Group Stage (Matches 1-8)
 |
| The sonorous Anglo-French clash on matchday one was in the hands of Germany's Markus Merk |
The sixteen teams' opening matches of UEFA EURO 2004. The prestigious honour of refereeing the curtain raiser went to the famed Pierluigi Collina, who had officiated the FIFA World Cup final two years previous. All eight appointments were released at 10am on Thursday 10th June (all times are local, UTC+1).
Group A
Sat 12th June 17:00 (Porto - Dragão)
1 - Portugal vs. Greece
Referees: Pierluigi Collina, Marco Ivaldi, Narciso Pisacreta (Italian)
Fourth Official: Alain Hamer (LUX)
UEFA Referee Assessor: Volker Roth (GER)
Sat 12th June 19:45 (Faro/Loulé)
2 - Spain vs. Russia
Referees: Urs Meier, Francesco Buragina, Rudolf Käppeli (Swiss)
Fourth Official: Kim Milton Nielsen (DEN)
UEFA Referee Assessor: Reidar Bjørnestad (NOR)
Group B
2 - Spain vs. Russia
Referees: Urs Meier, Francesco Buragina, Rudolf Käppeli (Swiss)
Fourth Official: Kim Milton Nielsen (DEN)
UEFA Referee Assessor: Reidar Bjørnestad (NOR)
Group B
Sun 13th June 17:00 (Leiria)
3 - Switzerland vs. Croatia
Referees: Lucílio Batista, Paulo Januário, José Cardinal (Portuguese)
Referees: Lucílio Batista, Paulo Januário, José Cardinal (Portuguese)
Fourth Official: Terje Hauge (NOR)
UEFA Referee Assessor: Jozef Marko (SVK)
UEFA Referee Assessor: Jozef Marko (SVK)
Sun 13th June 19:45 (Lisbon - d.Luz)
4 - France vs. England
4 - France vs. England
Referees: Markus Merk, Christian Schräer, Jan-Hendrik Salver (German)
Fourth Official: Ľuboš Micheľ (SVK)
UEFA Referee Assessor: Nikolaj Levnikov (RUS)
Fourth Official: Ľuboš Micheľ (SVK)
UEFA Referee Assessor: Nikolaj Levnikov (RUS)
Group C
Mon 14th June 17:00 (Guimarães)
5 - Denmark vs. Italy
Referees: Manuel Mejuto González, Óscar Martínez Samaniego, Rafael Guerrero Alonso (Spanish)
Fourth Official: Frank De Bleeckere (BEL)
UEFA Referee Assessor: Reidar Bjørnestad (NOR)
Mon 14th June 19:45 (Lisbon - Alvalade)
Fourth Official: Frank De Bleeckere (BEL)
UEFA Referee Assessor: Reidar Bjørnestad (NOR)
Mon 14th June 19:45 (Lisbon - Alvalade)
6 - Sweden vs. Bulgaria
Referees: Michael Riley, Philip Sharp, Glenn Turner (English)
Fourth Official: Stuart Dougal (SCO)
UEFA Referee Assessor: Michel Vautrot (FRA)
Group D
Highlights
Fourth Official: Stuart Dougal (SCO)
UEFA Referee Assessor: Michel Vautrot (FRA)
Group D
Tues 15th June 17:00 (Aveiro)
7 - Czech Republic vs. Latvia
Referees: Gilles Veissière, Frédéric Arnault, Serge Vallin (French)
Fourth Official: Kýros Vassáras (GRE)
UEFA Referee Assessor: Vítor Melo Pereira (POR)
Fourth Official: Kýros Vassáras (GRE)
UEFA Referee Assessor: Vítor Melo Pereira (POR)
Tues 15th June 19:45 (Porto - Dragão)
8 - Germany vs. Netherlands
Referees: Anders Frisk, Kenneth Petersson, Peter Ekström (Swedish)
Fourth Official: Valentin Ivanov (RUS)
UEFA Referee Assessor: Pierluigi Pairetto (ITA)
UEFA Referee Assessor: Pierluigi Pairetto (ITA)
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Match 1:
ReplyDeletePortugal
vs.
