39 NGAPAR Un-Prasert

Paraguay got the win they needed against Nigeria to qualify behind them in Group D's second place. The defensively-minded tactics of their previous two matches went out the window, as they won an eminently watchable tie by three goals to one. 

Pirom Un-Prasert was the referee, appointment number two for him after a successful performance on opening day (MARNOR). On a controversial day for the tournament's refereeing, the Thai official refereed the game decently, avoiding wider controversy. 

Big Decisions

25' - Serious Foul Play?
35' - Penalty?

While the (excellent!) Eurosport commentators praised Un-Prasert for his advantage procedure at 25', after which he came back to caution Augustine Eguavoen (tackle), in reality the Thai referee should really have instantly sent him off. 

Such dangerous two-footed lunges should always be assessed as excessive force, and result in the red card. Un-Prasert got the card out his back pocket... that was where he kept his yellow-coloured one :)). 

Consistent with another such situation in this tournament (CMRAUT), the lack of an ultra-dangerous contact means that this decision does not reach the high bar of a clear match error. 

The penalty appeal at 35' is an absolutely fascinating situation! To be honest, I think a penalty (+ YC) is the correct solution - the attacker reaches the ball before the defender, who then hits him with pretty straight-legged studs, which seems to be just inside / on the line of the penalty area. 

By the book, a Paraguay player should be cautioned for mobbing the referee, but actually Un-Prasert's reaction is much better - a firm facial expression, followed by a simply brilliant one. Wow! 

Otherwise - Benedict Iroha was quite correctly booked (not let off or sent off) at 36', he pulled out lowering the intensity of his foul but still made a reckless challenge; Nigeria penalty appeals at 32' were more muted than they might have been, at least based on what I saw. 

Managing the Game

Pirom Un-Prasert most certainly didn't have a bad evening, but I thought he let just a bit too much go to call this performance totally satisfying. 

Both of the cautions given were 100% mandatory, but besides that, I didn't really see a sophisticated match practice which guided the players towards fair play:

- 10' was a very clear yellow card, not given as a foul

- between 62', 64', 69', at least one caution should have been given
- his foul selection / use of advantage was too chaotic (eg. 4', 25', 40', 47')

So, still a solid performance, but in not the most challenging match of the final round of group matches, it was not more than that. 

Assistant Referees

Challenging matches for Mikael Nilsson and especially Mohamed Al-Musawi. They both faced one call of great importance, and both got them right - Nilsson disallowed a Paraguay goal at 17' (he actually missed a tight offside just before), and Al-Musawi played strong onside for final score of the match (86'). 

In general, they both performed well too. Al-Musawi had to face really tricky calls as the match's conclusion drew (72', 82'), but never made a clear mistake, at least as I saw it. 

Conclusion

Pirom Un-Prasert justified his second appointment with a satisfactory-level performance in this match. I would say that giving the Thai referee a further appointment as fourth official in the knockout stage was fair treatment by FIFA for his work as referee at World Cup 1998.  

Pirom Un-Prasert - 6 Mohamed Al-Musawi - 7 Mikael Nilsson - 7 Masayoshi Okada THA, OMA, SWE	Nigeria 1-3 Paraguay Group Stage 24 June
Eguavoen (26') - Tackle Iroha (39') - Challenge