. I can't blame him a lot given the treatment he has suffered: a broken back in the 2014 World Cup and recently a broken foot. He's a player who feels quite justifiably that he's not being protected enough. His theatrics, as over the top as they may be, are designed to draw the referee's attention, to then use his power as a star player to make sure opponents are getting carded in order to better protect himself from hard challenges to come. This is especially an issue for him in South America, where the fields aren't in as great condition and where opponents do whatever is necessary to win, even employing dirty tactics. He wants force opponents to make proper challenges for the ball, not the cheap stuff like we saw Switzerland do in their opener with Brazil. Theatrics have no place in the game, but neither do deliberate series of tactical fouls. If Neymar were really smart, he would have communicated this issue and made a point to the referees verbally, not through his theatrics. Rolling around and crying like baby wasn't going to endear him to anyone.
90% of viewers, and 100% of non-Brazilian viewers, of the last World Cup thought he was faking when he was seriously injured. You would think he would've already learned this lesson...
What cost Brazil their place in the WC was VAR not being used correctly, in an absurd way. It was a penalty on Gabriel Jesus. Ball was still in play, as it can be seen in videos and still shots. And as can be easily seen on VAR. Plenty of foreigners on Social Media saying "The Boy Who Cried Wolf". However... 1 - that would apply to Neymar, not to the whole Brazil team 2 - The Boy Who Cried Wolf would really be a good analogy IF VAR WAS NOT INVOLVED. It's quite simple. Refs see dives by some players, or know a particular player dives. When there is a DUBIOUS call, the ref will not be sure if it was a dive or not, and judging the player historic, he will consider it a dive. That is NOT something that should or even CAN happen with VAR. Making the inverse analogy, going back to the Boy Who Cried Wolf story, it would be akin to hunters from the village being nearby the boy when a real wolf approaches. The boy cries wolf for real this time. The hunters SEE the wolf but do nothing out revenge for the boy past lies, and let he been devoured. Because that is what VAR is supposed to be. It's supposed to tell if a player has dived. And also supposed to tell if the player DID NOT dive. VAR should not, absolutely not, be prone to "well, Neymar is a diver, so I maybe Jesus dived too".
No PK was the correct call. Obviously, there was contact, but not a foul. It's tiring for neutral fans to watch your team roll around and embarrass themselves at any sort of contact.
Besides the individual warnings handed out to @RefIADad and especially @AcesHigh , a general reminder: Having your own opinion and disagreeing with another's is fine, but don't make it personal. Thread bans on the horizon if such behavior continues...