I know that goalkeepers are told to go up with a knee raised to 'protect' themselves... But... the US goalkeeper is looking right at the oppnent as what looks like the bottom of cleat contacts head. I dont mind the red card for the US keeper. Sound quality horrible.. so just turn off the sound... Incident starts at 1:57 ... [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8HPsJOUzPU"]YouTube - 2.22.11 U-17 Highlights - USA v El Salvador[/ame]
Looks like the right decision to me. A quicker red card may have saved the second red card but I'm not so sure #9 of El Salvador was going to stop for anything.
Really wish we could see more/better replays. The decision looks defensible at the very least, and probably correct (based on initial player reactions from the El Salvadorans). But the body language of the referee (and the hand to the top pocket, not back pocket) makes me wonder if he was going red for the US goalkeeper before the retaliation. I'd also like to see a closer replay to see exactly where the contact was (and if the goalkeeper was definitely looking at the player). Like I said, definitely a defensible decision. And I can't say it's incorrect at all. But I think a closer view and a better angle would be able to tell us a lot more.
Can I ask what the "official" protocol is for red carding a player going off on a stretcher? I'm not joking. It looks ridiculous. R
I have heard, more as a rumor, that one can show a card to the captain and then point to the stretcher to indicate who it's for. But this is not an official instruction and, quite frankly, might be the equivalent of the referee's old wives' tale. I'm not sure I would ever employ it. Does anyone remember how Ramos was administered his caution in the 1994 WC (when he went off with a fractured skull). I've seen one or two other stretcher/misconduct incidents in club football, but that's got to be the most high-profile incident at the FIFA-level that one of us might remember.
I'm not so sure about that decision myself.. Setting aside the video quality, it looked as though the US GK was executing a very normal collection of a high through ball. Yes, his knee was up, but as part of a jump. At the time of impact, his toe looks to be pointed down; his foot only flattens out as he's preparing for landing. To me, the contact was between shin and head, not cleat and head; and to be honest, the SLV attacker looked to have lost track of the ball somewhat - and probably should have backed out of the challenge. Based on the video, I'm not sure that I see anything worth calling until SLV #9 comes barreling in and cleans out the US keeper.
Not a wives' tale at all. I had a head-to-head collision in a very well attended night high school match last fall that resulted in two unconscious players and blood streaming from both players' heads. It took ages for them to be properly attended and removed. And yes, there was a single yellow card that needed to be shown to one of them. I explained to the coach and captains what I was going to do, they agreed it made sense, and before the restart I isolated his captain near the point of the foul, pointed there, and displayed the card. Then we shook hands. The crowd understood exactly what that was about. Then the captain feigned incredulity, waved his arms and grabbed his head in mock disbelief. Much laughter. Shook my hand again. Took the tension right out of the moment and we got on with the match.
this is how I see it too. I know it's upsetting to see a teammate flattened, but there's no foul there. Perhaps a red and pk is to appease the central American team, fans, as e result of the game is already decided?
Watch the video again and you'll see the referee has the red card out as he gets between the players. He went top pocket initially but even before #9 pushed the keeper he was reaching back pocket. I don't think there was much more the ref could have done - everything took place within 2 seconds and the ref was right there. How many of us would have been walking/jogging toward midfield seeing a routine play by the keeper? Matthew - www.footyref.blogspot.com
I think the problem is that this is an unusual situation, so the referee needed time to process it and figure out what he was going to do. It's difficult to run in with urgency if you're not sure what action you're going to take. If you do run in and get there, everyone is expecting something to happen right then - but what if you're still processing the play? Urgency followed by inaction is not usually the best for appearances.
I have to agree. I blew it up (and lost some quality), but the keeper has leg in and foot tucked when going up. Unless there was some sort of kick out that the poor quality of the video does not show, I don't see a foul here. Certainly not a send-off foul.
Poor video quality even at 480i. That said, it looked that the keeper made a play on the ball and the jump did not look like an attempt to take out an opposing player in fact he turns his body in an attempt to avoid contact. For me this is a ball the Salvadoran player has no business challenging for. It's already in the keepers arms and he does not stop his movement towards the keeper and the ball.
First thing I notice was lack of urgency on the CR part immediately at the contact. I tend to watch for this since it was called out in one of my upgrade assessments: GET THERE FAST at a physical foul BEFORE anything can happen. This CR is jogging in at the pace he was at before anything happened, in my opinion, he should have, at the contact, even before blowing the whistle, have accelerated HARD and got there while blowing the whistle. No need to actually "do" anything other than get there. then figure out what's going to happen.
Was that Courtney Campbell? Answered my own question here is the crew. Referee: Valdin Legister (JAM) Assistant Referee 1: Kedle Powell (JAM) Assistant Referee 2: Graeme Brown (SKN) Fourth Official: Paul Ward (CAN) Wow this was either a hotly contested match or the referee was card happy. Misconduct Summary: SLV - Ivan Castro (caution) 11th minute SLV - Giovanny Zavaleta (caution) 30 SLV - Gerardo Iraheta (caution) 48 SLV - Diego Galdamez (caution) 70 SLV - Gilberto Pena (caution) 74 USA – Kellyn Acosta (caution) 75 USA – Matt Dunn (caution) 77 USA – Mario Rodriguez (caution) 90 USA – Esteban Rodriguez (caution) 110 USA – Kellyn Acosta (caution) 113 USA – Kellyn Acosta (sent off) 113 SLV – Jose Pena (sent off) 116 USA – Fernando Pina (sent off) 118
I've heard this advice enough times to agree it's more than just referee lore. Had an ex-FIFA Referee talk about showing the card to the captain instead of the injured player and how it was the right thing to do. Has anyone seen this written down somewhere? It's easy to point to the player on the stretcher and show a yellow card to the captain. Not quite as easy to explain to everyone when you're showing red but it can be managed like Elizondo shows.
I agree. Notice that the El Salvador attacker doesn't make an attempt to play the ball and pretty much just runs into the GK. Looking at the height of that ball the only person I see being able to make a play on it is the GK. I don't see anything in the GK's jumping motion that is unusual but of course the video quality isn't high enough to see that kind of detail. Sometimes you can see the GK "line up" the attacker and pop them a good one. The CR had a good angle on it and it would be nice to know what was running through his head when he decided it was a send off.
I'll try to find the link that I read about showing the captain the card for an injured player. Good point BD!
I watched a portion of it. It was a very hotly contested match and a very difficult one to referee. The players seemed to have boundless energy and enthusiam, for both sides. I would not characterize the play as dirty. Defining the line between careless and reckless in that match would have been very difficult.
And the player never looked at the keeper, he was watching the ball in the air and jockeying for position with the defender. I'm not sure where the keeper looked or where the player looked is relevant, however.