Match #23 Hungary : France Saturday, 19 June 2021 15:00 local time (09:00 EDT) Budapest Referee: Michael Oliver (ENG) AR1: Stuart Burt (ENG) AR2: Simon Bennett (ENG) Fourth Official: Bartosz Frankowski (POL) Video Assistant Referee: Chris Kavanagh (ENG) AVAR 1: Kevin Blom (NED) AVAR 2: Lee Betts (ENG) AVAR 3: Pol van Boekel (NED)
Even in the modern era, a tactical foul with a Hungary forward being wiped out with a trip goes unpunished without a caution since "it's only the third minute" of the match.
Good start from Oliver in a high pressure environment. The capacity crowd must feel different after past season.
Meh. Where was he going, though? If you go through all the considerations I think SPA was dubious enough to ignore there.
Interesting decision to choose to go with the shot there versus the free kick. Rather tough to make a decision like that in the moment. Set pieces being what they are, I think France probably prefers the FK, but I can't blame Oliver's choice either way there and certainly he was correct not to give a second bite at it.
That’s advantage in England and a free kick in most other places. Advantage = possession is a habit that has never really died for English referees. One of the few clear divisions in application of the laws that I still see.
Which is interesting because at any training event you go to in England, or feedback from an assessor, you're told the mantra that advantage doesn't equal possession...
Not even that. It has to be better than the free kick, based on the plain language of the Laws. And there’s not much better for most top international teams than a free kick from 19 yards out.
Right. But there’s always the fear of the next kick going into the net once Oliver blows the whistle. So he waits and then, once the kick is taken, it’s almost impossible to credibly bring it back. It’s a tough position for a referee to be in but I think free kick is objectively the right answer.
I think that's right. But if you're going to kill it, you better be on the whistle AS FAST AS YOU CAN FOR AS LONG AS YOU CAN - just for that reason. Because even if the GK stops and they kick it in the goal, the questions will come.
Which is why we sometimes give the foul instead of giving advantage. Not writing for this group, but for certain U10 coaches...