Greece
(1-2)
Ref: Pierluigi Collina.
(1/3)
DeleteBACKGROUND
1) Already the recipient of significant notoriety even before his first major tournament appearance in 1998, by the time Pierluigi Collina was participating in his fourth and final international championship, the Italian referee had become one of football’s most renowned figures: fronting the covers of the ‘Pro Evo’ video games in both the season before and after EURO 2004 (an extra time WEFA Masters Cup final defeat in the latter still rankles… :)), UEFA even gave him a special ‘feature’ on the full broadcast of this game, filming his arrival at the stadium for the opening game.
Perhaps it is easy to forget just how ‘unique’ the Collina phenonmenon was. Surely it is impossible to imagine such an event ever again in football (refereeing) - and it was only ever possible in the era which the Italian appeared in (mid 90s to mid 2000s), IMO.
2) Collina’s appointment to the opening match of this EURO was a signal that the Italian was not going to referee the final of a tournament whose official intro even featured him (smiling). Since Gottfried Dienst in 1968, when the European finals looked radically different of course, the only other referee whom UEFA had the chance to ‘anoint’ as ref of the two great finals in world football was Sándor Puhl in 1996. The Hungarian was one of a handful of candidates chosen after the group stage to be in with a shout of getting the showpiece game, but ultimately he only ended up in charge of a semifinal, the famous Germany vs. England.
Puhl was widely and hugely respected in football at the time. But as mentioned, Collina managed to transcend everything, and looked an extremely ‘easy’ candidate to ref the final if Italy went out. It seems UEFA, from the very start, had other ideas though. Probably, this was the tournament where the so-called ‘unwritten rule’ was, indeed, written. Many more words to follow on this thread sometime later in the tournament…
3) Despite the nice qualifying form of the opponents, Portugal were mostly expected to win the opening game against Greece relatively easily. Of course, it didn’t pan out that way, with the Greek underdogs scoring a well-played and deserved victory against the nerve-struck hosts, by two goals to one.
(2/3)
DeleteMATCH
Overall, it was a decent performance by Pierluigi Collina in a quite (but not more) challenging match. The big call was the penalty given to Greece a few minutes into the second half (from 09:58 on the HL) - and the Italian was spot on, instantly awarding the decision, with a brilliant facial expression to follow. Probably you can argue about DOGSO etcetera, but my strong feeling is that Seitaridis ‘won’ the penalty off Ronaldo, having not been terribly keen about running to goal, being a fullback, etc. So I’m quite relaxed about no card there, with the penalty awarded being the right call.
A more technical analysis follows below in note-like form.
BALANCE: Besides 38’, everything was (more-or-less) ‘within limits’ in this performance by Pierluigi Collina in my opinion. At the end, we can talk about a not-perfect, but generally good performance (7) by him. Assistants: Narciso Pisacreta seemed to be a more decisive team member than Marco Ivaldi on this afternoon, but neither Italian teammate was much challenged in the opening game, so the mark of ‘sette’ applies for them too.
