42 NEDMEX Al-Zaid

 

Belgium's inability to win their game actually made Mexico's comeback immaterial, but one couldn't help but get caught up in the excitement of it - down by two as the Netherlands took a comfortable first half lead, they hauled themselves level again. Crucially - the Oranje still finished atop the group with the draw. 

FIFA appointed Abdulrahman Al-Zaid for this high risk game - an assignment made on merit after his strong performance in a challenging first match (PARBUL). A courageous appointment - all eyes were trained on the referee from Saudi Arabia in this high profile encounter. 

What followed was the hardest game of the tournament so far - Al-Zaid was tested absolutely to the limit, and made some mistakes along the way, but in general can hold his head high, he passed through this game of extreme difficulty successfully.

Big Decisions

The two most important decisions of the match came about in the same sequence, at the end of the game - 89'.

Spanish assistant Fernando Tresaco Gracia was on the spot to disallow the Mexico equaliser, a very crucial and clearly correct call. Off-camera, the referee showed the red card to Ramón Ramírez for "foul and abusive language" against him. 

In interviews after having retired, Al-Zaid stated that the red card was the result of Ramírez shouting at him in Spanish, whereas the Saudi referee was an Arabic and English speaker; Albert Mehrabian might have been smiling to himself somewhere. :)

Mexican media widely reported the decision as a misunderstanding on the referee's part, but we shouldn't (necessarily) give that much credence. 

Managing the Game

As expected, Abdulrahman Al-Zaid had to face a very challenging match - actually, I would argue the most challenging match of the whole group stage at World Cup 1998. 

Netherlands scored early, and in the early stages both sets of players, and indeed the crowd, were eager to put pressure on the referee from Saudi Arabia, an appointment that hadn't gone unnoticed, as at least here, the media were keen to push the hypothesis that referees from 'lesser' nations were no more than political-appointees. 

I think the Saudi ref felt that pressure - he started well, including a very well-spotted impeding foul (13'), but was visibly taken by surprise with some Mexico quick restarts. He was fortunate that nothing amounted from a 15' freekick, which was taken quite blatantly from a not acceptable place. 

The first big test of Al-Zaid came at 18'. Germán Villa flagrantly encroached from a freekick before its' taking, and the referee decided to instantly show him a yellow card - fine, but he didn't really take the initiative, was too anxious for restarting the game, and in the end gave a partly weak impression. 

At first, I agreed with the commentators from American television that Jaap Stam's yellow card was too harsh (random), but actually this proved a masterful tactical choice by the Saudi ref, as he drew a line under the angsty period of the first half. Deliberate and from behind, I wouldn't call the booking totally wrong in any case. 

Then, Stam might well have been sent off at 26' - his alleged foul on Cuauhtémoc Blanco was certainly more SPA-than-not, however there was no trip and Blanco dived. Play on (or even IFK + YC) would have been the best solution, but freekick only was better than giving an incorrect RC. 

The earlier angst returned in additional time at the end of the first half in an eventful scene:

- Frank de Boer and Cuauhtémoc Blanco have a bit of a nothing contretemps, in which assistant Hussain Ghadanfari stepped in well to prevent a larger escalation

- it calmed down organically, but given that a few players raced in to potentially get involved, some verbal warnings were needed from the referee

- instead, (because of the guidelines?) Al-Zaid was only interested in agitating for a quicker restart, and the match remained on edge

- he then books Arthur Numan for delaying the restart (slow play); the decision was too much of a panic call, Numan had just actually executed the throw-in just as Al-Zaid was blowing up and reaching for his notebook!

- Al-Zaid saves himself from losing the game by instantly cautioning Luis Hernández for a push on goalkeeper Edwin van der Saar (aggressive behaviour), holding his nerve to give the yellow, despite the impression that he was chucking cards around

- after the throw-in was finally executed, the referee brought the first half to an end

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After a calmer start to the second half, Al-Zaid was called into action after a coming-together of Edgar Davids and Salvador Carmona, where the Mexico player struck Davids after the whistle. The referee did excellently here, showing everyone who the boss was by instantly (and correctly) showing the yellow card for the borderline-VC offence. 

According to FIFA, Al-Zaid should have shown Luis Hernández a second yellow card for simulation at 63'. To be honest, given the nature of the dive, and it being a SYC question, the Saudi ref's smile which said to everyone "I saw what you saw" was actually the best solution. In 2006, it would have been a different story. 

One could have the impression that he was losing a bit after that period - he was fortunate that a 64' DtR attempt didn't boil over, and 66' should really have been a freekick and a yellow card, even if none of the players' reaction really pointed to that. 

The Saudi referee then gave a very good yellow card at 68' for a deliberate, tactical trip. Ricardo Peláez was the player in the book, and his reaction at 70' to a correct freekick call should have sent alarm bells ringing for the ref - this player was playing on the edge. 

Indeed - when Peláez optimistically appealed for a penalty at 78' (correct play on, trifling / careless contact by the goalkeeper), the referee made a point of talking to him, wide smile, and succeeded at calming him down. Excellent preventative officiating!

The referee drew the ire of showbiz Mexico goalkeeper Jorge Campos when he penalised him for a double touch - correctly, according to the LotG, but I doubt anybody would really have been bothered if he hadn't, given the trivial nature of the scene. Campos throwing the ball should really have earned him a yellow card. 

Al-Zaid was then mobbed by a few Mexico players, which he solved okay, but at least one of them should have been booked. Especially given that he wasn't the most charismatic of the referee squad in 1998, in this scene, but also in the match as a whole, he did pretty well in that regard. 

The Saudi was correct when he determined that the 85' foul on the edge of the Netherlands penalty area happened there and not inside. Especially given that this was on the reverse diagonal as him, decent call. 86' was a clear SPA yellow card which the referee chose not to give. 

The end of the game had great drama - 89' as we spoke about above - but chiefly in the Mexico equaliser which did (correctly) stand at +95', capping a throughly thrilling afternoon in Saint-Étienne. As soon as the Netherlands kicked off again, referee Al-Zaid blew the final whistle in the game of his career. 

Assistant Referees

If the appointment of referee was something of a risk by FIFA, the choice of who would run his lines was not - Fernando Tresaco Gracia and Hussain Ghadanfari had been top performers so far as ARs, and continued their positive work here. 

Including the crucial 89' call, the Spaniard was correct to play two goals onside (4', +95') - all four scores were actually on his side - and made some correct calls besides (72', 79'). Hussain Ghadanfari was only really worked at the end in terms of offside, but played a couple of nice onsides (+92', +93').

Balance

Abdulrahman Al-Zaid in interviews describes this as the match of his life - with good reason! Considering the high level of both difficulty and personal pressure on this Saudi referee, he should look back with satisfaction on this performance. 

While there were some deficiencies in this performance, and was probably one that aroused too much attention to justify a third (in the knockout stage), the overall picture is definitely a more positive-one-than-not for the Saudi referee; on an afternoon of pencil-sharpened observers, Al-Zaid gave them no grounds for serious complaint. Well done!

Abdulrahman Al-Zaid - 6 Fernando Tresaco Gracia - 7 Hussain Ghadanfari - 7 Rune Pedersen KSA, ESP, KUW	Netherlands 2-2 Mexico Group Stage 25 June
Stam (22') - Challenge Numan (+46') - Delaying the Restart	Villa (18') - Not Respecting 9.15m Hernández (+46') - Aggressive Behaviour Carmona (58') - Aggressive Behaviour Peláez (68') - SPA (Challenge)
	Ramón Ramírez (89') - Language / Gestures