Final: In-Focus

Match 31: Portugal vs. Greece (0-1). Ref: Markus Merk.

A five pound bet on them to do it would have won you £750 (only Latvia and Bulgaria having longer odds) being drawn into a tough-looking group featuring Spain and hosts Portugal, only having qualified for two major tournaments before (never having scored in the last one ten years ago), and possessing only a merely functional squad of good, sometimes journeyman players — these were all very valid arguments against expecting Otto Rehhagel’s Greece to win EURO 2004. 

And yet, defeating Portugal for a second time in three weeks, it was ‘Hellas’ who were triumphant at the end. Outshot by opponents in all six matches they played at the tournament, Greece squeezed through the group stage with only one victory (in the opening game) and by virtue of goals-scored, before winning all three of the knockout games by a goal to nothing to claim the title. Their dogged, direct style didn’t win too many admirers - but one could not begrudge them their success; I believe them to have been deserved winners against France, the Czechs and finally (both times) Portugal.

If the final word on the tournament was Greek, then the final whistle of the tournament was blown by a German, Markus Merk, appointed by UEFA to control the Portugal vs. Greece final in Lisbon. The weekend of the big game was something of a ‘trial’ for Merk, who the day prior to the final had to bat off questions from journalists about his relationship with Greece coach Rehhagel. A rather unenviable backdrop therefore for the German official, going into the biggest match of his career - some words on the tournament, the refs, and how Merk got on in the final, all follow in this in-focus report.

Tournament

In terms of the football, nobody would have guessed that the opening game clash between Portugal and Greece would also serve as the final of EURO 2004, but twenty-nine matches later - it was only Hellas and the hosts left standing. In that sense, this tournament did continue the theme of the previous World Cup - often disappointing favourites, unexpected results. Going behind in the opener after five minutes and looking pretty jittery in both their defeat to Greece and defeat of Russia, winning the tense grudge match against Iberian rivals Spain was naturally a caesura moment for Portugal. They would go on to beat England in what was considered a  controversial match and then an accomplished performance against the Dutch, to take their place in the final. The hosts would play Greece, for whom their second match against Spain succinctly surmised their whole EURO in my opinion - the Spanish started excellently, but were gradually suffocated out of the match, with Charisteas scoring a great equaliser to earn a point for his side. Incredibly fortunate that the Russia wobble didn't cost them, they would go on to beat the team with the best players (France) and the thereto best team (Czech Rep) in the quarter and semifinal respectively, to qualify for the final.

Regarding the officiating, my abiding memory of reviewing the thirty-one matches at the twelfth European Football Championship is actually the fair-spirited and sporting attitude in which the games were played. Penalty kicks were (able to be) executed a mere thirty or forty seconds after being awarded, never a mass confrontation, only mild cases of mobbing, and for the most part, a high level of mutual respect not only between opposing teams, but also between playing teams and match officials. Perhaps this comes across as an anachronistic, overly-nostalgic and even slightly patronising comment - but I don't mean it in those terms. It just shows what can be possible when a) the players are guided generally by previous seasons where they have encountered consequent officiating, and, b) when teams have the feeling that referees will be ready to sanction trangressions of the laws. It is of course also much credit to the teams and players, who played with a much greater level of sportsmanship than we now see.

That being said, I'm not completely sure that UEFA can reflect on an entirely positive picture when analysing the refereeing at EURO 2004. I made a long comment here with some detailed reflections on all twelve of the selected officials, but as a general remark - half of the refs squad in Portugal actually never really managed to convince. The decision to send home (those) six referees after the group stage was unprecedented in the four editions of the EURO with sixteen teams and centralised officials, and perhaps rather telling in some ways. In that sense, my other key reflection on this tournament is that it was partly an exercise in UEFA realising that a significant degree of their top Champions League referees were not so good as they had believed. Though, perhaps not, maybe they just sent home those referees for specific individual mistakes (justified, to be fair) - the next two Champions League final referees would come from the group of refs cut after the group stage. The level of the top six referees at this EURO meanwhile was mostly quite good. Comparing World Cups and EUROs is a slightly asinine exercise, but certainly this tournament had two big advantages over the Korea-Japan WC: 1) there was only one big mistake by a linesman in Portugal, though one can admit their work was relatively light, and the trios format could easily be adjudged a success; plus, 2) the tournament was pretty controversy-free, with the exception of Portugal vs. England, where the decision to rule out the goal was supportable/correct.

According to my evaluation scale, a grade of six for the tournament as a whole and seven for the important knockout games would be a good resume of the refereeing standards at UEFA EURO 2004.

