It is very simple. One team tries to get the ball into a goal. The other team tries to stop them. Sort of similar idea to...football, basketball, hockey (ice & field), Aussie Rules, hurling, shinty, polo (water & horse)... PH
I was actually waiting for someone here to say "it's called handling not handball". Anyway, back to football. I mean soccer. Oh never mind.
I've got to say the comment about his hair was unfair. Better to respond to the reasons why you believe he is lacking as an official. Certainly you could argue that he is many times too rigid and almost Draconian in his decisions. He is not the kind of referee that works well officiating a British team that is use to a much higher threshold of physical play.
The hair comment was merely a comment on the way he likes his hair - greased back. As for his refereeing style, it's safe to say it's not one that fits well with the British mentality, as Alberto says. Having said that, it clearly didn't fit well with the international mentality either given he was overlooked by FIFA at the World Cup after once again being far, far, too card happy in his group matches. Two world cups I've watched him at now, and yet to see him have a decent match. Needs to learn the difference between a reckless tackle and one which is serious foul play. Having said that, he could also do with learning the difference between a careless challenge and a reckless one. Some personality and man-management skills would also help his game. If he can calm down and not be so draconian in his performances, he may progress further on the international stage than he has done in his two world cups so far. Sadly what he showed in South Africa was a deterioration from Germany, rather than an improvement, hence being hastily packed off back to Mexico. Not a sweeping statement about Mexican refereeing, as Benito Archundia is/was very highly thought of. Which makes it all the more baffling how you can have two such extremes of quality at the top level. Unfortunately Rodriguez has left his mark and whenever you mention Mexican referees, he is the one that everyone talks about and hence you're left with the fear that any sort of tackle will result in a yellow or red card.
No question he's a strict one, but by that same token, there is little doubt that he would've come through with the calls that the British were begging for just a couple of days ago. And I'm not sure I'd agree that his style doesn't work well with England. As I mentioned before, when Rodriguez worked an England game in the 2006 World Cup, he was described by Kicker as "impeccable." Also, while pro-Australian Brits might not like to admit it, his decision to put the clamps down on Germany-Australia in 2010 helped to turn a game with a lot of early hacking into an open and flowing affair. I'm not saying he's a perfect referee, but the only reason I can think why someone might lump him together with Coulibaly is through some odd personal grudge.
Did anyone get a chance to watch Bibi in her match officiating the brazilian womans team. She should of been stricter and she failed to sanction misconduct and missed several clear fouls.
The failure to sanction by Irmatov that was so evident in the Sengal match against Great Britain has come back to bite Senegal in the ass big time. DOGSO called. Senegal playing down a man, but it is not impacted their ability to play given the tremendous speed of senegal
Excellent decision by Brych. Announcers pointing out that another defender was chasing back, so it should not have been a DOGSO. But it was a clear goal-scoring opportunity for Suarez, who would have out ran that other defender, hence the red card. The Ds are not Law or rules, just guidelines. But anyway, the actual tackle itself was worthy of a red card for SFP. A deliberate kick/trip at a player running at speed with the ball way ahead. PH
Agreed that was an excellent decision to send off the Senegalese player for DOGSO. Suarez with his speed was blowing by the last defender. Senegal seems unperturbed by all the plastic shown their team. They continue with a very hard fouls. Uruguay is now become frustrated and is playing very physical too. It just looks that no matter what Uruguay does they cannot score a goal. Give the devil their do. Senegal has played a man down since the 27th or so minute and it does not appear they are down a man.
Referee loses the plot just before the 85:00 mark. He calls a foul coming out for the Senegalese defender climbing the back of the Uruguayan player and then calls a foul against Uruguay as Senegal was across midfield for a Uruguay player charging from behind. The foul in the Senegal penalty area should have been a foul against Senegal restarted with a penalty for Uruguay. Very similar plays with vastly different decisions.
Our referee for the GBR vs. UAE game is interesting in the 2 minutes that I've watched. He is absolutely killing himself to get all the way outside of play on every counterattack I have seen and sprints everywhere, stops, and then sprints again. It looks spastic and unnecessary. If it works for him, more power to him, but it just doesn't seem smart.
ESP-HON is the gold medal match for gamesmanship. I don't envy the poor guy who got stuck with this match. He was looking at his watch about 10 minutes ago with a look like "when will this be over"
The referee truly lost the plot at the end of the match. The #8 from Spain shoved the referee twice on different occasions. I would really like to know what this referee was thinking that he thought it was okay for the Spanish player to basically assault him. Just what did he think would be gained by ignoring the out of control behavior on the part of the player? I lost a lot of respect for this group of Spanish players today. Their behavior was reprehensible. It was as poor as the antics of Holland, Portugal, Brasil and other countries noted for poor sportsmanship. Granted late in the match there was what I thought was a clear penalty that the referee did not buy, but you as a player cannot lose control in such fashion. They did their best imitation of Holland and crowded, touched and shoved the referee following the conclusion of the match. I found myself yelling at him to do something and not just take it. De Goea should have at least seen yellow and another player or two as well. The match is on the NBC soccer channel right now, 32 minutes into the first half.
