Wednesday, June 14, 2006

11. Brazil-Croatia 1:0 (1:0)

Group F
Match 11
June 13, 2006
Berlin

Referee: Benito Archundia (MEX)
Assistant Referee 1: Jose Ramirez (MEX)
Assistant Referee 2: Hector Vergara (CAN)
Fourth Official: Mohamed Guezzaz (MAR)
Fifth Official: Brahim Djezzar (ALG)

Official match report: html/pdf

It was a comparatively clean first half, though by the end of the match the sides had 20 fouls apiece. Archundia demonstrated the importance of calling the “little” fouls, in order to prevent the escalation that often accompanies players’ frustration. He missed very little if anything, partly due to his excellent positioning. A possible exception was what looked to us like a foul suffered by Ronaldinho (BRA 10) in 75’ with no acknowledgment from Archundia and possession immediately going to Croatia -- there was no replay shown. Also see our note at 32’ about three fouls supposedly suffered by Kaka. As for the assistants, replays showed that every offside call was flawless: Brazil 11’, 13’, 24’, 55’ (the official match report for some reason gives only 3 offside calls against Brazil); Croatia 7’, 11’, 22’, 27’.

OF NOTE

24’: Adriano (BRA 7) was called for an unnecessary foul with the ball already on its way out. Again in 29’ Adriano was called for excessive holding and then pulling Niko Kovac (CRO 10) to the ground, as he moved up the touchline. Incidentally, this fall caused the initial injury to Kovac (possibly a broken rib), exacerbated by his second fall when fouled by Ze Roberto (BRA 11) in 35’. Archundia whistled both of these routine fouls and the calls were all that was necessary; neither player was deliberately trying to injure or further injure Kovac, who was then substituted in 41’.

27’, 38’, 42’: Emerson (BRA 5) committed these three fouls. After the third, Archundia showed him a card. The most serious of the three was the last -- a late challenge in which he deliberately stepped on his opponent’s foot. Possibly this foul alone earned Emerson the card, but it seems to us more likely that Archundia cautioned Emerson for persistent infringement. In any case, the card had the intended effect. Emerson committed only one more foul, and it was in the second half (63’).

32’: Caution to Niko Kovac (CRO 10), unsporting behavior: Difficult to tell from limited replays whether Kovac deserved this card for this off-the ball contact with Kaka (BRA 8), whether it was foul at all, or whether it might have been simulation by Kaka to draw a kick for Ronaldinho at the top of the area. Note the similarly questionable call for a foul on Kaka by the substitute Leko (CRO 16). While there was definitely some contact in that play as well, in both instances Kaka generally seemed to fall quite easily. We felt that his fall backwards over Leko in 73’ was his own fault and not Leko’s, though Archundia ruled it a foul. Kaka is a player for the referees of Brazil’s next games to keep an eye on. He is quite good at earning foul calls, and not -- to judge from the benefit of replays from multiple angles --- always deserved.

42’: One of the beautiful applications of advantage in this game. No need to disrupt the attack, since Ronaldinho (BRA 10) shook off the foul and continued his attacking run. We noticed, though, that here and elsewhere in the match, even (as here) when obvious fouls were committed, Archundia did not make any advantage signal. In fact, we think we may not have seen one in the entire game. Even when the signal might be unnecessary for a player who has shaken off an obvious foul and is continuing to play, a clear signal can help fans know that the foul has been seen, and that the advantage has been applied.

67’: A well-deserved caution issued to Roberto Kovac (CRO 4) for what would be his only foul of the match. The foul on Adriano (BRA 7) was deliberately late, well after Adriano had played the ball. Sometimes commentators call this sort of challenge “ill-timed”, but it usually seems to us, as here, that the defender has no chance of a fair play on the ball and so intends to hit his opponent at precisely that moment, risking the card in order to cause the attacker to be a little more hesitant next time. Occasionally (and there have been a few examples in this Cup already), a referee will miss a late challenge because he turns too quickly to follow the ball. Not so with Archundia.

86’: We found it funny that the Croatian fan on field was initially missed by Archundia as he turned to follow the play. Perhaps because he was wearing a Croatian shirt, but more likely because it is about the last thing he would have expected to see. As with any outside interference occurring during the run of play, whether a dog on the field in a Saturday-afternoon youth game or one of 72,000 crazed spectators in a stadium beating security and disrupting an attacking play by the world’s defending champions, a drop ball is the proper restart. As per the unwritten convention of drop balls, the Croatians kicked the ball out for a Brazilian throw to restore rightful possession.

92’: Foul by Ronaldinho (BRA 10) was clearly tactical, hoping to run down the final seconds of the 2 minutes of additional time, making it a good decision by Archundia to allow the Croatians to have the kick and the ensuing play until the Brazilians regained possession (at about 92:18) before blowing the final whistle. It is important to remember that, in theory, stoppage time should be treated no different from regular time: injuries, substitutions, and various other time-wasting tactics should all add corresponding amounts of time to the announced additional time. The announced time is a minimum.

-Orion & Zazu

posted by Orion and Zazu at 12:00 PM

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