 

Final

Appointment

Contrary to other tournaments, such as World Cup 1986 or even EURO 1992, the selection by the referees committee of who would handle the final was not really fraught or especially controversial this time. The two most important people in UEFA refereeing at this tournament were England's Kenneth Ridden, but most of all Volker Roth, a pretty formidable politician in the noughties era of refereeing. If, let's say, Paolo Casarin was in Roth's stead, then perhaps Pierluigi Collina would have gotten the final - but the choice of Markus Merk in the committee meeting on Monday 28th June was a completely justified one (it would have been mine too). There is one interesting info though from that day - remember that the semifinal and final appointments were released at the same time. Pierluigi Collina was so furious when the officials were informed of those three appointments, that the Italian stormed out of the room...

Collina was said to have been more annoyed having been paired again with the Czech Republic (after 2000) than on missing out on the final per se. But I doubt he'd have been so frustrated if he appointed to meet Nedved and co in the final! What is more 'controversial' to debate is the route that Merk took to getting the final via the appointments that UEFA made throughout the tournament: Pierluigi Collina was placed on the opening game, an immediate signal that Roth and Ridden didn't have much intention of giving him the final. The other 'rival' to Germany's top referee for walking the teams out in Lisbon on 4th July was Urs Meier from Switzerland, and a probably key event occurred during the second appointment-making process early in the tournament. UEFA were going to appoint Merk to a politically delicate match, namely Italy vs. Sweden, but then changed their idea at something close to the last minute - instead Urs Meier was now in charge. This EURO was really heavy work for the Swiss even besides that match, he had the best performance of the tournament, and was later appointed for the most sonorous match too (oft-mentioned Portugal against England). Merk's prior games made for a much more benign run:

- the top clash of the opening games, but a rather football-focused one (FRAENG)

- the Nordic derby of matchday three, which was also a fair-spirited affair (DENSWE)

Remember: though that Anders Frisk (who refereed the final, hence he was never a ‘rival’ for Merk) received de facto this treatment in 2000, a tournament actually where Merk did run 'the hard yards'. I think the German still deserved the final this time - he did well in both games, especially the first, and justly awarded three penalty kicks. He would be accompanied by his usual crew of assistant referees, Christian Schräer and Jan-Hendrik Salver. A nice quirk of this tournament is that Merk partly got to 'choose' who he wanted as fourth official for the final. After option number one Urs Meier (to show support after attacks by English press) decided to go home and escape the limelight's glare, Merk/UEFA wanted Anders Frisk to accompany them into the Estádio do Luz.

Full appointment:

Sun 4nd June 1945 (Lisbon - d.Luz)

31 - Portugal vs. Greece

Referees: Markus Merk, Christian Schräer, Jan-Hendrik Salver (German)

Fourth Official: Anders Frisk (SWE)

UEFA Referee Assessor: Kenneth Ridden (ENG)

Background

With thanks to Alamy Images, the final crew take questions at a press conference, Saturday 3rd June 2004

 

UEFA had the idea (I already touched upon it on in the preamble) to make the refereeing area more visible and less opaque than in the past, and in a feature never repeated before or after - Markus Merk and his teammates attended a press conference the day before the final, to answer questions from journalists pertaining to the game. A nice idea, but probably something that Merk could have done without this time. The Portuguese press, not distinguished by a reluctance to drift into conspiracy about refereeing, led a room which probed the German referee about his relationship or otherwise to the German coach of Greece, Otto Rehhagel. One Portuguese paper even alleged that Rehhagel had a dental crown fitted by Dr. Merk (a dentist his profession outside of refereeing) - but this was groundless. 

Transparency is a brilliant 'weapon' for referees and refereeing in order to earn empathy, followship and respect from the wider public - but the (presumption of) objectivity and fairness is more important. A pity that this experiment never worked! But the image of Merk forced the defend himself in front of journalists -- "I like both Portuguese and Greek cuisine!" -- was an unedifying one, and it is understandable that such a 'free' press conference was never repeated again. Coaches can play 'mind games' with little fear of reprise, but one slip of the tongue by the referee before (such) a game would have been terminal. 

 

This must have been this matchday minus one event for Markus Merk extremely stressful, when days of preparation are so important before a big final!

Match

Refereeing highlights

 

 

 

As it happened, Markus Merk's team left little room for complaint from either side in the final - the German was widely praised for a very fair piece of refereeing in the EURO 2004 final, and justly so; he had a good game. 

Talking points:
 

>> Perhaps the most debateable moment was in fact the goal itself. Charisteas, one-nil, fifty-seventh minute - but should play have been pulled back for a foul by veteran striker Vryzas on goalkeeper Ricardo? A similarity of goalkeeper wasn't the only ode to the Campbell episode here. To note some differences: whereas Terry gave Ricardo scant chance to reach the ball vs. England, by stepping around Vryzas the goalkeeper could have reached the cross this time, and there was no arm around Ricardo either. Looking through lots of players, Merk's chance to assess the incident wasn't large either. Overall, especially considering the magnitude of the game, at least supportable decision to 'validate' Charisteas goal.