I believe he booked them but did not show a card. After the shove he pulls out his book and starts writing down numbers. Edit: I have no idea what happened with the quote. Was referring to shoving by Spain at the end of the match.
Agreed. How there wasn't at least one red card at the non-penalty or at full time is amazing. Having said that, equally baffling was that non-penalty decision for Spain, which seemed very obvious. Decision would have saved Spain, hence their reaction. Looks like he'll be joining Irmatov on the first plane out of Heathrow then.
That was a variant of the classic scissor tackle. Granted it was not applied by a defender sliding in, the defender was standing up, but it had the desired effect. A foul that brought the attacker down. Tweet!!!! restart with a penalty, and yet nothing was called other than a corner. Wow, just wow, he certainly was close enough to play. Who was the referee for this match? I watched the match on Telemundo live and Cantor at first thought it was a dive, but on the slow motion replay, it was clear it was a foul. His color analyst knew better and had thought it was a penalty.
#8 was totally out of control. And he already had a caution so a second yellow would have been very easy. Spain #6 made a very menacing move towards the AR as well when he called a foul in favor of Honduras. that needed at least a caution as well. As for the non-PK, like I said, gamesmanship was the name of this match. When both teams are playing for fouls and carrying on like that I can see where one would be very leery of calling a PK.
The referee was Soto from Venezuela. There really should be sanctions taken against some of the Spanish players. I'm talking about multi-match bans from any FIFA competition. #8 should receive a minimum of 8 games.
M13, Group F 15:30 CET, Cardiff (Millennium Stadium) Japan - South Africa Referee: Thalia Mitsi (GRE) Assistant Referee 1: Maria Luisa Villa (ESP) Assistant Referee 2: Yolanda Parga Rodríguez (ESP) Fourth Official: Kari Seitz (USA) M14, Group F 15:30 CET, Newcastle upon Tyne (Direct Sports Arena) Canada - Sweden Referee: Hong Eun Ah (KOR) Assistant Referee 1: Sarah Ho (AUS) Assistant Referee 2: Kim Kyoung Min (KOR) Fourth Official: Thérèse Neguel (CMR) M15, Group G 18:15 CET, Manchester (Old Trafford) USA - Korea DPR Referee: Jenny Palmqvist (SWE) Assistant Referee 1: Anna Nystrom (SWE) Assistant Referee 2: Helen Karo (SWE) Fourth Official: Bibiana Steinhaus (GER) M16, Group G 18:15 CET, Newcastle upon Tyne (Direct Sports Arena) France - Colombia Referee: Quetzalli Alvarado (MEX) Assistant Referee 1: Mayte Chavez (MEX) Assistant Referee 2: Shirley Perello (HON) Fourth Official: Jesica di Iorio (ARG) M17, Group E 20:45 CET, Coventry (City of Coventry Stadium) New Zealand - Cameroon Referee: Christina Pedersen (NOR) Assistant Referee 1: Hege Steinlund (NOR) Assistant Referee 2: Lada Rojc (CRO) Fourth Official: Kirsi Heikkinen (FIN) M18, Group E 20:45 CET, London (Wembley Stadium) Great Britain - Brazil Referee: Carolanne Chenard (CAN) Assistant Referee 1: Marie-Anne Charbonneau (CAN) Assistant Referee 2: Stacy Greyson (JAM) Fourth Official: Sachiko Yamagishi (JPN)
So Chenard gets the group decider for GBR., Pedersen the dead rubber. Hong has the big game in Group E, although Mitsi's game could have a big impact as well. Palmqvist and Alvarado have games where North Korea and France will both be needing wins to gaurentee progression. Opens it up for the likes of Steinhaus and Seitz to get further matches, although the US team's continued progression will eventually limit Seitz's.
Great Britain v Uruguay is going to be a massive, massive, massive game given all the circumstances now. Needs a non-CONMEBOL or non-UEFA referee. Unlikely to be another Asian referee. And Garcia just worked. Down to Geiger, O'Leary or one of the Africans? Would be an incredible assignment for Mark. On the other hand, I would not want to be assigned Senegal's first knockout match, assuming they advance. That seems like the kind of match that could doom a career if it goes the wrong way.
After this incident, the CR came over and spoke to #6, but I agree that a caution was called for. In addition to leaving the field of play to shout into the face of the AR (who had backed at least a couple yards away from touch), #6 also knocked the ball into the back of the player who'd just been fouled. Another incident that might bear scrutiny is the one where Muniain (Spain #8) actually did get a caution. He was accosting the Honduran GK (who seemed to be play-acting) but fell theatrically under a push to the chest from the Honduran captain Leveron. Despite having his head turned away from the push, the CR seemed to react to the fall and immediately cautioned both players involved. Considering the other behavior that was permitted, the caution to Leveron doesn't seem deserved, and could turn out to be very costly to Honduras.
Mexico : Gabon. All referees are working everyday in some capacity until the knockout stages (16 officials, 8 matches, 16 slots per matchday). In fact, even given his first performance, I think you might see Irmatov on Matchday 3 with a whistle. I don't think FIFA is going to toss him overboard after one game, given how much they've invested in him in the last decade and all the accolades he's won in Asia. We'll know in a few hours, though.