(3/3)
Delete-- ‘Review’ --
1H
- perfect reaction against the ball-playing, lunging Figo foul in the opening secs
- missed, or even overlooked, deliberate handballs at 12’ and 16’
- tackles begin at 19’; honestly the first play on (19’) is rather correct for me, defender had better path to the ball and attacker was later there, but 20’ is a silly decision, Portugal were even ready to accept throw-in only despite such a lunge, but Collina (Ivaldi?) awarded to Greek, infuriating Costinha…
- who commits a borderline SFP foul a minute later, even tackle as an attack would be acceptable here imo, the open studs contact on the ankle can be seen best from first replay angle and could/should dictactically be excessive force; I don’t see yc as (close to) CME material, though
- to be fair to Collina, the game calmed down after 21’ for quite a while
- 38’ is very close to DOGSO(!!), no card because nobody noticed is NOT acceptable, sorry, 39’ is then a credible caution but the sequence of events here is really bad…
- no control of the players actions in last bits of the 1H, he ‘played for time’ there and luckily nothing bad happened (though we can recognise +46’ as clear step on foot -> yc, nowadays)
2H
- absurd advantage at 49’, only to stay in the background for no reason, a pity such decisions… (it wasn’t the only one today but this was by far the worst)
- CORRECT penalty to Greece, my feeling is that the fullback didn’t ‘fancy’ the shot/run at goal and rather ‘won’ the decision from Ronaldo but a clear tripping at the end rightly detected by Collina; okay you can talk about missed DOGSO, self-preservation blah blah blah, but here I am with the Italian, for the same reasons as vis Marciniak 2nd pen in WC final, no card is fine for me; one must say very nice facial expression by Collina here, brilliant (acting…)
- soooo blatant encroachment at the penalty, but okay :D
- should actually be a VC by Deco (54’) who fouled a lot since coming on at HT and makes a deliberate motion at Seitaridis on the ground to land/stamp on him; to Greek’s credit/naivity, he just gets on with the game
- 57’ is rather a red card, talking educationally: a) sooooo late and nowhere near the ball, plus, b) he rather extends his foot at the end (deliberate); the argument against is lack of force / no real dangerous contact, which I can accept, but…; advantage again too :/
- surely deliberate and quite nasty by Andrade at 62’, but nothing given
- nice freekick to Portugal at 74’ after foul committed by, not on, Maniche :D
- credible caution for spa/tackle at 75’
- no penalty at 78’ is okay-correct for me, defender had a better path to the ball and the attacker just stood in his way to ‘annoy’ him; VAR would of course support a penalty given though
- 80’ is rather missed freekick at first for playing in a dangerous manner by Greece but okay
- possible caution at 82’ not given, similar vein to 75’
- 85’ could have been a penalty if Pauleta was a bit cleverer but in the end he only performed a rather substandard dive
- I don’t like the final whistle, Greece only qualified by one(!!) goal difference in the end, he was happy to just end the game having survived exactly on time… ironic too given his interviews this week :P
-- ends --
(LAST thing - an interesting interview with this match’s fourth official, Alain Hamer (AH-mer, not HEY-mer ;)). This was the first of four EURO 2004 matches in which the Luxembourgeoise official took part, always as ‘fourth man’. Thanks to Wikipedia.
LINK: archive.ph/20201120161618/https://www.tageblatt.lu/sport/es-ist-die-gerechtigkeit-die-mich-fasziniert-21306183)
And rizzoli in Euro 2016 such as puhl and collina
DeleteMatch 2:
ReplyDeleteSpain
vs.
Russia
(1-0)
Ref: Urs Meier.
Really good performance by the Swiss referee in the second match of EURO 2004, an enjoyable encounter (especially in the 1H) between Spain and Russia, won deservedly by the Spaniards courtesy of a Juan Carlos Valerón strike on the hour-mark. Urs Meier issued a remarkable nine(!) cautions in the game -- the penultimate of which was a SYC for a Russian with a few minutes left -- but always kept the game fully under his grasp. For a referee who wouldn't usually be marked down as having a 'law-enforcer style' in his use of sanctions, it was a decidedly impressive performance by Swiss official in my opinion.
DeleteOf the eight YCs given, by far the most interesting are the first three - the 2H was a 'normal' game, but especially in the early part of the 1H, clamping down was de facto a requirement in order to ensure that everything didn't get too testy on the pitch in Faro. Meier read the game very well in that regard but he was quite anxious (also looking at his facial expressions), I'm sure, that he had fired quite a lot of munition 'early', and the remaining two (mandatory) bookings in the 1H were given with some hesitation. Other possible yellow cards in the game, I counted five potentials, were given a wide berth shrewdly (with probably only one exception, but that player got booked five mins later for persistence anyway). In the 2H, an absolutely justified dismissal of Roman Sharonov in the eighty-eighth minute (16:16 in the highlights) could also have been a straight RC for DOGSO, but while noting that more vociferous discussion would probably be required if Sharonov hadn't already been booked, the SYC is still a perfectly adequate decision IMO.