>> In terms of penalty area incidents, the most interesting was at 12', where Ricardo Carvalho blatantly pulled down Vryzas inside the box, but a defensive freekick was whistled by Merk for another offence. There was also a more discrete offence perpetrated by Giannakopoulos at 22'. The German ref was perfectly positioned to wave play on in some other scenes were Portugal could have asked for a spot kick (45' and 56').

 

>> Disciplinary control was good, the opening yellow card (12') was a mandatory one, and it was followed by five more bookings in the second half, all of which were fully credible. It was not the most 'complicated' final in the carding regard, but Merk had zero hesitation to caution when it was necessary!

>> Both teams started the final with lots of nervous energy, and including a number of smaller scenes where players showed angst, was a conflict at 7' which could have blown up. Merk did very well here on two counts: 1) not being a 'victim' to a restart quicker than he wanted, ordering play dead to warn the two players (namely Zagorakis and Maniche), and, 2) when they shook hands of their own accords, not 'forcing' them both to come to him to be lectured, and letting the game restart then.

>> I think Merk's very high level of fitness helped him a lot in this game. In Portugal's prior two matches, we saw referees who tired as a result of being tested deeply in the match itself, and because of previous body of work in the tournament - but that never really happened here, the German always giving a 'fresh' impression when assessing incidents. He didn't catch everything (some quick restarts took him by surprise, a small handful of missed fouls), but probably about as much as you could reasonably expect.

>> A supporter entered the field of play on 86', delaying the restart of play and forcing linesman Jan-Hendrik Salver to double check he hadn't broken the goal net into which he jumped. This only contributed to a very tense final stages, into which Merk partly experienced some small problems. However after a game which demanded high concentration and focus throughout, it was absolutely in the 'acceptable' range.

>> Aforementioned Jan-Hendrik Salver and Christian Schräer had faultless matches with the flag; especially the former, working as AR2, had a challenging last fifteen minutes with lots of scenes to assess.

Good performances by them both!

 

>> Merk/Schräer/Salver/Frisk would be the last refs team to handle a major tournament prior to the introduction of communication kits, and perhaps that showed in what was an slightly unfortunate end to the final - the German ref blew up about twenty seconds prematurely for fulltime. Based on the evidence of the first ninety-four minutes, a Portugal equaliser was rather unlikely. But still...

----> Besides that, overall: it was a job very well done by the German crew.

Balance

Analogies to mythology and odysseys aplenty, Greece stunned the footballing world to win UEFA EURO 2004. 150/1 outsiders before a ball was kicked, Otto Rehhagel's side won the first game and the last of the tournament, to sink hosts Portugal at the very end. In the pre-final press conference, something which for the referees will surely never be again repeated, Markus Merk stated "we (the referees) have built a solid house during the tournament, in the final we want to put the roof on top". After what was indeed a generally satisfying EURO 2004 for the officiating, Merk dispelled any doubts about his impartiality with a very solid performance in the grand final. Not without its hitches, Markus Merk largely won respect for his refereeing in the grand final - praise which I'd go along with too. 

 

At the end, UEFA could reflect on a tournament where (besides probably in England), the stunning underdog victory was making the headlines, and not their officials - for the referees committee led by Kenneth Ridden and Volker Roth, I'm sure they considered that a great success indeed.

Markus Merk - 7 Christian Schräer - 7 Jan-Hendrik Salver - 7 Anders Frisk German - SWE	Portugal 0-1 Greece Final Sun 4th July (Lisbon)
Costinha (12') - Tackle N. Valente (+94') - Challenge	Basinas (+47') - SPA (Handling) Seitaridis (63') - DtR (Not Retreating) Fyssas (67') - Tackle Papadopoulos (85') - SPA (Tackle)
UEFA EURO 2004 winners: Greece

Thank you to everyone who followed the blog! Special mentions to Mohammed R. for his comments, to my friend who provided me with the matches this time (he knows who he is ;)), to the excellent HowardMaxi, whose enthusiasm for our ultra-niche interest is even more greatly appreciated by me than he realises - and to the 'hardcore' readers; I didn't plaster the blog over Law5 or even Twitter this time, so if you found us and kept reading, much credit to you. I don't know into which tournament we are heading next, 1982 or 1996 seem the biggest candidates, or indeed when (the latter part of the summer seems most likely) - but in any case, I hope you can join me there! :). A small montage of EURO 2004 by JVC follows below.