Because the ball played the player. It looks to me that the player is making an attempt to twist his body away from the ball. Just because the ball made contact with his hand does not mean it is a handball. Just because the defender gains an advantage from the ball contacting his hand or arm is not reason to award a penalty. For me this is a terrible call. In no way is the player attempting to play the ball. He is trying to avoid getting hit. Look at his facial expression. His eyes are tightly closed. He is turning and tucking his arm in towards his body. There is nothing deliberate in his actions to suggest he was trying to handle the ball.
I am in complete disagreement. You have to factor the time element in reacting to the ball. In no way is the German defender making himself larger. It just so happens his body and arm intersect the flight path of the ball.
Well I think that that forgives the player but it does nothign to restore the injured party (the attacking team). My understanding of deliberate was that intent was irrelevant and it was an attempt to clarify ideas like - not intending to handle the ball but having the ball hit the hand because the hand was placed in the position by some deliberate action of the player. If that's not the case then maybe the call is wrong but I would argue that it's the kind of situation that rules are supposed to remedy and be in favor of change in that direction.
He didn't have to turn around though and in doing so he placed his harm in a position where it was not tight to his body (imo) and as a result prevented the ball from continuing on its path and gained his team a significant, though unintentional advantage. If he just holds his ground instead the ball hits him in his chest or arm and chest but in a more naturally tight position. I don't think "just so happens" should forgive making the call, only that it should mean the ref can't further penalize the player for intent to commit a foul.
Here's the problem...there's a LOT of things written about handling fouls, just tons of things we all read. It's also the one thing everyone can say "Well it hit his hand" and we can exasperatedly say "Yes but it didn't meet all these criteria". The point is especially in the box it's gonna look like we just screwed somebody, so FIFA needs to make handling fouls more clear. Some people even call for it to be that the ball can never touch your hand.
The player through his actions must show he was trying to play the ball with his hands. this can be by moving his hands towards the flight of the ball or by making himself larger so that the ball has a greater chance of striking him. Do you see any of this in the sequence that played out? I don't think so. I see a player at a fairly short distance 7 or so yards away turning his body, closing his eyes knowing contact was imminent with the ball. There was in my view no subterfuge on his part to play the ball.
I don't think it's that simple...we can't be dictators. FIFA just needs to help make our calls more consistent with better instruction and clearer wording.
Both very true but also, IMO at least, irrelevant for this situation. And here is where I disagree. The other arm was tucked in but the one the ball struck was left a bit outside the body in a way that looked both deliberate and intentional to me.
We have clear criteria in my opinion on what constitutes a handling offense. Yet people are knee jerk reactionary to believe that all handling offenses must be fouls. If the ball falls at your feet from an accidental handling everyone screams it must be a foul. You know most don't know the LOTG. They don't even know it's law 12. Yet everybody regardless of their lack of understanding of the laws of the game chimes in on handling and offers their incorrect opinion. FIFA has to do a better job instructing people what constitutes handling.
Deliberately means time to think about it - both commission - don't reach out at the ball! - and omission - if I leave my arm here it might conveniently stop a shot. Boateng spins to take any potential blow on his back rather than front. It's a somewhat instinctive response. He doesn't have to keep his arms pinned, just not flail them about, which I don't see him doing. I assume the call was made to increase Greek interest and tamp down any frustration. He did add only a minute of stoppage for the same reasons...
Still not certain how Samaras stayed in that game. The foul near the two minute mark was certainly near red if not completely red. Then you have the caution he got plus 2-3 possible cautions during the match. The cynical shove it the back would have certainly been enough for me to send him packing.
Are you referring to the shove on the German defender in the second half? If so, that didn't warrant a second yellow for me. That said, I agree that his first foul should have been a caution. It looks like the players are catching on to the tendency of referees to not issue early cautions in this tournament.
I noticed that during the counterattack leading to the Greece goal that the near-side AR was sprinting down the line with the flag in his right hand held out level to the ground. I thought that, generally, the flag should be on the field side of the body (left hand) and kept pointed down while running. Is this just a technique unique to this level of refereeing or the country of the AR?
I really enjoyed the match, Germany were obviously a few levels above Greece but you wonder if the outcome may have been different if Greece had held the 1-1 for a little longer, i think the scoreline was fair in the end with Germany missing a lot of chances in the 1st half but they got some cheap goals in the 2nd (keeper error for the 3rd, fortunate rebound off the keeper for the 4th)...and as expected Karagounis was an enormous loss for the Greek midfield, they simply didnt have enough drive without him. The only question mark i have over Germany is the defence, awesome attacking unit but if Greece can open them up the way they did for the equaliser im sure Italy or England can get some joy as well...especially considering they have better individual players compared to Greece.....as for the Greeks they bow out with their heads held high....much better teams have suffered worse beatings at the hands of the Germans in recent times...4-2 is nothing to be ashamed of.
Fair assesment of the match. I'm not sure Karagounis would have made all that much of a difference. Granted, he may have provided a tad more presence than Makos, especially tracking the ball defensively, but all in all the Germans were a far superior side. Good observation on the Greek counterattacks as well. They found seams between the German CB's and FB's, on either side, and attacked them whenever possible. They simply couldn't get enough numbers forward. I thought the ref did a very good job, all things considered...maybe let go a borderline tactical foul here or there...but nothing of great consequence. Certainly didn't affect the outcome of the match at all. As for the pk, if the goal differential is anything less than 3 at the time, my guess is that he doesn't call it. IMO, 50/50 call.
I doubt it. Löw won't field the same starting eleven against a team like Italy or England and he won't play with the same tactics. Do you really think if Germany were to lead Italy/England 1:0 they would still play like they did against Greece?
Concerning the PK, could it be that Skomina got some kind of UEFA feedback after the NED-DEN match wrt handling in the box ? Good performance by Skomina, could have pulled first YC earlier, but then, that was very Webb-like, so, Skomina reaching for the final now i guess ;-)
I understand. But it is a pet peeve of mine. IMO, cynical shoves like that are exactly what cautions were designed for. First, when players aren't expecting to get shoved, it sets them up for injury. Second, it is the kind of contact that escalates and leads to retaliation. I almost always caution that type of conduct.