A couple of rightly-waved penalty appeals and a 'goal' clearly disallowed for an extremely blatant foul would round off a really sound performance indeed by Urs Meier, where he was ready to give cards when the game gave him no other option. Very strong showing by the Swiss! Assistants: I'm pretty sure that the 'buzzer flags' broke for the crew even from the start (Meier looks out to Käppeli for no other reason after 40secs), which made the ref's challenge to detect his linesmen's flags quite difficult with the low sun and the red/yellow shirted Spaniards in the crowd. Far-sided Käppeli was very busy in the first ten minutes but with few scenes on which we can properly make an assessment, at the end, a full '8,4' sufficiency should be in store for both him and Buragina, the long-time FIFA AR who patrolled the near-side.
Match 3:
ReplyDeleteSwitzerland
vs.
Croatia
(0-0)
Ref: Lucílio Batista.
(1/2)
DeleteThe decision of whether hosts Portugal would have a full referee crew, or only a fourth official (who would have been Batista), came down to the final exam for Lucílio Batista and his two linesmen under the eyes of UEFA Referees Committee chairman Volker Roth, who assessed them in the freezing Moscovite cold of the Russia vs. Wales playoff first leg in November/2003. To the frustration of Frank De Bleeckere and Kyros Vassaras no doubt (whom unlike the Portuguese, did not have a committee member from their association), Batista got the green light, and was cleared to be among the twelve main refs of EURO 2004.
The decision then to appoint him to a game in the championship which was --
a) very early, so as to decide 'what to do' with the home ref at the EURO
b) not a sonorous fixture per se
c) probably a technically challenging game (more so then eg. Riley's, Nielsen's)
-- and befitting of a committee who *actually* used the six months to prepare the opening twelve appointments, to their credit.
Accordingly, Lucílio Batista did face a very difficult tie: Switzerland and Croatia played as if quite acutely aware of their (perceived) place in the Group B hierachy, and playing the opening match of the section itself seemed to only exascerbate Swiss -Croat nerves. Surely UEFA also got their answer to ‘factor a)’ as well, and not really in the affirmative.
It was a game of many big calls for Batista, and we should start by analysing them:
-- KEY MATCH INCIDENTS --
1H:
05:20 >> In a more refined vein than FIFA at the previous World Cup, UEFA had still ordered the referees to punish acts of simulation with a caution as an important guideline for the EURO. Dado Pršo was the first player to fall victim to this, booked for diving in the thirteenth minute of the third game, but the Croatia striker could certainly feel hard done to have seen yellow. Bernt Haas had gotten the wrong side of Pršo, never plays the ball with his tackle, makes a clear (if light) contact on Pršo’s calf, and then ‘prevented’ the attacker from putting his other foot down on the ground. It was only at *that* point that Pršo fell of his own accord. Honestly, my preferred decision here is a penalty for Croatia for a careless foul, taking into account all of the factors mentioned above. There are also arguments for play on, I guess. A caution for simulation is clearly wrong though, in my opinion
07:39 >> Bernt Haas, now attacking, seems to have been quite considerably grappled with by Boris Živković, having gotten goalside of him to make a clear header on goal. Nobody, not even Haas, appealed for a foul though.
10:28 >> Dismissive though every BBC expert was about the Chapuisat penalty claim on thirty-two minutes, a penalty would have (technically) been an absolutely credible call, and probably even the most (technically) optimal outcome, looking back. Šimunić panicked that the attacker might have gotten around him, and decided to strike him in the face in his anxiety. In a very tricky scene to perceive everything live, Batista played on. No deduction here at all for the Portuguese.
