19 CHIAUT Al-Ghandour

Chile and Austria's one-each draw meant for them both that Group B would be going right down to the wire and the final round of games. Ivica Vastić's stunner ensured that Austria snared a point at the death again; Chile were denied late for the second game running. 

Egyptian Gamal Al-Ghandour was in charge of this delicate fixture with regards to the standings, and so played out a tense, calculated game. A tough one indeed to referee! Al-Ghandour wasn't flawless but on the whole he had a strong afternoon and secured his further participation in World Cup 1998. 

Big Decisions

Without doubt the most crucial decision taken by the officials in this match was to award Chile the opening goal of the match on seventy minutes. Kuwaiti assistant Hussain Ghadanfari was the man on the spot, who gave his team leader a buzz and a flag; Chile had their score. 

In the absence of Tofiq Bəhramov (RIP), I will run my rule over the situation - it seems Ghadanfari got it right, but it is impossible to be 100% sure. The pictures do seem to suggest the goalkeeper spilled the ball back over his own line, and Ian Darke in the stadium reports there were minimal complaints from Austria players (contrary to German fury at Bəhramov in '66).

Great alertness from Ghadanfari, as it seemed rather unlikely that goalkeeper Michael Konsel would drop the ball over the line, given he had it safely in his grasp - but it looks very much as though he did, and the goal was given. Very well done to the assistant referee from Kuwait! 

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Of chief relevance concerning the remaining situations of is a(n actually) clear penalty to Chile which was not given. Only detectable from a replay some minutes later, Markus Schopp's handling (53') can only result in a penalty according to the LotG, his arm outstretched blocking a header towards goal. 

Clear as the offence is in a technical sense, practically it is a bit muddier - tricky for the referee to see, nature of the handling optic in 1998 vs. nowadays, so no clear match error from this situation; this situation had even passed me by 100% from the live sequence, which should say enough. 

The opening booking for Moisés Villarroel is actually somewhat borderline to a red card. Significant arguments for stronger punishment are there (no chance of reaching the ball fairly, at least partly jumping in, trapping contact), but Al-Ghandour's caution decision is ultimately supportable, especially as the felled player's reaction puts paid to any idea of this tackle being really dangerous. 

Finally, the freekick awarded which lead to the Chile goal looked supportable, if not fully correct. 

Managing the Game

Gamal Al-Ghandour adapted his relaxed style pretty well in this tense match to realise good performance in a tough assignment to this fixture. 

The Egyptian referee opted for a disciplinary control that was in general quite forgiving, but not afraid to jump in when necessary with cards to calm the game down. Such an occasion was the opening card to Chile (see above).

Two minutes after that, Toni Polster tested the referee with his holding foul at 18', but the Egyptian referee opted for no caution. Instead, he opted for a weaker balancing card at 24'; Polster's cynical holding rather outweighed Peter Schöttel's more careless deliberate trip in all but the time on the match clock. 

For the rest of the first half, Al-Ghandour moved in to calm scenes down when required (30', 37') and knowingly ignored a clear caution at 31', which ensured that he didn't inflame the angry Chile players (deliberate foul on them just before), but was reckless play nonetheless which ought to have been punished. 

In the second period, Al-Ghandour gave deserved cards for a foul (48'), blocking a freekick execution (58') and dissent (75'). His warning to Roman Mählich at 59' was a much, much better choice than a booking - Mählich had lost his composure and any sanction would have only inflamed him more. 

Toni Polster proved to be a problem player throughout (18', 39', 48' eg.), whom Al-Ghandour probably smartly chose to keep a distance from and deal with his dissent from 'afar'. His reckless strike at 39' was a slightly disappointing miss for the referee - Polster had to be booked there. 

His 58' dealing with dissent was simply excellent (even better if he stood his ground and Iván Zamarano had left first), but I wish Al-Ghandour had taken such a zero tolerance approach when Chile mobbed him in the first half (18', 31'). In this regard, his use of facial expressions was simply top drawer (+48'). 

Assistant Referees

Stellar performances from the men on the line in this one. Besides spotting the Chile goal, Hussain Ghadanfari's eagle eye on this afternoon extended to offside evaluations too (55', 60', 74', 87'), he was spot on every time. Very strong performance from the Kuwaiti, well done. Fernando Tresaco Gracia was quieter, but equally faultless (5', 86'). 

Balance

Strong performance from Gamal Al-Ghandour. He navigated through this tense tie with a smart feeling for when to jump in with a caution, even if by the book, his line was not a terribly predictable one. The adaption of his relaxed style for a tough game was impressive, his facial expressions really excellent, as were the assistants on the day. 

Such a safe pair of hands from CAF was a real blessing for FIFA - a second appointment would be sure to follow. 

Gamal Al-Ghandour - 7 Hussain Ghadanfari - 8 Fernando Tresaco Gracia - 7 Ali Bujsaim EGY, KUW, ESP	Chile 1-1 Austria Group Stage 17 June
Villarroel (16') - Tackle Estay (48') - Tackle Salas (58') - Not Respecting 9.15m  Zamorano (75') - Dissent	Schöttel (25') - Challenge