Wednesday 27 June - Donetsk - 2:45 EDT Portugal - Spain Referee: Cüneyt Çakir (TUR) Assistant referees: Bahattin Duran , Tarik Ongun Additional assistant referees: Hüseyin Göçek, Bülent Yıldırım Fourth official: Damir Skomina (SVN) Reserve official: Primoz Arhar Uefa delegate: Jānis Mežeckis (LAT) Uefa referee observer: Jozef Marko, (SLO) 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.
AFP article: "Portugal unhappy with semi-final referee" http://news.yahoo.com/portugal-unhappy-semi-final-referee-reports-110954109--sow.html
The battle of Donets'k? I'm setting the over/under on cautions at 4.5 Spain has averaged 1.5 for the tourney and Ports 1.75 and these two teams don't like each other. The first 10 minutes are crucial for Cakir to claim his authority.
What's wrong with this guy? The Portuguese federation seems really mad about this nomination. I never saw anything like this before a NT game, generally nobody talks about the refs. I saw him refereeing the Italy vs Ireland match and thought he was pretty poor, but does he have a record of favouring the perceived strongest team or something?
Nothing wrong with him. The cynic in me says that the Portuguese federation is laying the groundwork for how it is not going to be their team's fault when they lose.
These sort of rumors and innuendo seem par for the course now when Spain is involved. Nonetheless, a wire service like AFP should be embarrassed for publishing this article. Yes, they are just reporting what is being speculated in Portugal... Nonetheless, circulating this internationally only serves to legitimize the claims for some and AFP should be more responsible.
Maybe, but I find it strange they've never done it before, even when they played Spain. It does seem to be the case though. Still, I didn't like how he officiated the Italy match. Looked very pedestrian. Hopefully he does better tomorrow.
When it's clear that there is no impending offside decision, these ARs are perfectly happy to be 5 or more yards out of position. It really catches my eye.
Is it just me or is Ian trying to manufacture something with the ref and that Portuguese newspaper story?
Seems Cakir didn't expect Nani to pull himself out of that one...and he did. Did I miss something or should advantage have been allowed?
Exactly. Absurd criticism. He whistled while he was going backward. Unfortunate optics that it looked like he took away an advantage, but he really didn't. Nani just didn't hear the whistle and had a burst of speed the moment he turned, which made it look like something it wasn't.
looked like a terrible decision, but question is when was the whistle played? Almost felt like he was trying to prevent a dangerous situation for the Spanish. Pretty sure that's how most Portuguese fans will feel. And fit in perfectly with the Portuguese 'Turkey-Spain conspiracy' headline. That said good no call on the handball. EDIT: Surprised that was no yellow for the Ramos - Nani foul. The Portuguese bench is already getting pretty riled up against the referee... never good.