(2/2)
Delete2H:
17:33 >> Johann Vogel was sent off early in the second half for kicking the ball away, second yellow card for the Swiss defender who was already cautioned by the fourth minute of the first half. Batista hadn’t been particularly stringent in policing this factor in the 1H, probably why Vogel fancied he might be able to get away with it, but in the end his transgression was too clear and the Portuguese referee either had to take the difficult decision of issuing a red card, or lose his credibility for the rest of the game. BUT, we can also ask - is it really satisfying in a such a tournament that a referee (had to) dismiss a player for such a trivial offence, according his prior management of the match, the players? The answer should very clearly be: NO!
20:16 >> Another penalty area incident, another Croatian cautioned for simulation, this time Ivica Mornar had his name taken by the ref. At least according to how I understand their VAR - in Italy, I think this would result in an intervention and penalty given, as there is clear evidence of a touch by Spycher on Mornar. The defender does play the ball, but he only minimally kicks it back onto Mornar, who can take a further touch forward (with the ball still in his possession), before he his tripped up. This incident is *the* most difficult one to assess live of the whole match. Again, the booking is wrong, but we are still far away from ‘clear match error’ territory too.
24:30 >> Having seen Vogel be sent off ‘softly’, the Switzerland goalkeeper was adament that Ivica Mornar should join him in the ‘early shower’, having alledgedly recklessly used his arm against one the Swiss defenders. Goalkeeper Stiel was (justly) booked for dissenting towards linesman Paulo Januário and Mornar not. The decision to ‘spare’ Mornar was quite correct IMO - the defender (Spycher) steps across Mornar anyway, and the striking by the Croatian was (at most) careless. How much Januário/Batista really saw is open to question, but the end they were right not to make the contest ten vs. ten at this stage.
26:29 >> It seems *some* holding exists by Murat Yakin, but enough for a penalty? Unclear. And the following offside is quite amusing :).
27:36 >> An identical incident to Baggio-Wright in Italia ’90 third place playoff!! And I already saw it very clearly even before the replay this time: expectation-perception-recognition in action! ;). Missed defensive freekick, nothing more, but fascinating how a players instinctive reaction to one fully deliberate handball is to ‘automatically’ commit one himself, even inside of one’s own penalty area!
-- ENDS --
The best way to describe Lucílio Batista’s Switzerland vs. Croatia performance in one word would be: unconvincing. He never really managed to establish a grip on the game. Detecting reckless striking offences, punishing lunging tackles, acting against stealing meters incidents - a couple of times each in this field, Batista completely failed in the 1H. In addition to not really presenting strong personality skills, nor displaying clear ‘decisiveness’ or ‘predictableness’ in his officiating. The anxiety of players was never quelled in the 1H, and unluckily for Batista, neither did it during halftime - some very ‘uncomfortable’ moments for Batista in the first ten minutes of the 2H. The rest of the game wasn’t so challenging after that, but in the end, the Portuguese referee left a rather negative impression here, arousing a lot of (unnecessary) attention about his refereeing. Some problems - like for Meier actually - about co-operation with his two assistants and picking up their flags (buzzers?!), but both linesmen gave the impression of being absolutely reliable officials.
Precis: Lucílio Batista allowed his selection to EURO 2004 be rather ‘open to question’ after he fell short in Switzerland vs. Croatia (-> 'rejected'), even though he avoided a clear match error. Subpar performance. The Portuguese trio’s second appointment was not to be a sonorous one.
Excellent analysis my best friend mikael
ReplyDeleteThank you! :)
DeleteMatch 4:
ReplyDeleteFrance
vs.
England
(2-1)
Ref: Markus Merk.
Markus Merk used of all his experience and 'game-feeling' in masterfully using a 'high threshold for carding' (lenient approach) to great success in surely the most sonorous match of the whole group stage, France against England. The game was won dramatically by Zinedine Zidane in additional time, and all of the (restart) decisions in the four biggest key episodes were spot on...
