Wednesday, 13 June - Kharkiv - 2:45 EST Netherlands : Germany Referee: Jonas ERIKSSON (SWE) Assistant referees: Stefan Wittberg (SWE) , Mathias Klasenius (SWE) Additional assistant referees: Markus Strömbergsson (SWE) , Stefan Johannesson (SWE) Fourth official: Tom Harald Hagen (NOR) Reserve official: Damien MacGraith (IRL) UEFA Delegate: Ainar Leppänen (EST) UEFA Referee observer: Marc Batta (FRA) This thread is for all pre-, play-by-play, and post-match discussion of the referee and other officials on the match. Only news and analysis or other facts/information related to the referees and the officiating should be posted here. This is not a team or rivalry thread and will be heavily moderated to ensure it remains that way. Please read the stickied thread at the top of this forum if you have further questions. Thank you.
Jonas Eriksson, perhaps the most anonymous referee of the twelve in attendance, gets the most high-profile assignment of the first round. He's following in the path of some very successful recent Swedish referees, like Anders Frisk and Peter Frojdfeldt. Of course, he also has his place because another Swedish referee--Martin Hansson--washed out in the wake of the Henry incident. I don't know much about Eriksson. Have seen him very rarely, in fact. But assignments bear out that UEFA like him quite a bit, it seems. A year ago, I thought he was a long-shot for this tournament. By the midway point of the UEFA season, it was pretty apparent he was a lock. And now here he is, getting the biggest game out of the gate. It's worth noting that the last time these two rivals clashed in major competition, it was another Swede--Frisk--who did the game. Eriksson's big matches from recent competition: UCL: Milan v Barcelona (QF), Zenit v Benfica (R16), Man City v Napoli, Lyon v Ajax, Valencia v Bayer Leverkusen, Marseille v Dortmund EL: Sporting v Athletic Bilbao (SF), Atletico Madrid v Besiktas (R16) EURO 2012 Qualifiers: Wales v Bulgaria, Romania v Bosnia, Slovakia v Russia
I know it's slightly off topic but I wanted to get this Martin Hansson documentary on here if it hasn't been on Big Soccer already. He is a good referee, who will probably not get another chance because of Henry.
It is somewhere else. Will try to dig up the thread. That said, it's a bit of a myth that he wouldn't get a second chance. He still went to the World Cup as a fourth official and maintained his Elite status in UEFA. He's since been demoted for subsequent performances that were not up to standard. You can make an argument that the Henry incident affected him irreversibly and that caused a downhill spiral. But from everything I've seen and heard out of Europe since then, he's just not been that good and Eriksson rightly deserves this spot over him.
Goal for Germany! Nice onside call - at first glance, I was guessing he was off, but the defender at the bottom of the screen (away from the ball) kept him on. Nice buildup and easy passing.
I actually agree with the no yellow card there. There's no Germans forward and it was an accidental connection of knee and cleats.
Two years have apparently made quite a difference for the Dutch....and not in a good way. Germany making that buildup and passing look effortless.
I think Germany and even Brazil was better in the last World Cup. The Dutch are a long long way from "Total Football".
The Brazilian team that lost to the Dutch? Dutch won their group on 9 points and beat two of the top South American teams in the knockout stages. They earned their spot in the Final. As MrPerfectNot notes, 2 years is a long time. Even still, the Dutch just aren't playing up to how good they were in qualification.
Better teams can lose to worse teams sometimes, just watch Barcelona vs Chelsea. Two years ago Sneijder could turn games, he's not the same.
Overall decent first half but nothing stands out as a critical call yet. We'll see what happens. I like how he just told Mesut to get up and stop milking it rather than make it a big fat hairy deal.
I was just wondering about that. I honestly think it shouldn't be called but it is a parry. Also what was wrong with Sneijder screaming in the refs face, he should get a caution for that.
Oh jeez Muller cleaned out but the ball definitely cleared away. It's technically a foul but at this level? I don't know, I don't like those sorts of challenges. They remind me I forgot to tape my ankle.
GOOD Call Ref. Even on the first replay it looked like it was on the arm. Ref had the perfect angle and made the right call.
I think it was a "we're going to keep the last 10 minutes under control" card, rather than the specific offense.....