Where does FIFA get these refs?
And why do most people despise Italian football? Is it because of the arrogance? The cynicism? The brutality? The opera? The hair? Or is it the fraud, on and off the field?
Regardless, it was supremely satisfying to see the USA give Italy a taste last night of what the Azzurri give out with gusto whenever they can. But would Jorge Larrionda have felt obliged to hand out two red cards to the US if he hadn't sent off the Italian thug, Daniele De Rossi? Doubt it. No ref should be allowed hand out more than two red cards during a game, anyway; the colour loses its meaning otherwise. The red card should be pulled out only for a violent offence, such as attempting to smash a player's face as De Rossi did. The idea that it automatically follows on from two yellow cards is absurd as both yellows can be for very different offences and the logic that a (yellow) trip in the first half and a (yellow) shirt tug in the second leads automatically to red is ludicrous. This World Cup is turning into a marvellous tournament, but the standard of the refereeing is all over the field.
Anyway, for the US to reach the next round now, it must defeat Ghana, and Italy must defeat the Czech Republic. It's as simple as that. But there's this for the statisticians: An Italy-Czech draw would still allow the US through, but only if Bruce Arena's side beat Ghana by five goals. And that is hardly going to happen. The Africans play marvellous football, to be sure, and they wasted more chances against the Czechs than the US have had in four years, but they are beatable as the Italians showed, and the Italians are unconvincing as the US showed. Ghana will miss the best player for the clash with the US as Gyan is out because of a totally unjustified yellow card. So, it will be a low-scoring affair.
By the way, last night's result is a milestone in its own right as it marks the very first time that the US managed to get a single point in Europe in a World Cup match against any of the big five: Italy, England, Germany, Spain and France. This has to be a good omen going forward, as the MBA types say. It's all to play for.
Comments
The ref was shite. I ref Sunday games myself and I get tired of players calling you a cunt all the time but this is the World Cup after all and this ref was rotten.
Posted by: Man in black | June 18, 2006 10:30 AM
Wikipedia (those guys are fast) says, "Larrionda was selected as a referee for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, but was suspended for six months by the Asociación Uruguaya de Fútbol two days after his selection, and was dropped from the list of referees. The organization cited "irregularities" which were not specified. Larrionda was one of five referees suspended for what the president of the Uruguayan board described as "irregularities that were denounced by other referees." The allegations arose from corruption between members of rival unions for Uruguay's soccer officials."
Not everything on Wikipedai is 100% accurate, but if only half of this is true, FIFA needs to do some explaining.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jorge_Larrionda
Posted by: Chris Sherman | June 18, 2006 10:40 AM
Crap ref. How often did he blow in the final 20 minutes of the game? Inconsistency must be a Uruguayan trait. He went from trying to make the game a seven aside contest to letting anything and everything go. His linesmen were rubbish as well. A lot of stuff happened right in front of them but they seemed to do nothing.
Did anyone see the ref in the Czech-Ghana game give a yellow to the penalty taker because he heard someone blow a whistle behind the goals and went ahead and kicked? In that game it looked as if the ref had to be told by the linesman that a red card was needed for the Czech defender. Took him forever to find it in his pocket. Crap ref. Crap refs.
Posted by: Niall Lennon | June 18, 2006 10:52 AM
Gyan's yellow card was a disgrace. As I saw it, once Horacio Elizondo had given the spot-kick to Ghana, he took advice from his linesman about further punishment. Elizondo finally located Ujfalusi to give him a red card, and not seeing this, Gyan took the kick and converted it. He was then booked for not waiting for authorization, and then hit the post. Imagine if the game had ended up a draw as a result of that? Elizondo is from Argentina.
Posted by: Paul Artusi | June 18, 2006 1:17 PM
The Czechs are in BIG trouble. Lokvenc is out for the Italy game. Strikers Jan Koller and Milan Baros are injured and Ujfalusi's red card means the team's best defender, whose experience in Serie A would have been invaluable against Italy, means he too will miss the game. Group E is do or die!
Posted by: Denis Charvet | June 18, 2006 1:33 PM
I certainly don't despise Italian football, I despise people like you who bring up all the old cliches about Italian football and Italians in general.
Funny how you despise the Italians for being cynical (under Lippi they are not, did you even watch them against Ghana?) but praise the Americans for the same.
The USA kicked the Italians around for 90 minutes last night, all three red cards were fully deserved. The American thug Mastroeni nearly broke Pirlos leg in two. Both him and De Rossi should be banned for the rest of the tournament.
Last nights display by the USA was by far the most cynical so far, one well known commenatator descibed it as brutal.
Posted by: Ted | June 18, 2006 2:29 PM
The ref’s calls were beyond belief, and may have denied the US an historic win. They are and exciting team and played with a lot of verve. This is one of those groups where you would like to see all teams progress, (well the Czechs, US and Ghana), but if someone has to be knocked out we should at least expect some cracking games where the ref lets the games progress without interfering every 5 minutes. He made a lot of borderline offside calls on top of his disgusting red carditis.
Posted by: John McDermott | June 18, 2006 4:20 PM
The referee did an excellent job. All red cards were well deserved. The game had few to do with soccer, though.
Posted by: haqns ze beeman | June 18, 2006 4:39 PM
I'm with haqns ze beeman and so is Nick Townsend in The Independent today:
Well, sorry, guys; the Uruguayan referee Jorge Larrionda and his flag-men had it right, just as his decision to dismiss the US's Pablo Mastroeni and Eddie Pope and Italy's De Rossi was justified.
http://sport.independent.co.uk/football/internationals/article1090373.ece
Posted by: Rob Melot | June 19, 2006 12:21 PM
The point is not always that the ref followed the letter of the law; it is that the game be allowed to flow. Undoubtedly Pablo Mastroeni's tackle was late, albeit it marginally, but he was going for the ball, not the player, and a yellow would have sufficed. Many of the yellow cards and at least two of the red could have been avoided by verbally warning some of the players that a yellow or red would be the result of another foul. The ref during yesterdays Brazil v Aus game did exactly that, and the result was a free flowing game.
Posted by: John McDermott | June 19, 2006 5:23 PM
Oh I wish I was a fucking diving wanker
That is what I truly want to be-e-e
Cuz if I was a fucking diving wanker
Then I could make my home in Italy
Posted by: Sean Willis | June 20, 2006 2:02 PM