Thought this was a good red. Even with little contact. Not a red for me. Don’t see excessive force in the challenge or the degree/nature of contact.Nobody would have complained if that was a yellow. pic.twitter.com/0JikKixr8z— Andrew Wiebe (@andrew_wiebe) February 28, 2024
Is it just me, or are goal checks taking a really, really long time this competition? And if so, any thoughts as to why?
Those tactical fouls to stop a counter where the defender is so beaten that he can’t even trip and just dives in with an extended straight leg from behind like that should always be a red card if there’s any contact whatsoever and give them a yellow even if there’s no contact. Get this crap out of the game Look at this horror. Extended straight leg calf high studs out and body completely airborne
How someone could look at that and say it does not "endanger the safety of an opponent" is simply beyond me. OK, he didn't break his leg or tear any ligaments but that's just down to random chance. For whatever it's worth Jim Curtin agreed that this should be red.
There used to be operative language that basically said a foul tackle from behind with little or no chance to play the ball was, by default, SFP (I think this was the language going into WC98). That sort of faded away or was relaxed because there are (in the eyes of many) situations where a cynical or desperation tackle from behind ultimately doesn't end up violent or dangerous enough to warrant red. But I don't think this should be one of those exceptions. Player physically cannot get the ball and he's challenging directly from behind with the intent of fouling. It endangers the safety of the opponent even if no actual injury is caused in this particular instance.
To be fair to Wiebe, he did write a reply tweet to the one posted here saying red was the right call.
A beautiful team goal! Emmanuel Boateng makes no mistake in front of net and secures a comfortable finish to put the @NERevolution up 3-0 👌 pic.twitter.com/dcsHq6fGYM— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) March 1, 2024 Here it is. There's a big deliberate play/deflection decision to be made on top of the offside position. Classroom stuff, I think. I don't think it needs to take 3+ minutes, though.
Easy finish from Tomas Chancalay after an exquisite setup from Esmir Bajraktarevic! ⚽ pic.twitter.com/EoTjuRXBE8— Concacaf Champions Cup (@TheChampions) March 1, 2024 really a great decision leading to this goal - I had to watch it several times to convince myself he was not offside.
Interesting. The still shows him on by almost 2 yards, but the speed of the runner relative to the 2LD makes for some wicked flash lag on that one, doesn't it? I don't know that the timing of the camera pan helps our perception from this angle, either.
Non-performance related, but I just noticed last night that referees are in Macron now. Interesting to see them really enter the North American market. Also, I can't get over how little fanfare CONCACAF (and Macron, in this case) does around this. I can't find a single piece of news announcing the partnership.
Women’s Gold Cup Quarterfinals 3 March 2024 Mexico – Paraguay Referee: Tori Penso (USA) Assistant Referee 1: Brooke Mayo (USA) Assistant Referee 2: Kathryn Nesbitt (USA) Fourth Official: Natalie Simon (USA) VAR: Ekaterina Koroleva (USA) AVAR: Benjamin Pineda (CRC) And noting because Rensch isn’t with Penso this tournament and appears to now be paired with a Costa Rican: USA – Colombia Referee: Marianela Araya (CRC) Assistant Referee 1: Mijensa Rensch (SUR) Assistant Referee 2: Lidia Ayala (SLV) Fourth Official: Sandra Benitez (SLV) VAR: Tatiana Guzman (NCA) AVAR: Amairany Garcia (MEX) The other US crew that was assigned in group stage is Referee: Natalie Simon (USA) Assistant Referee 1: Felisha Mariscal (USA) Assistant Referee 2: Meghan Mullen (USA)
Does the Simon crew have a chance at the Brazil v Mexico semi? I see there's no 3rd place match on the list so that would be her only chance at a big whistle since Penso got the QF. Or are we probably looking at: Araya - Brazil v Mexico Borjas - Canada V USA Hamilton - Final
I was looking at this last night and was actually going to ask if Penso's team had a chance at that semi. If you're going to break unwritten rules for the semifinal there, it would seem to reason you do it for the WWC Final referee and not the perceived second US crew. Borjas seems nailed on for Canada v USA (unless she's held for the final). I was thinking either Hamilton for the Brazil-Mexico match or Penso. But I was leaning Hamilton and then the Final goes to either Penso or the perceived top Canadian (I guess Marcotte at this point?)--whichever team loses that semi. But all this was based on me thinking that Araya is not that highly rated yet. I know she just had a QF, but she also had a first round blowout. That said, it's sometimes hard to tell at these smaller tournaments with just a handful of referees. Regardless, unless CONCACAF is willing to appoint an American or Canadian to the final (or other semi), they are pretty much stuck with the three names you list. There are only four referees who are not from US/Mexico/Canada so that trio constitutes the only set of options unless Gramajo is in the mix.
CONCACAF is in a bit of dire straits for the SFs if they want to maintain the "No refs from nations in the SFs" rule. That would leave us with Gramajo, Borjas, Araya and Hamilton. Gramajo I think we won't see again after her team needed 3 VAR interventions in a game that should be seen as the easiest of the tournament (USA vs Dom Rep). Borjas I would consider the candidate for the final (saw her USA vs Mexico performance in the stadium and everything about her tells you she is a class above much of CONCACAF refereeing), so unless they want to "double" her, she might be out. Hamilton I think would be a horrible choice. I saw her last game (ARG vs Dom Rep) as well, and she did the basics, but there is always sth in there, e.g. blatant SPA ignored for convenience. She was utterly terrible at the U17 WC and in her first game of this tournament, she invented a pen (VAR had to intervene) and whistled for HT with a striker through on goal. The Caribbean team feels like it owes its presence more to representation than anything else. I was hugely surprised to see Araya appointed for struggling USA vs feisty Colombia... and what I saw (not the whole match) confirmed my fears: Zero authority over the players at all, the pen for USA was clear and the card colour should have been red. Araya and a US player trying to take the pen were bullied and surrounded by Colombian players, it took forever for the penalty to be taken, only for another COL player to run into the box to talk to her gk. Araya did: Nothing, card-wise. No wonder it got heated and multiple cards followed. The sad truth is that CONCACAF lacks depth for this sort of tournament. The younger #2s of the US, Mexico and Canada all show promise, but there is a very clear drop after that.
