2019-2020 UEFA Referee Discussion [Rs]

I missed this the first time because I agreed with your post so much that I only skimmed parts of it.

Just chiming in to say that Mario Van der Ende was the referee in question. And he was elite. He was very, very good. The Dutch made the semifinals in that tournament and Ajax had been very good in the mid 90s, so the opportunities for him to get matches was somewhat limited. He did do 3 matches at WC 94, including one in the knockout stages.

After him, yes, the well went dry in the Netherlands for well over a decade (Wegereef had a really tough match in 2002 and Vink was probably the last referee selected for 2008). But Van der Ende was very strong for the Netherlands for the majority of the 1990s.

 

I knew I forgot someone!

Honestly, I never thought he was that good and was always surprised to see his name appear on big matches. But, of course, that is just my personal opinion.

 

Grinfeld had, to the best of my memory, the softest 2CT I've ever seen in European competition:

https://streamable.com/4d1r1
https://streamable.com/lbabx

Both are defensible cards, I guess. But the first one is a 2 v 5 at best and a minimal contact foul. I just don't see the need in a 5-1 match that had minimum physicality to begin with and I truly don't think it stopped a "promising" attack. The second one is more technically correct, but even still, if the Atalanta player doesn't slip after kicking the ball, he's probably not even calling the foul--nevermind showing a second caution.

His two penalty decisions were spot on. But the decision-making here definitely stuck out at me as someone who is probably not ready for the biggest stage. If these decisions were made in a very competitive match, he'd have been in a lot of trouble. And, if he's willing to make these in a lopsided match, I can only surmise he would have done the same in a much more competitive one.

 

The lack of VAR intervention on this play also caught my eye: https://streamable.com/v9kqz

I think that's 100% given in MLS and a lot of other domestic competitions.

 

To be fair, that match between those teams on matchday 3 with progression on the line was always going to be a nightmare. It says something about him that he was given the "honor" of doing it in the first place. Remember there were 35 referees back then, so most only got one group stage match--and he got a big one. The fact that he didn't get a knockout match might have had something to do with him, but it also could have had a lot to do with the fact that FIFA was spreading assignments around for political reasons until they shut that down after the QFs.

If I recall correctly, it wasn't so much that he gave a lot of cards, but I think he made one crucial mistake (a penalty that wasn't a penalty? or maybe a penalty that should have been DOGSO?).

I'm actually interested in going back to watch that match. It was a clash of styles with all on the line and in an era where referees were encouraged to card misconduct. It might be eye-opening to view a match like that from today's perspective.

 

I can't find the full match on YouTube, but I remember it being enthralling.

I did however, find the "mistake" pretty easily. The first penalty in 19' (the first highlight here) was a stone-cold DOGSO red that he went yellow on. I guess he was just 15 years ahead of his time.

Of course, it was also probably a dive. So that was a problem, too:

 

I needed to keep watching! His AR also allowed a goal that was offside.

 

Seriously. I'll just watch the whole video first next time.

Check out the final penalty.

THAT is why he didn't work again. Yikes.

EDIT to quote myself here:

The answer as "both."

 

I imagine even I was sympathetic to his argument on the last penalty back in 2002. But I've since learned, at the professional level, that can't be a foul. The attacker is cheating.

He missed a red card, his AR allowed an offside goal and he gave a phantom penalty. No one can survive that, even if he managed the overall match well (and, if I recall correctly, I think he did).

 

Nothing on camera will ever beat the third place match in WC90. At least not for a major international.