DeleteENGLAND freekick for 0-1 in 6:16
ENGLAND penalty (missed) in 15:29
FRANCE freekick for 1-1 in 17:51
FRANCE penalty (scored, 2-1) in 19:07
... however, we can place a couple of asterisks in the 'KMI' aspect too. First, I'd be very curious about other's views on the Gary Neville handball penalty appeal (CLIP is at 09:38 on the highlights)? Secondly, what are the arguments against sending Mikaël Silvestre off for DOGSO when he chopped Rooney down for the England spot kick? I can only find reasons in the CME, big-picture-orientated, world… this is a much more clear case than even Urs Meier’s SYC on the opening day! I guess you could argue James should walk too, strictly applying the rules, but the deliberate(?) foul of Silvestre is the more irksome case, in my opinion. Merk is still supported in ‘our’ system with his yellow cards, though.
The game had a very different character to the previous three at EURO 2004, and Markus Merk read that really well, effectively applying a generous line in disciplinary control to this fair-spirited encounter. He closely patrolled all incidents, and did start issuing cautions in the 2H when required. A couple of observations on a ‘managing the game’ front: a) Lampard not being cautioned after three borderline 1H offences (the last of which would be an ‘easy’ booking for Merk) vs. Pirès being immediately sanctioned at 49’ is not ideal; b) German ref clearly had a game plan to simply ignore and keep his (emotional) distance from young Rooney, even in one case when he made a blatant dissent, it was an interesting thread to watch as the match progressed; and, c) he was extremely attentive to assessing aerial duels, detecting even very well ‘hidden’ fouls in that regard, NOT pedantic today in foul recognition.
Schräer and Salver were good as linesmen. Overall, supporting Merk regarding his big decisions, I was very enthusiastic about his performance in France vs. England, and would have ‘elevated’ him to being a big final candidate at this formative stage of EURO 2004.
Markus merk before the tournament was the first candidate for euro 2004 final if Germany eliminated Sweden referee frisk refereed euro 2000 final and Italian referee collina refereed wc 2002 final and collina appointed in the opening match in Euro 2004
DeleteI think in minute 9: 51 in high lights france deserved pk after deliberate hand ball gary Neville
ReplyDeleteAgree. We are very 'well-trained' to pick up on such handling offences in modern VAR times, but I do think a penalty call here (in 2004) would have been quite easily accepted.
DeleteThe arguments against would be:
1) the ball hits Neville on the 'sounder' side of his elbow, almost to be protecting face
2) Merk actually had no chance to assess the incident from (more-or-less) any plausible position
I agree with you mikael
DeleteMatch 5:
ReplyDeleteDenmark
vs.
Italy
(0-0)
Ref: Manuel Mejuto González.
(1/2)
DeleteScoreless in Guimarães but not without incident - often involving Francesco Totti, who would be banned for three matches by competition authorities for his conduct in this game. Manuel Mejuto González -- the first Spanish major tournament ref in twelve years not to be named Vega, Nieto or Aranda -- didn't escape from the quite tricky fixture without official censure either, he having been too forgiving of the Roma striker in the tie's last embers. Mejuto overall did a decent job, but the final of the three Totti 'encounters' was not the only thing counting against the Spaniard in the final reckoning. Let's look through them:
(TOTTI EPISODIO UNO — 01:58 HL)
Christian Poulsen of Schalke 04 was given the job of marking Francesco Totti out of the game, a task he stuck to with great diligence and indeed had great success. A key moment in this ‘duel’, also for the ref, was in the tenth minute, when Poulsen and Totti enganged in a set-to, play having been already whistled dead for a Vieri foul on Jensen some seconds earlier. One can’t blame Mejuto for Totti losing his head later, but maybe it would have been different had the Spaniard managed this scene a little better.
It is hard to tell completely what happened due to the choice of pictures from the host broadcaster, but the gist should be clear: Mejuto shouts very angrily at Poulsen-Totti having called them over, succeeding surely in underlining his authority, but doing nothing to calm either down. Poulsen would have carried on chipping away at Totti regardless, but somehow one can ask how much Mejuto González really ‘won’ here, to be honest.
