Match 100 [QF] : ARG : SUI - PINHEIRO (POR)

I am behind - the eternal free kick at ‘62 was really poor

 

Uh, US vs Paraguay?

 

Is it a dive? I mean probably. Would he have ever carded it without having given the first card? Absolutely not. So it was a correct decision he's forced to make _after_ an incorrect decision that he didn't need to make.

 

I meant without VAR boxing the referee into doing it. That’s the problem. If you apply the rule this way, it forces referees to give yellows that are *never* given in ordinary play, and in fact are never even asked for

 

maybe if they were given in ordinary play it would stop the diving?

 

Of course it was a dive. Embolo was nearly horizontal before Paredes even touched him.

I swear to God it's like I'm taking crazy pills. Years, DECADES even, people have complained and pontificated about how dives ruin the sport of soccer. I've seen people demand yellows and even RED cards for divers to get it out of the game.

Now you have a player who did a clear, egregious, ridiculous dive, horizontal in the air then kicking his opponent's shin, hits the ground screaming, baited the yellow card he planned the entire time to egregiously cheat, and VAR thankfully not only reverses the yellow, but gives him the yellow, AND gets him sent off, and people complain about how harsh and unfair it is and how "the rule needs to be changed to avoid stuff like this." Unbelievable.

 

in other words, a player fooled the referee and VAR fixed it

I don’t understand all the folks trying to defend the diver here. It was a shocking dive. We want diving out of the game. He got what he deserved

 

You don't think people ask for dives to be punished??

It's literally probably the #1 complaint people have about the sport.

In a world cup where I haven't liked VAR much, this has probably been my favorite new application of it (though I wish they would go all the way and simply make dives reviewable in all cases, not just when a yellow is given -- and don't rely on a tortured "mistaken identity" justification.)

 

Like me watching the game on my TV, Pinhoero made the decision based on the reaction.

AR1 probably should have provided some more help there.

 

Clatts’ analysis (putting aside his final conclusion that the card might have been harsh, which you could debate, though he said correct) was insightful and helpful I think. Can you imagine the Good Doctor analyzing that situation? Oof.

 

don’t forget my favorite; the head thrown back as though you are in excruciating pain before there is any contact at all.

 

85’ Messi is clearly onside.

There has been at least one other very questionable offside decision in this match. ARs are not covering themselves in glory tonight.

 

Poor refereeing once again destroys a great game. Giving Paredes a card was bizarre and ended up ruining the game.

2 for 2 today.

 

No one is defending the player, we are saying the official should get ZERO credit for taking any kind of brave stand. He screwed up, and then got boxed in by the VAR review to give a card he would NEVER give absent VAR.

 

i would rather not try

 

I think you can believe A. this was a cardable dive, B. the process to get to the card with VAR was horribly flawed, and C. its out of step with the rest of this tournament, all at the same time

 

The point of VAR should be to help referee make the call they would have made it they saw the play perfectly. Not to force referees to make calls they wouldn’t have made if they saw it perfectly.

If Pinheiro saw the dive, he just doesn’t call a foul and everyone moves on. Instead, VAR is putting Switzerland in a worse position than they would have been in if the referee made no mistake. That shouldn’t be allowed to happen

 

The referee clearly blew the first caution. But i will still applaud his courage to do the right thing rather than try to squeek out of it like clattenberg did. And others seem to regret that he did the right thing in the end.

 

So you're saying Pinheiro was justified in giving the incorrect yellow that led to him giving a mistaken identity yellow via VAR?

 

You are assigning him too much agency after he was called over to the monitor. There was absolutely no other possible outcome once that happened.

 

If Pinhiero wasn't fooled by the dive, then Embolo should have gotten a yellow card for diving anyway. He deserved the second yellow no matter what. And no, he shouldn't have just "waved it away" in real time if he didn't fall for it.

 

thats not what many are saying. The cheat should not have been sent off is the sentiment of many. You’re assigning him no agency.

 

Agreed. However, I heard it slightly differently. What I heard was that it was in his right to give a yellow but that it wasn't in the spirit of the game.

 

Treating mistaken identity as allowing reviews of dives anywhere on the field is a big mistake IMO. And was also totally unnecessary because penalties were already reviewable, which is the only place diving yellow cards were realistically given