50. Argentina-Mexico a.e.t. 2:1 (1:1,1:1)
Match 50
Round of 16
June 24, 2006
Leipzig
Referee: BUSACCA Massimo (SUI)
Assistant Referee 1: BURAGINA Francesco (SUI)
Assistant Referee 2: ARNET Matthias (SUI)
Fourth Official: AL GHAMDI Khalil (KSA)
Fifth Official: ARABATI Fathi (JOR)
Official Match Report: html/pdf
In our opinion, Massimo Busacca, whom we felt did an otherwise excellent job officiating this difficult and physically gruelling match, fell for at least three dives. Within less than a minute (35'-36'), at opposite ends of the field, Busacca called fouls against Mario Mendez (MEX 16) and Jose Antonio Castro (MEX 15). Replays make clear that both were actually dives by Maxi Rodriguez (ARG 18).
In the first case, the only contact between the players whatsoever was Rodriguez's hand on Mendez's shoulder. In the second, Castro's hand only lightly touches Rodriguez's back and his knee may make some limited contact with the back of Rodriguez's thigh but neither would have been sufficient to cause the sudden fall and clutching of the calf.
In 82' Gerardo Torrado (MEX 6) was called for fouling Juan Sorin (ARG 3, captain). Disgust with this call earned teammate Castro (MEX 15) a caution for dissent (see below). Both the wide live shot and the replay clearly show that there was no contact from Torrado when Sorin abruptly changed direction and lept into the air, pulling his legs in, and fell to the ground in supposed agony.
In another incident involving Sorin (ARG 3), Busacca made no call. We think that in 54', beaten by a ball to Jared Borgetti (MEX 9) played over his head, Sorin either kicked the ball into Borgetti's face from a few inches away to prevent him from taking a shot or kicked Borgetti in the face, the former being the more likely. Unfortunately, the situation was never replayed at all in the television coverage. Our opinion, after watching the live action wide shot several times in slow motion, is that Sorin's action should have either resulted in an indirect kick for Mexico from the point of the infraction (a few yards from the goal) or a penalty kick, depending on the nature of the infraction.
With the benefit of replays, it appears to us that the ten offside decisions in this match were correct with the exception of two. In 78' Mexico's offside trap was not as successful as it appeared in the live action. The Argentinian player who received the ball was actually onside when the ball was played.
In 92' Pablo Aimar (ARG 16) played the ball across to Messi (ARG 19) who put the ball into the net as the assistant was raising his flag for the pass to Aimar. However, the replay clearly shows that Aimar was being played onside by the Mexican defender closest to the assistant. Had Argentina been awarded the goal they deserved here, it is highly unlikely additional extra time would have been necessary.
We felt that at least three challenges warranted cautions for unsporting behavior, in addition to the four issued by Bussaca:
83': Scaloni (ARG 13) jumped into Zinha (MEX 7) from behind and knocked him to the ground. This action occurred a few feet away from Busacca. He called a foul, but waived off Mexico's appeals for a caution.
87': Mascherano (ARG 8) was also called only for a foul when he slid into Osorio (MEX 5) from the front in order to stop Mexico's attack.
89': Borgetti (MEX 9) was also fortunate not to be booked for his cleats-out challenge from behind on Rodriguez (ARG 18).
EXPLANATION OF THE CAUTIONS
46'+: Defender Gabriel Heinze (ARG 6) was cautioned for unsporting behavior when he took down the Mexican forward who had slipped past him toward goal with a ball stolen on a pass from the Argentinian keeper. Replays showed that this was the correct decision. Mexican players immediately crowded Busacca demanding that Heinze be shown a red card for denial of an obvious goal-scoring opportunity (one of the seven sending-off offenses), but Busacca indicated that the defender on the right side was about equal and had a fair chance of stopping the run toward the goal. A red card for denial of an obvious goal-scoring opportunity is reserved for a defender committing the infraction who is the second-to-last defender in a situation where the attacker is on his or her way to goal. There have been only two examples in World Cup 2006 to date: the sending off of Vashchuk (UKR) in Match 15 against Spain and of Ujfalusi (CZE) in Match 26 against Ghana. Note that in both cases the player committing the foul had been beaten and fouled the attacker from behind.
