...probably on the same flight as Graham Poll! Awarding a goal after the linesman rasied his flag for offsides and the players stopped playing???? At this rate will there be anybody left capable of refereeing the knockout rounds????
My God, that was awful. He handed out like 3 yellow cards based on that decision, as well. Perhaps I'm biased, but it seemed he called a lot of ticky-tack fouls against Korea. Argh.
But still a terrible call, and worse, it only makes sense if he has no idea about the rule in the first place.
Watch it again - when the first pass from a Swiss player was made Frei was clearly onside. He was only in an offside position when the ball was played through by the Korean.
I was watching the other game. If this is correct, Elizondo was 100% correct and the Koreans are 100% idiots for stopping on the flag. The AR was most likely screened from seeing who played it and did what he was supposed to, put it up so the ref can make the decision.
It doesn't make a difference if the Korean player touched the ball....the fact that Frei was offside is only negated if the Korean player controlled the ball and established possession of it, in which the play becomes an intercepted backpass and Frei is considered onside. However, the the Korean player did not establish possession of the ball by any stretch of the imagination. The ball deflected off him, and therefore, according to the rules of the game, Frei was offside. The fact that the ball takes a deflection off a defending player does not negate the fact that the attacking player was in an offside position when the ball was played.
This is all of no relevence due to the fact that Frei was in an onside position when the first pass by a Swiss palyer was made.
I disagree. Thanks to Tivo I replayed the incident in slow mo. The Korean player passes the ball to the Swiss. That is not offside. When the Swiss player passed the ball to his team mate there was no offside. You really should get TIVO! If you don't believe me, sneak in to someone's home who has.
Didn't see it, but Elizondo wouldn't have waved down his own AR without a damn good reason. It's one thing to make your own mistake and do something like Poll did. It's an entirely different animal to ignore the flag of the guy you have been working with and training with for 2 1/2 years or more. Their fortunes are tied together and it is much, much safer to accept that flag--even if you're pretty sure it's wrong. For Elizondo to wave him down, he had to be 100% in his mind that the ball was last 'played' (ie, not just deflected) by a Korean. I only hope he got it right.
I didn't go back to look at the play again, but if Frei was in an onside position when the ball was played by his teammate then obviously the decision was correct, but frankly I think extremely lucky. Elizondo would not have been in a position to know for sure that Frei had been in an onside position and I think he was judging that the deflection by the Korean player was a "play" on the ball. In any event the Koreans couldn't even score one goal so in the end it's a moot point. I also will agree that he and his crew called a lot of very minor contact as fouls against the Koreans. And the Swiss were pretty good about falling down. It's a shame that the game has become a contest of who is the best at diving, but that seems to be a signature of this World Cup. And the little countries do not get the benefit of any doubt while the bigger (or Euro) countries get all the breaks. There were at least two clear chances for a PK for the Koreans in the first half that went un-called. One a hand ball on a corner and the other a total mugging during a free kick. But as the ESPN dude mentioned perhaps it's karma for 4 years ago when the Koreans got the benefit of so many controversial or just plain bad decisions.
Looking at the high-lights in high def, it appeared to me the Swiss player was offside when the initial pass was made.
Look at Elizondo's bad calls in Swiss-Korea match! http://www.diodeo.com/mango42/000445343 there was Mueller's handball in penalty zone in Swiss-France match. Mueller broke down Adebayor's leg in penalty zone in Swiss-Togo match. this is the very foul in penalty zone which Swiss manager recognized frankly When against Swiss, why did this bad calls happen often?
They just showed it on WC live from above, froze the action when the ball was played by the Swiss attacker, and drew a line with the last Korean defender. Frei certainly appeared onside. I personally am gald to see a close offside play go to the attacker.
Every goal or dissallowed goal influences the course of the rest of the match so it's never a moot point.
I just reviewed my recording of the play, and I also believe Frei was onside when the original pass was made. Elizondo was in the absolute perfect position to see all of the players involved. I suspect the AR raised the flag when the ball was deflected by the Korean, having mistakenly believed it was sent through by the Swiss player.