This is why I think it almost has to be a Canadian or American for the final, with Borjas getting the US-Canada semifinal. I guess you could just throw every rule out and put Garcia on US-Canada, Penso on Mexico-Brazil, and Borjas on the Final...
I wanted to put Garcia & Simon on the SFs and Borjas on the final and something told me to look at the list of referees over again. I saw there weren't any neutral options except what I gave in my initial post. It almost has to be an Araya-Hamilton-Borjas arrangement in the final 2 games. Maybe CONCACAF was hoping that Brazil would eliminate someone in the SF and the options are more clear prior to the tournament starting.
Concacaf Champions Cup referee appointments for this week, the start of the Round of 16 (https://www.concacaf.com/champions-...-cup-referee-appointments-round-16-first-leg/): TUESDAY, MARCH 5, 2024 Philadelphia Union (USA) vs CF Pachuca (MEX) REF: ISMAEL CORNEJO (El Salvador) AR1: DAVID MORAN (El Salvador) AR2: ZACHARI ZEEGELAAR (Suriname) 4TH: OSHANE NATION (Jamaica) VAR: IVAN BARTON (El Salvador)) VAR1: BENJAMIN WHITTY (Cayman Islands) Orlando City SC (USA) vs Tigres UANL REF: WALTER LOPEZ (Guatemala) AR1: KEYTZEL CORRALES (Nicaragua) AR2: RAYMUNDO FELIZ (Dominican Republic) 4TH: JULIO LUNA (Guatemala) VAR: BENJAMIN PINEDA (Costa Rica) VAR1: RICARDO MONTERO (Costa Rica) CS Herediano (CRC) vs SV Robinhood (SUR) REF: FERNANDO GUERRERO (Mexico) AR1: MARCO BISGUERRA (Mexico) AR2: MICHEL ESPINOZA (Mexico) 4TH: CESAR RAMOS (Mexico) VAR: ALLEN CHAPMAN (USA) VAR1: TRISTLEY BASSUE (Saint Kitts and Nevis) WEDNESDAY, MARCH 6, 2024 New England Revolution (USA) vs LD Alajuelense (CRC) REF: ADONAI ESCOBEDO (Mexico) AR1: JORGE SANCHEZ (Mexico) AR2: ENRIQUE BUSTOS (Mexico) 4TH: VICTOR CACERES (Mexico) VAR: OSCAR MACIAS (Mexico) VAR1: TRISTLEY BASSUE (Saint Kitts and Nevis) Houston Dynamo FC (USA) vs Columbus Crew (USA) REF: ARMANDO VILLARREAL (USA) AR1: CORY RICHARDSON (USA) AR2: LOGAN BROWN (USA) 4TH: VICTOR RIVAS (USA) VAR: OSCAR MEJIA (Mexico) VAR1: BENJAMIN WHITTY (Cayman Islands) CD Guadalajara (MEX) vs Club America (MEX) REF: SAID MARTINEZ (Honduras) AR1: WALTER LOPEZ (Honduras) AR2: CHRISTIAN RAMIREZ (Honduras) 4TH: BRYAN LOPEZ (Guatemala) VAR: RICARDO MONTERO (Costa Rica) VAR1: BENJAMIN PINEDA (Costa Rica) THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 2024 FC Cincinnati (USA) vs. CF Monterrey (MEX) REF: SELVIN BROWN (Honduras) AR1: GERSON ORELLANA (Honduras) AR2: ENMANUEL AGUIRRE (Nicaragua) 4TH: JUAN GABRIEL CALDERON (Costa Rica) VAR: BENJAMIN PINEDA (Costa Rica) VAR1: RICARDO MONTERO (Costa Rica) Nashville SC (USA) vs. Inter Miami CF (USA) REF: MARCO ORTIZ (Mexico) AR1: CHRISTIAN ESPINOSA (Mexico) AR2: ALBERTO MORIN (Mexico) 4TH: DANIEL QUINTERO (Mexico) VAR: OSCAR MEJIA (Mexico) VAR1: BENJAMIN WHITTY (Cayman Islands)
Maybe CONCACAF wants to show current MLS teams the difference between the real PRO refs and the replacements with this assignment???
A couple observations: 1) Villarreal and an MLS crew get an all-MLS CCC game amidst the lockout. 2) More of an observation about the 1st round, but I'm surprised how much repetition of referees we're seeing this early in the competition. This is already every referee's second match of the competition, and Selvin Brown's third! The first round matches were populated basically by the top ~20 referees in Concacaf. Like, the lowest-ranking referees were probably Victor Caceres Hernandez (new Mexican FIFA starting in 2023), Ismael Cornejo, and Pierre-Luc Lauziere. And you had everyone up through Elfath, Ramos, and Barton. They even used Brown and Juan Gabriel Calderon twice. I'm surprised they didn't use those games to test out some lower-level developing talent. Frankly, a vast majority of these first round games did NOT need Concacaf's top referees. There were so many blowouts and easy games. 3) Cornejo gets Philadelphia for the first time since that Saprissa game in 2022.