70': Rafael Marquez (MEX 4) was cautioned for unsporting behavior when he kicked Hernan Crespo (ARG 9) from behind in order to obtain the ball. While the fall was certainly enhanced by Crespo, the nature of the foul made it a clearly cautionable offense.
82': Jose Antonio Castro (MEX 15) was cautioned for dissent when he kicked the ball away in anger at a foul called against his teammate Gerardo Torrado (MEX 6). While we too felt that the call against Torrado was a poor one (see above), Castro's behavior was unacceptable and was a clear example of one of the actions FIFA has instructed referees to administer cautions for.
112': Juan Sorin (ARG 3) was cautioned for unsporting behavior when he deliberately took down Ricardo Ossorio (MEX 5) in order to prevent him from crossing the ball. It was not the severity of the foul but its tactical nature that earned Sorin the caution.
118': Gerardo Torrado (MEX 6) was cautioned for unsporting behavior when he deliberately took down Lionel Messi (ARG 19) as he moved toward goal. Here also, it was not the severity of the foul but its tactical nature that earned Torrado the caution.
119': Jose Fonseca (MEX 17) was cautioned for dissent when he kicked the ball away after being called for handling.
A final note: we felt that Busacca should have added at least one minute onto the second period of additional extra time (he added about 15 seconds) in order to make up for the time Argentina deliberately wasted with three throw-ins (108', 109', and 115') as well as the situation with three balls on the field at 115'. While adding a minute would likely have had no effect on the outcome of the match, it would have suggested fairness. Taking no action rewarded what we considered to be several actions by Argentina in the final minutes of additional extra time that we considered unsporting.
-Orion & Zazu
Round of 16
June 24, 2006
Leipzig
Referee: BUSACCA Massimo (SUI)
Assistant Referee 1: BURAGINA Francesco (SUI)
Assistant Referee 2: ARNET Matthias (SUI)
Fourth Official: AL GHAMDI Khalil (KSA)
Fifth Official: ARABATI Fathi (JOR)
Official Match Report: html/pdf
In our opinion, Massimo Busacca, whom we felt did an otherwise excellent job officiating this difficult and physically gruelling match, fell for at least three dives. Within less than a minute (35'-36'), at opposite ends of the field, Busacca called fouls against Mario Mendez (MEX 16) and Jose Antonio Castro (MEX 15). Replays make clear that both were actually dives by Maxi Rodriguez (ARG 18).
In the first case, the only contact between the players whatsoever was Rodriguez's hand on Mendez's shoulder. In the second, Castro's hand only lightly touches Rodriguez's back and his knee may make some limited contact with the back of Rodriguez's thigh but neither would have been sufficient to cause the sudden fall and clutching of the calf.
In 82' Gerardo Torrado (MEX 6) was called for fouling Juan Sorin (ARG 3, captain). Disgust with this call earned teammate Castro (MEX 15) a caution for dissent (see below). Both the wide live shot and the replay clearly show that there was no contact from Torrado when Sorin abruptly changed direction and lept into the air, pulling his legs in, and fell to the ground in supposed agony.
In another incident involving Sorin (ARG 3), Busacca made no call. We think that in 54', beaten by a ball to Jared Borgetti (MEX 9) played over his head, Sorin either kicked the ball into Borgetti's face from a few inches away to prevent him from taking a shot or kicked Borgetti in the face, the former being the more likely. Unfortunately, the situation was never replayed at all in the television coverage. Our opinion, after watching the live action wide shot several times in slow motion, is that Sorin's action should have either resulted in an indirect kick for Mexico from the point of the infraction (a few yards from the goal) or a penalty kick, depending on the nature of the infraction.
