I used to watched the CL on TV and since I knew so little about soccer I waited for a team to score to figure out who was who most of the time.
Well, overall a pretty good Teflon performance by Brych. No mistakes, no blame! Maybe the selection was good after all. PH
I think I prefer going straight to PK’s like Copa America - Eliminates that cautious play the last 5 minutes. It also ends the ugly tired play of ET.
I'll have to watch this a lot more closely later, but it certainly seemed like a much more Brych-like performance compared to the last two games. I think that's what surprised so many of us the last couple of games (and particularly the Belgium-Portugal game).
He was very good in the England game QF. Otherwise I agree. One game that was not so good does not erase all the very good games during the entire career. IMO this is the correct way to evaluate referees at all levels. Of course, it doesn't take into account some of the politically based decisions we always see. PH
Exactly the same limitations in Brych's way of refereeing were exactly visible in the same way that BELPOR went so wrong (foul recognition), but the German referee was well-prepared this time, used his presence much more proactively, and in the end his performance was nothing other than good (if not more!) in this semifinal.
From what I saw, he let the game flow at a low simmer without boiling over. No one (other than refs) is going to be talking about him tomorrow. Sounds like a win.
That's the guy who's been a top ref in Europe for many years. If it was his final international match, then he went out on a high note.
Well, I figure refs are because, well, some watch the game for the ref instead of the game itself! Here's hoping the last two games are also all about the teams with the refs not being the story!
Nobody does it better than Martin Tyler. EDIT: I watched the game on my DVR as I was out at friends during the match. Brych did a good job and showed that his screw up two matches ago was just an anomaly. Anyone can have a bad day at work.
I think most of us on this board agree with the idea that anyone can have a "bad day at the office", and someone, like Brych, has earned enough credit to be allowed one of those and still be kept in contention for further games. The issue here, at least with myself and a few others who have posted similar thoughts, was not disputing that principle, nor was it anything targeted against Brych who was, and is, one of UEFA/FIFA's finest. It was more the apparent disparity of it - Mateu Lahoz and Clement Turpin had a "bad day at the office" but before the ink was try on their Observer/Assessor's reports, they were on a plane home, while Brych was not only kept on, but then given a QF and a SF. Clearly we are not privy to what went on at Referee HQ, and there may have been other factors at play - Lahoz is infamous for not taking criticism kindly for instance which may have had an impact on things - but it did come across as inconsistency which appeared to create a bigger problem for these appointments than was necessary.
Brych was really good yesterday and he showed why he has been getting CL semi-finals for almost a solid decade. If he wasn't so bad on Portugal vs. Belgium, I would have said he deserved to get the Final over Kuipers. Brych, and really all these elite UEFA referees, have such strength of personality, character and presence that they can pretty much call the game however they want and the players will begrudgingly accept it and carry on. Think about how many cautions he could have given that game yet he didn't and the game was always in control. There never was a moment where the players were getting in his face to ask for cards or dish out justice on their own. These top guys have such a presence, personality and man-management skills that they can get the players to accept almost anything. Howard Webb was very similar. Watch back and look at Webb's old games and he sometimes let the most obvious yellow cards go and the players would accept it and not retaliate in return. It was amazing to watch. Where Webb would get in trouble is he didn't really have a plan B if his personality and management didn't work. Brych, if a game starts to get out of hand, wouldn't be hesitant to pull a red card if the game needed. Make no mistake about it, Brych had a bad game in the Belgium vs. Portugal match and he really shouldn't have been on this match due to that game, but he got a reprieve and was phenomenal yesterday.
Brych's mistake was not carding Paulinho earlier in the Belgium-Portugal game. In the end Belgium won and de Bruyne passed fit for the Italy game. As poor a performance it was, it didn't affect the outcome. After his performance in the Spain-Italy contest, it has to be said he's the right man to do the final.
Had not seen this but love it. From SoccerAmerica: ******* Choice quote 1: "The opponent won, and it's irrelevant whether or not they deserved to. We have to make small children understand that you don't have to cry when you lose, but that you congratulate your rivals and try again in the next tournament." Spain coach Luis Enrique promotes a healthy attitude to defeat. Not just quote of the night, but quote of the tournament.
much respect for Luis Enrique. A true gentleman who’s gone through hardship and setup a great Spanish team on that night.