30 USAIRN Meier

 

Iran were the victors of "the most politically charged game in World Cup finals history", defeating the United States by two goals to one. The tournament standings made it a must-win for both, but perhaps that was not quite as potent as the visceral desire to defeat the enemy. 

Low on technical skill, but more than made up for by passion in an absolutely epic game. I have no idea how the United States didn't win! On top for almost all the first half and facing leading opponents who sat back in the second, the States hit the goal-frame thrice, and missed a hatful of chances besides. 

The final whistle was the cue for the jubilant Iran celebrations, no matter that both nations were eliminated after their final group match, this was certainly the game of the tournament so far. The game that wasn't supposed to take place, did take place, and was an absolute epic. 

Upholding international relations as match referee was Urs Meier of Switzerland. FIFA President Blatter stated it was no accident that a Swiss official was selected for an extremely delicate tie, but that also ignores that Meier was a real rising star in international refereeing; this appointment remained a risk though. 

Meier describes this as the game of his life. Intense scrutiny of a United States - Iran game aside, this was a very challenging game to officiate. The Swiss referee, and his two assistants, were up to the test, and must have been absolutely shattered at the final whistle after such a ninety minutes. 

However, how you assess this performance, depends greatly on how much importance you find in an incident in the twenty-first minute, where Iran appealed for a penalty (and an ensuing red card). You can find a clip below :)

Big Decisions

In the reports so far, perhaps nobody paid too much attention to the nature of clear match errors, in so much as they were a more forgiving line than the crucial mistakes that we are currently familiar with. I would like to use this opportunity to outline my vision for how CMEs are computed. 

First, is there is a clear mistake according to the Laws of the Game?

Yes, in my opinion, it's a clear penalty. 

Stumbling though Khodadad Azizi is, goalkeeper Kasey Keller at best fells the Iran attacker, at the very least impedes his progress while not playing the ball. A clear foul, and Keller should also be shown the red card too - he denied an obvious goal-scoring opportunity. 

FIFA internally assessed this as a clear mistake - penalty + red card (DOGSO) the correct decision.

So, having determined that there was a refereeing mistake, there are two facets we need to analyse whether the referee made a clear match error - content and context. 

Content does not play too much in the referee's favour, however there are some arguments against a penalty - perhaps that Azizi's fall is a bit manufactured, and if really willing, he could have gone on. I'm pretty sure that Meier didn't make a perception mistake, he just decided that it wasn't enough for his game. 

Together with context, the Swiss ref is spared a CME. If the final result was reversed, then there would be no option but to give Meier an automatic five mark; he was certainly very fortunate! Also, we have to put this mistake in the context of the wider performance - strong, in a very challenging match. It is not about apologism for refereeing that we like, but fairly resuming the performance as a whole. 

This decision was a mistake significant enough regardless to downgrade this performance to a 6 (still passed the test grade). But enough to fail Urs Meier in this game? In my view, no. 

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The first goal was an excellent header, and the other two were the result of excellent officiating by the Swiss and Romanian assistant referees respectively:

- Laurent Rausis correctly determined that Mehdi Mahdavikia was in his own half when receiving the ball on the way to scoring the clinching Iran goal (84')

- Nicolae Grigorescu did well to spot the ball over the line from the corner to give the United States a score (87'); the Romanian was already off and running down the line before the ball was very clearly over the line later

Managing the Game

Urs Meier applied his characteristic aesthetic, elegant approach in extremis, and delivered this very challenging fixture successfully. 

The players were visibly nervous at the start of the match, which the Swiss referee payed very close attention to - whistling a soft freekick (3'), stepping in to prevent a player altercation (6'), and correctly issuing an early yellow card (8').

Later in the first twenty minutes, Meier set the line for what he would (18') and wouldn't (11', 16') issue a caution for. This pretty generous line, supported by a determined and confident manner which aroused respect, he stayed consistent to the whole match through. 

Switzerland's referee was very fit, following play with ease, and always quickly on the scene after a relevant foul incident. His acceptance from the players in such a match was rather impressive, and great testament to him. 

The tempo of this game was extremely high in the first half, still intense in the second, and the level of mental strength and physical fitness needed to consistently pull that off was a really great task. To keep both your concentration and composure for these ninety minutes was no small feet. 

Meier's biggest mistake in the goings-on of the game was not to blow for a freekick and yellow card at 66'; otherwise, mistakes were rare in this performance. 

It got tricky at the end - the referee ensured that a flare-up in the goal after the United States scored did not escalate, and there were some doubtful moments as the conclusion drew near (89', +93'), but the States had run out of time - Urs Meier's final whistle was the cue for jubilant Iran celebrations, victors, in an epic tie. 

Assistant Referees

In general, not the busiest game for Rausis and Grigorescu, who in addition to being crucially correct in the last ten minutes (UEFA +0,1 for both those calls, see above), took correct offside judgements at 15' and 23' respectively. 

Balance

What a game! Urs Meier was in charge of the game of his life, and FIFA could be pleased with his performance. The Swiss ref certainly gambled a lot when he decided to turn a blind eye to the 21' penalty area incident, deciding it not enough. 

The gamble payed off in the end - Meier was pretty formidable in holding his nerve right to the end, together with his strong assistants. Iran might have won the match, but football, FIFA and their match officials won the evening overall! 

Urs Meier - 6 Laurent Rausis - 7 Nicolae Grigorescu - 7 Lucien Bouchardeau SUI, SUI, ROU	United States 1-2 Iran Group Stage 21 June
Régis (18') - SPA (Tackle)	Minavand (8') - Challenge Zarincheh (77') - Delaying the Restart