With the benefit of replays, it appears to us that the ten offside decisions in this match were correct with the exception of two. In 78' Mexico's offside trap was not as successful as it appeared in the live action. The Argentinian player who received the ball was actually onside when the ball was played.
In 92' Pablo Aimar (ARG 16) played the ball across to Messi (ARG 19) who put the ball into the net as the assistant was raising his flag for the pass to Aimar. However, the replay clearly shows that Aimar was being played onside by the Mexican defender closest to the assistant. Had Argentina been awarded the goal they deserved here, it is highly unlikely additional extra time would have been necessary.
We felt that at least three challenges warranted cautions for unsporting behavior, in addition to the four issued by Bussaca:
83': Scaloni (ARG 13) jumped into Zinha (MEX 7) from behind and knocked him to the ground. This action occurred a few feet away from Busacca. He called a foul, but waived off Mexico's appeals for a caution.
87': Mascherano (ARG 8) was also called only for a foul when he slid into Osorio (MEX 5) from the front in order to stop Mexico's attack.
89': Borgetti (MEX 9) was also fortunate not to be booked for his cleats-out challenge from behind on Rodriguez (ARG 18).
EXPLANATION OF THE CAUTIONS
46'+: Defender Gabriel Heinze (ARG 6) was cautioned for unsporting behavior when he took down the Mexican forward who had slipped past him toward goal with a ball stolen on a pass from the Argentinian keeper. Replays showed that this was the correct decision. Mexican players immediately crowded Busacca demanding that Heinze be shown a red card for denial of an obvious goal-scoring opportunity (one of the seven sending-off offenses), but Busacca indicated that the defender on the right side was about equal and had a fair chance of stopping the run toward the goal. A red card for denial of an obvious goal-scoring opportunity is reserved for a defender committing the infraction who is the second-to-last defender in a situation where the attacker is on his or her way to goal. There have been only two examples in World Cup 2006 to date: the sending off of Vashchuk (UKR) in Match 15 against Spain and of Ujfalusi (CZE) in Match 26 against Ghana. Note that in both cases the player committing the foul had been beaten and fouled the attacker from behind.
70': Rafael Marquez (MEX 4) was cautioned for unsporting behavior when he kicked Hernan Crespo (ARG 9) from behind in order to obtain the ball. While the fall was certainly enhanced by Crespo, the nature of the foul made it a clearly cautionable offense.
82': Jose Antonio Castro (MEX 15) was cautioned for dissent when he kicked the ball away in anger at a foul called against his teammate Gerardo Torrado (MEX 6). While we too felt that the call against Torrado was a poor one (see above), Castro's behavior was unacceptable and was a clear example of one of the actions FIFA has instructed referees to administer cautions for.
112': Juan Sorin (ARG 3) was cautioned for unsporting behavior when he deliberately took down Ricardo Ossorio (MEX 5) in order to prevent him from crossing the ball. It was not the severity of the foul but its tactical nature that earned Sorin the caution.
118': Gerardo Torrado (MEX 6) was cautioned for unsporting behavior when he deliberately took down Lionel Messi (ARG 19) as he moved toward goal. Here also, it was not the severity of the foul but its tactical nature that earned Torrado the caution.
119': Jose Fonseca (MEX 17) was cautioned for dissent when he kicked the ball away after being called for handling.
A final note: we felt that Busacca should have added at least one minute onto the second period of additional extra time (he added about 15 seconds) in order to make up for the time Argentina deliberately wasted with three throw-ins (108', 109', and 115') as well as the situation with three balls on the field at 115'. While adding a minute would likely have had no effect on the outcome of the match, it would have suggested fairness. Taking no action rewarded what we considered to be several actions by Argentina in the final minutes of additional extra time that we considered unsporting.
-Orion & Zazu
posted by Orion and Zazu at 5:49 PM
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