(TOTTI EPISODIO DUE)
Four minutes into the second half, off-the-ball, Francesco Totti spits at Christian Poulsen, apparently undetected by the Dane (Mejuto self-reports that nobody said anything about this spit on the pitch, not even Poulsen). But not unnoticed by the cameras of the Italy’s public broadcaster RAI, whom clearly show Totti’s misdemeanour. The Danish association (DBU) report the case to UEFA, who accept their position, and try Totti in a UEFA Control and Disciplinary Board meeting three days after the game (17th). DBU wanted Totti out for four games, but the final decision was that the Italian would be suspended for three. To underline: all four match officials were rightly considered inculpable for not detecting the freak incident.
> Characteristically pixilated 2004 video:
https://youtu.be/2GsNyyMn8Tc
> A clearer image of the RAI pictures:
https://tinyurl.com/yfaaeedz
(TOTTI EPISODIO TRE — HL 21:52)
Finally, having been wound up all game, Francesco Totti finally snapped, taking his frustration out in stoppage time not on the morally victorious Poulsen, but instead Danish captain René Henriksen, SFP-ing him. The caution given to Totti by Mejuto was rightly judged insufficient by UEFA assessor Reidar P. Bjørnestad (who sadly died a year later; RIP :/), a crucial mistake. The Spanish ref was a long way off the scene, having understandably taken an upfield position to prepare for a further Denmark attack, and wasn’t expecting such a violent attack instead to come from Totti. A really nasty foul indeed, which would have left a very sour taste in the mouth were Totti to never have spat, and then probably started vs. Sweden in the next game.
NOT a clear match error due to the clear temporal factors, but most certainly a note against Mejuto González for only cautioning Totti here.
(2/2)
DeleteBalance: How was the rest of the game for the officials then? Well, the lower side of good and higher side of adequate would probably be a fair answer. Mejuto González as referee imposed his authority on the game and players effectively, winning if not their fondness then certainly their respect, essentially by shouting at them quite often. A little insecure in taking (some) decisions, perhaps he paid the price for a lack of softer skills, as he couldn’t calm down frustrated players as the game went on, slightly losing a grip on procedings which finally resulted in Totti’s violent challenge in the last minute. It would have been credible if Tomasson was booked for his sixth minute fall in the box, where he was warned (shouting) but sanctioning the striker for his second ‘fall’ (if anything, more a foul this time…) was an incorrect decision - it almost denied Denmark a fair goal, they hit the crossbar. Some other interesting penalty box scenes too. Besides the simulation area and one missed yellow for reckless, carding was (again) optimal, including a SYC not given in 88’. For Mejuto, Totti’s yellow card at the end turned a 8,3/7 performance into 7,9/6 in the final reckoning. Only a super Sørensen stop saved Rafael Guerrero Alonso’s reverse crossover blackout just before HT from being a CME (as no goal: minus -0,3 in UEFA scale), the other linesman, who was Óscar David Martínez Samaniego, gave a very competent impression both working as a team member and in computing offside scenes.
Match 6:
ReplyDeleteSweden
vs.
Bulgaria
(5-0)
Ref: Michael Riley.
Despite facing the lowest difficulty grade of the six matches so far, surprise selection Mike Riley (who showed to be a decent/competent referee, this should be underlined) didn't neccessarily convince in Sweden's somewhat flattering rout of Bulgaria. How come?
Delete** Both teams played quite nervously until Sweden scored (minute 31), and apparently nerves could be detected on the part of the English referee too. The penalty box indirect freekick to SWE (and yellow card for reckless play to BUL's Petkov) was a poor and very ‘unpredictable’ decision. Petkov hadn’t committed any offence, playing the ball fairly before ‘late’ Ibrahimović came in; Riley had just ‘jumped’ at the collision between attacker and goalkeeper, making an (excessively) ‘excitable’ decision. At other smaller junctures in the first half-an-hour, he didn’t convince either (fe. blatant enroachment at 9’, invented freekick at 12’).
** Riley carded freely throughout the match (another faultless EURO 2004 game on the approach level), but two SYCs not given were rather in the ‘swallowed’ category (though not reaching CME-level). The game really could have turned on a potential Linderoth expulsion, for committing a tactical foul (body-checking) which has routinely been sanctioned at the EURO so far, but the Swede survived. Bulgaria were really pushing for an equaliser at this stage, but conceded two goals in the two following minutes! Then, with Sweden three ahead, the ref very clearly made his gestures of beckoning Petkov for a further card, until the Englishman realised he was already booked.
