The ref is Viktor Kassai. http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/referees/referee=196381/index.html Anybody have insight on this guy? I am looking up whether he reffed prior group games (I assume he did). Edit: He did Brazil -- North Korea and Mexico --Uruguay.
He seems to be one of Europes rising referees who will contend for the final of WC 2014 or Euro 2016.
Let's just say I'm not optimistic. Nothing against this guy, I don't know him at all, but I figure the Pope could referee this game and the calls still would go our opponents' way.
Ref forum posters see this guy as one of the two or three best refs the US could hope to get. While I'm cynically tempted to agree with you (Ghana is, after all, Africa's last hope and has drawn two PKs already), at some point you have to think that all of the negative press focused on the referees in our matches might play into Viktor's mind. This guy is a young ref on the rise. He is fighting for future chances to call big matches. He will NOT help his cause any be become the center of controversy. I have to think that the ability of hte US press to make a ruckus out-weighs the ability of the Ghanian press to do so. So, while I hope he's perfectly fair and 100% impartial, it is no stretch of the imagination to see him holding back from making marginal calls against the USA.
reffingn hasn't beat usa yet, why should it start now.... bill clinton needs to go talk with him... say, the hungarians are going the way of the greeks, their banking system is collapsing... you want usa to bail you out....ah, you get the message
[segue] Hahahahahaha, England gets Larrionda!! Enjoy your red card(s). [/segue] This guy should be fine for our game. Rising UEFA ref star looking for bigger things in 2012 and beyond with a good performance here. I'd imagine, in addition to the furor in this Cup about the goals waived off for the U.S., someone will make him very well aware of the pathetic PK Ghana was given to beat us in 2006.
Kassai did USA - Spain at the U17 world cup last year. He awarded the US a penalty and sent off a Spanish player early on for DOGSO. He's done two matches in this world cup (Brazil-North Korea and Mexico-Uruguay), and he has shown only four yellows.
Keep this ref under constant surveillance leading up to this game. I want to know if Uncle Sepp pulls him aside, puts an arm around his shoulders, and "reminds" him how much continued local support would mean for the tournament.
Grant Wahl says the following about the ref: A match w/ a bunch of yellows worries me. If, knock wood, we were to win (and that is a big if), we'll need everyone -- missing Dolo or DeMerit or Altidore would be hugely problematic.
Exactly. FIFA's reaction to the Slovenia game was to bring in an extremely-respected ref. And while there was still a debatable call in the Algeria game, I would say that it wasn't as obvious as Edu's disallowed goal. My gut still tells me that FIFA does not want this kind of controversy. But long live conspiracy theories.
Which is stupid, because now the semifinals could be cynical hackfests with no ramifications. I would have reset after the R16 games. If you're dumb enough to get carded in two straight games leading up to a final, you should have to sit it out.
The blown offside call vs. ALG was, in my mind, way worse than the Coulibaly fiasco. At least there, he could claim there was a foul on Boca or Dempsey or whatever, and while no one agrees one should have been called, there was contact during the play. Basically, he made his mind up to call something and looked for any excuse. The offside call vs. ALG was as basic as you can have. The ball wasn't more than a yard in front of both the defender and Dempsey, who were perfectly in line with each other. After the call, you saw where the linesman was standing with his flag raised, so ostensibly he was in position to make the call. I have no idea what he was looking at. When the ball was kicked, Dempsey should have been DIRECTLY BEHIND the defender if the linesman was in the position he seemed to be after the play. The whole thing was in front of him in the same frame of vision. It was an offside call a U-10 linesman should get right.
There seems to be a lot of confusion about this. I've done some digging on Fifa's website and found nothing official other than this: FIFA Disciplinary Code Article 36: Carrying over cautions1. Cautions received during one competition are not carried over to another competition. 2. They are, however, carried over from one round to the next in the same competition. The Disciplinary Committee may exceptionally depart from this rule before the start of a particular competition. This provision is subject to art. 37. Article 37: Cancelation of Cautions Upon its own initiative or at the request of a confederation, the Disciplinary Committee may cancel cautions that have not resulted in an expulsion so as to restore the balance among several teams that have not played the same number of matches during the fi rst round of a competition, or in other exceptional circumstances.2. In any case, the committee may do this only once in any competition. 3. The Disciplinary Committee’s decision is fi nal. I've read all the offical documents (http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/organisation/documents/index.html) and found nothing official on when, or if this will be done. I know it's been done in the past, but it seems to be up to the Diciplinary Commitee as to when and if this happens.
The ref for the Algeria game was supposed to be good - and he was terrible. Not only the blown call on Dempsey's goal, but the PK & red card the Algerian player should have gotten for hitting Dempsey in the mouth. I have ZERO faith in FIFA officiating. USA needs to be 2 goals better than their opponent in the year's WC.
Well, the offside call was not the ref's (the one you're referring to) to make. Also, isn't it possible that the ref was watching something else and missed the fist to Clint's mouth. He does only have two eyes. How does he card something he doesn't see exactly? I thought he called a pretty good game. He kept pretty good control of the match until the Algerians went down and lost their heads. Then he gave a two yellows for what i can only assume is two cases of dissent from the same Algerian.
Yeah, I can't complain too much about the ref in the Algeria game--the linesman who blew that offside call should be shot, but that's not the ref's fault. And missing the backfist on Dempsey is simply a case of bad luck. Remember that the ref in the '06 final didn't even see Zidane's headbutt, one of the linesmen did and had to call the ref over to tell him what happened.
I've always felt that a yellow should 'fade out' after two game without a new one. So if you get a yellow and stay clean for two games you are in the clear. As you say above, having arbitrary 'reset' points only encourages players to play rougher in the last game before the rest. Aside, I thought in previous years that FIFA would claim that they would not reset the Yellows during the cup but that they would 'review' the situation after the group stage, then sure as the sun comes up every cup they would decide to reset them.
Why would Ghana staying in the tournament affect local support all that much? I mean, the WC is being held in Africa, and Ghana is an African country - check. I'm sure Sepp would like Africa represented for a while, all things considered. I'm just not all that convinced that South Africans are going to get all that wound up about the Ghanaian nation team. The minute SA went out, I suspect that "local support" lost most of the wind in its sails.
I'd be completely in favor of eliminating the incredibly stupid rule altogether, but that would require FIFA to admit that no two referees call things the same way.