4 CMRAUT González
Paraguayan ref Epifanio González was nominated for this day two game. He did okay, but it is fair to say that this was not my favourite refereeing performance of all time.
Big Decisions
Njanka's goal was excellent - but he should not have been on the pitch to score it, referee González should have sent him off in the first half. His two-footed lunge on Harald Cerny (30') only avoided doing serious damage because Cerny had the foresight to jump over it.
The referee from Paraguay decided an indirect freekick was enough. It doesn't reach the clear match error bar, but that should be and is a clear red card for me without question. Cameroon might also have had more straight red cards against them (see the next section).
González had two interesting in-box incidents, 72' and 90':
- the former is slightly comical; Austria attacker tries to put his leg in front of the defender, who then does make contact on the penalty area line, but preventing the attacker putting his leg across, not because of it :D -> correct play on for me
- we don't get a replay of the latter incident, but it seems a clear holding on the Cameroon player, who was stumbling, but I think the Austria defender prevented him from regaining his balance; an attacking trip happens because of that, and the referee awards a defensive freekick -> inconclusive
The referee from Paraguay decided an indirect freekick was enough. It doesn't reach the clear match error bar, but that should be and is a clear red card for me without question. Cameroon might also have had more straight red cards against them (see the next section).
González had two interesting in-box incidents, 72' and 90':
- the former is slightly comical; Austria attacker tries to put his leg in front of the defender, who then does make contact on the penalty area line, but preventing the attacker putting his leg across, not because of it :D -> correct play on for me
- we don't get a replay of the latter incident, but it seems a clear holding on the Cameroon player, who was stumbling, but I think the Austria defender prevented him from regaining his balance; an attacking trip happens because of that, and the referee awards a defensive freekick -> inconclusive
And also worth mentioning - the sequence that resulted in the Austria goal resulted from a (ridiculously) moving ball; the referee looks like he had his back turned. It is rather hard to accept that between him and his compatriot on the line Celestino Galván they missed such a clear transgression of the LotG.
Epifanio González was an archetypal policeman referee, both his manner and decisions were quite irritating in this game. Managing the Game
Firstly, he consistently blew up for small contacts (eg. 4', 39', 41', 49', 50') in situations where neither sets of players were really asking for / expecting a freekick. This pedanticism extended to throw-ins and freekick locations, which was (often) rather unnecessary.
González's application of sanctions was pretty weak - he and AR Galván totally missed a potential violent conduct (10'), opened the cards on a soft foot-up call (28'), ignored a clear SFP (see above), then a correct YC for a foot-up offence close-ish to SFP (31'), totally missed a (borderline) SFP incident at 42', and did not come back for a caution at 90' after a sound advantage.
This made the (Austria) players more and more angry, and González's manner, which seemed to say "I am important, and you (the players) aren't", did little to calm them either. The referee essentially chose to ignore their dissents - the clearest of which was 81' - and instead present himself using determined and demonstrative freekick gestures.
In the end this match came to a decent conclusion, but not after some risky moments (eg. 37', 78') where it seemed the whole thing was in real danger; quite how much credit the referee can take for that is open to question.
This made the (Austria) players more and more angry, and González's manner, which seemed to say "I am important, and you (the players) aren't", did little to calm them either. The referee essentially chose to ignore their dissents - the clearest of which was 81' - and instead present himself using determined and demonstrative freekick gestures.
In the end this match came to a decent conclusion, but not after some risky moments (eg. 37', 78') where it seemed the whole thing was in real danger; quite how much credit the referee can take for that is open to question.
Assistant Referees
FIFA cleverly balanced the appointments for the opening two days to ensure that officials from each of their six confederations would take part, Honduran Reynaldo Salinas was at González's side, with Arturo Brizio Carter appointed as fourth official.
Salinas was the busier than Celestino Galván, and both assistants performed well in normal conditions. Was the Honduran's flag at 7' really correct though?
Salinas was the busier than Celestino Galván, and both assistants performed well in normal conditions. Was the Honduran's flag at 7' really correct though?
Balance
Epifanio González passed the test on the most basic level, but left a lot of doubts both in his decisions on the day and his general style - there are surely better names for a second appointment than him.
| Epifanio González - 6 Celestino Galván - 7 Reynaldo Salinas - 7 Arturo Brizio Carter PAR, PAR, HON | Cameroon 1-1 Austria Group Stage 11 June |
 Ipoua (31') - Challenge | Pfeffer (28') - Challenge |
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