** If sparing Linderoth may have swung the game, the decision to award his side a seventy-seventh minute penalty did not, it being converted for a fourth goal. Though the Yorkshire-based official was absolutely correct in detect Ivanov’s trip on Ljungberg, replays showed that the foul actually took place outside the penalty area. A tricky incident, but a clear mistake at the end. Riley wasn’t in the best position to assess this scene, and would have made an ‘educated guess’ as to the location of Ivanov’s offence.
Precis:
One wonders how the three ‘protagonists’ (Riley, Graham Poll who missed out, and Kenneth Ridden, the second most powerful person in UEFA refereeing at the time who made the call) judged the Riley > Poll selection after the final whistle blown on this exact evening. There could be little doubt about the choice of English assistants though, first class showings by both Philip Sharp and Glenn Turner (8,5s each), best moments being onsides for the opening and final goals respectively.
[TIMESTAMPS:
2:42 (18') -- attacking indirect freekick to 🇸🇪 in the penalty area
10:34 (55') -- potential second yellow card to 🇸🇪
12:12 (60') -- potential second yellow card to 🇧🇬
14:54 (77') -- penalty given to 🇸🇪]
Match 7:
ReplyDeleteCzech Republic
vs.
Latvia
(2-1)
Ref: Gilles Veissière.
Quite gallant effort by Latvia, who lead a talented Czech team at halftime and for indeed for most of the 2H, but came unstuck in the end, Marek Heinz scoring an eighty-fifth minute winner to sink the brave Baltic side. Less impressive perhaps were the French refereeing triad, who didn't leave the most serene impression on 'CZELVA'. The worst mistakes made by referee Gilles Veissière (attending his third straight major competition) were an errenous play on call at 11:13 and a missing caution for Marian Pahars for lor/reckless (14:11), with a very interesting and important foul call denying Latvia a one-on-one goal chance coming in the incident prior to the former^^ timestamp (thoughts?). Veissière's showing felt far away from all other games so far, where the refs had strictly patrolled reckless play: this contributing to a relatively chaotic and not really satisfying impression, as visible in the highlights (8,1-ish area). With the exception of much-challenged Batista, definitely the weakest technical performance so far IMO. The first linesman Frédéric Arnault was okay, but Serge Vallin on the far side did not really appear to be an AR at EURO level - being focused to always keep dead in line with the second-last defender seemed a 'struggle' for him, and the error at 06:29 was an ode more to some of the weaker officials at WC2002, less the 'crème de la crème' of UEFA assistant referees on duty at EURO.
DeleteMatch 8:
ReplyDeleteGermany
vs.
Netherlands
(1-1)
Ref: Anders Frisk.
Not on the same 'stratosphere' of quality in the other top clash of MD1 (Merk's), Germany against the Netherlands was an enjoyable game nonetheless, from which Rudi Völler's side were a bit unfortunate not to take all three points, after Ruud van Nistelrooy's sharp late equaliser. A big name for a big game, Anders Frisk from Sweden was the referee, and I agree with what the BBC commentator (RIP, John Motson :/) said at fulltime - Frisk had a good or at least decent match. Bringing a huge force of personality with him on the pitch, the Swedish official showed both sublime management skills, and the ability to use his charismatic style in 'papering' over some often rather unwise calls, to ensure match control. The most controversial incident for us looking back some twenty years later was that Germany were not granted a penalty kick at 14:14 in the highlights: first for the shirt-tugging (something of a theme for this match), but surely moreover for struggling Jaap Stam's kick in the face of Kevin Kuranyi, the German striker having already executed his diving header on goal. How times have changed!
DeleteBoth linesmen, who were Swedes Kenneth Petersson and Peter Ekström, had quiet evenings and left quite competent impressions respectively.