What about blowing whistles after 5 to 10 seconds late? Pretty much all of his whistles were late. There were instances where Korea tackles, then Swiss tackles, and then Korean tackles again, and then ref blows whistle for the first Korean tackle by awarding a freekick at spot where first Korean tackle occured. So everytime he blows whistle, I was damn confused and both koreans and swiss players looked damn confused too. And strangely most of these late calls combined with that controversial offside goal (maybe onside but strange at least) benefited Swiss and certainly did hurt Korean momentum and chain of play. I wouldn't even begin to imagine the ref "intentionally" favored the Swiss but he was definitely indecisive, inconsistent and incompetent. I don't want to see him refereeing the rest of the games in the tournament.
I am not a fan of this particular referee, or his crew. But, on this occasion, he was 100% correct to wave down the flag and allow the goal. When the original pass was made by the Swiss it was to an entirely different target from Frei, so Frei's position was irrelevant (he looked ONSIDE to me anyway at that time). The Korean player then intercepts the ball and plays it directly to Frei who at that time is in an OFFSIDE position. However, when the ball was last played BY A TEAMMATE, not only was he "inactive" he was ONSIDE. The AR put his flag up as he almost certainly thought the ball was played by the Swiss (so the AR can't really be condemned here as it was an easy mistake to make). The referee immediately, and very dramatically waved the flag down and gave a VERY clear indication to continue play. The Swiss did, the Koreans didn't and a goal was scored. It was unfortunate - nobody likes to see such a goal scored - but the referee cannot allow his AR, and therefore hs crew, to make a wrong call because he realises that the defenders haven't picked up on it. The correct decision is to allow play to proceed. If the defenders don't know that, as referees we can't make allowance for that. In my (too many !) years in soccer, I don't know how many times I have heard or given, the instruction to "play the whistle". I have never heard anyone, myself included, say "play the flag"! The AR made a genuine, understandable mistake which the referee very quickly and correctly overruled (and went beyond the necessary to indicate this). The Koreans did not react. The referee crew did well in this instance, and should be (and will be) commended for it, not pilloried.
Just went back and luckily the high-lites of the match were shown at the end of the France vs. Togo game. I went and played it at slow motion and also stop motion. Clearly the Korean defender kept the Swiss player on side at the moment the ball was played. As to the Korean player that touched the ball, regardless of whether his touch was a deliberate play of the ball or a deflection (I think he never had control of the ball and was trying to break up the pass) it doesn't matter. Great call by Elizondo and the AR for taking the flag down and explaining the decision to the players. Thanks Allan for making me go back and look at the replay. I was clearly mistaken the first time.
Look... here comes KC's Short Bus!! A free transportational service I offer to anyone or anything that's driving me insane. Today's passenger: Tommy Smyth. Tommy was going on and on about how a deflection by a defender doesn't negate an offside play. And he's right on that point. But shouldn't a guy who's been around as long as he has be able to think about the other aspect of the play? Frei was level with the last defender when the ball was played, so there's no offside to begin with. I can't stand so-called "experts" going off about rules who clearly have no idea what they're talking about. Hey Tommy, slide over and make room for Marcelo Balboa, while you're at it. He wouldn't recognize an offside if someone handed him a diagram. By the way... If I played for Korea, I would certainly feel hard done by. But you have to play until the whistle blows. I have to say though, I don't think it would have mattered. The keeper kept playing, and Frei was in all alone. Even if the Koreans had kept playing, I don't think they keep that ball out of the net.
This refree and the linesmen... called 20 fouls of Korea but they called only 8 fouls of Swiss. I don't think this is a proof that we commited more fouls and Swiss played a fair game. This ref was very inconsistent. He was almost blind when Swiss defenders did handballs in the penalty area but he never hesitated calling numerous minor fouls against Korea. This kind of ref knows how to control the game, how to become a main director of the drama, and how to make a result they want. This guy intentionally favored Swiss and affected the game result.
Of course Tommy also thinks that any time a player "intentionally handles the ball it should be a yellow card like it used to be." I wish I could tune him out, really I do. Dear Tommy, if it's not intentional it's not even a foul. If it's intentional it's a foul, nothing more, never has been. Now if it's also unsporting it can get you a caution for usporting behavior, but not for just intentionally handling.
This is going to be one of those issues that's an only issue because a lot of fans don't understand this sort of subtlety and a lot of players for get sometimes that the actual rules of the game really need to apply.