58 BRADEN Al-Ghandour
World Cup holders Brazil beat plucky outsiders Denmark in a classic quarterfinal which was eventually won by the South American favourites by the odd goal in five. A score in the opening ninety seconds set the tone for a pulsating match, decided by a long-range Rivaldo shot half-an-hour from the end.
In the middle of it as referee was Gamal Al-Ghandour, this a deserved appointment for the Egyptian referee after a convincing group stage of two matches (CHIAUT - USAYUG). Al-Ghandour didn't have a bad game on this evening either, but a fork in the road for not only this match, but the whole tournament, the ref was too soft in a decisive scene.
Big Decisions
All of the relevant incidents (12', 24', 37', +46') are included in the clip below.
---
The crucial incident is the first one (12') - Roberto Carlos should be sent off for this tackle. He jumps in from behind with nought chance of playing the ball fairly, hitting his opponent before the floor with a potentially very dangerous trapping contact. I totally agree - FIFA internally determined that this was a clear case of Serious Foul Play.
To be fair to Al-Ghandour, I don't think he lacked courage in this scene, but he simply didn't perceive how dangerous this tackle was. Excitable after Brazil's equaliser, Carlos endangered the safety of his opponent; a red card in this situation would have had a huge difference on the rest of the game, and maybe even the tournament.
Clear Match Error
---
To be fair to Al-Ghandour, I don't think he lacked courage in this scene, but he simply didn't perceive how dangerous this tackle was. Excitable after Brazil's equaliser, Carlos endangered the safety of his opponent; a red card in this situation would have had a huge difference on the rest of the game, and maybe even the tournament.
Clear Match Error
---
The two potential penalties, the lattermost clips, are worthy of discussion:
37' - well seen, the offence does take place outside the penalty area
+46' - there is no kicking contact, but in a strict theoretical sense, I think Carlos' challenge does impede the progress of his opponent without contact; however, play on is (clearly!) the sensible choice
37' - well seen, the offence does take place outside the penalty area
+46' - there is no kicking contact, but in a strict theoretical sense, I think Carlos' challenge does impede the progress of his opponent without contact; however, play on is (clearly!) the sensible choice
Managing the Game
It was fever pitch in Nantes! A thrilling match, and two excellent sets of supporters lending to a phenomenal atmosphere, this was World Cup football at its brilliant best. While the tie didn't play to Gamal Al-Ghandour's strongest hand, he equipped himself fairly well for this task over the ninety minutes.
The Egyptian referee used sanctions in a consistent and predictable way in this match. In the first hard, he carded out four of the five most egregious offences out of the play (24' was the exception, a clear reckless stamp on Ronaldo determined as fair). An apt approach for this game.
However, 12' and 24' and an injury management scene at 43', stand out as times where Al-Ghandour, despite his elegant impression and excellent facial expressions, was not really on top of the incidents - the first half performance felt a bit too chaotic as a consequence.
The Egyptian referee used sanctions in a consistent and predictable way in this match. In the first hard, he carded out four of the five most egregious offences out of the play (24' was the exception, a clear reckless stamp on Ronaldo determined as fair). An apt approach for this game.
However, 12' and 24' and an injury management scene at 43', stand out as times where Al-Ghandour, despite his elegant impression and excellent facial expressions, was not really on top of the incidents - the first half performance felt a bit too chaotic as a consequence.
The game was a bit calmer in the second half, and the ref from Egypt operated a solid disciplinary control, choosing when to (73', 82') and not to (52', 60', 71', 81', 86') sanction a yellow card, though he might have acted harder against a couple of potentially reckless tackles in this period.
This was not a bad refereeing performance at all - the biggest strength of this refereeing show was it's aesthetics. Not at one moment did you have the impression the referee from Egypt, from CAF, was overawed by the occasion - it is not me who holds views that the contrary is normally true(!), but that is worth remembering I think.
This was not a bad refereeing performance at all - the biggest strength of this refereeing show was it's aesthetics. Not at one moment did you have the impression the referee from Egypt, from CAF, was overawed by the occasion - it is not me who holds views that the contrary is normally true(!), but that is worth remembering I think.
Assistant Referees
Dramané Dante showed to be a good AR in future World Cups, but his appointment here was pretty scandalous after his group stage performances. However, his performance was mostly quite good when he was tested in the second half, spoiled by an incorrect flag in the first (24').
Mohamed Mansri's designation was one made on merit, and for eighty-eight minutes he performed well, most notably a correct flag at 66'. However, he misperceived a situation at 89' - the defender played the ball and Al-Ghandour was correct to waive the flag down of his Tunisian assistant.
Not a disaster for Dante and Mansri running the lines in this all CAF trio, but not totally unconvincing at the same time.
Mohamed Mansri's designation was one made on merit, and for eighty-eight minutes he performed well, most notably a correct flag at 66'. However, he misperceived a situation at 89' - the defender played the ball and Al-Ghandour was correct to waive the flag down of his Tunisian assistant.
Not a disaster for Dante and Mansri running the lines in this all CAF trio, but not totally unconvincing at the same time.
Balance
An all-time classic game - Gamal Al-Ghandour reffed it okay for the most part, but it could - and should - have been rather different. Roberto Carlos ought to have seen the red card inside twelve minutes, and that mistake from the CAF trio counts decisively against them.
| Gamal Al-Ghandour - 5 Mohamed Mansri - 6 Dramane Danté - 6 Ali Bujsaim EGY, TUN, MLI | Brazil 3-2 Denmark Quarterfinal 3 June |
 Roberto Carlos (12') - Tackle Aldair (37') - SPA (Holding) Cafu (82') - Delaying the Restart | Helveg (20') - Tackle Colding (39') - SPA (Impeding) Tøfting (73') - Tackle |
Agree on 12' in an LOTG sense. Of course, the timing and the player in question likely mattered a lot. I wonder if the Danish player had stayed down--or been truly injured--whether or not Ghandour would have been more likely to opt for red. The Danish player bouncing right back up does not help the perception that this tackle was so dangerous it needed a red in the 12' of a WC knockout match against one of the best defenders in the world.
ReplyDelete46'+ we disagree entirely! That's pure simulation for me. He's jumping awkwardly with a contorted body before there's ever even a chance at contact. If that's an impeding foul, then referees have been regularly missing impeding fouls since the dawn of time. I'd genuinely like a yellow card for simulation there. I understand you agree common sense is "no penalty," but surprised you even theoretically believe that's impeding.
24' is interesting solely because Ronaldo's skill and his brilliant touch to slow the rotation of the ball made it appear to Ghandour that the Danish player actually touched it!
As you know, I can't view the full highlights. Wasn't one of the Danish goals from a quick free kick? I remember there was some debate about whether or not it should have been ceremonial--though perhaps that was when it was used as a teaching tool later on.
Quick freekick sequence for the opening goal is here:
Deletehttps://ok.ru/video/1939572853348?fromTime=714
+46' is a strictly theoretical view, I'd never (ever) give a penalty for that in one of my games! Defender goes for the ball, misses it, and then the attacker cannot reach the ball with the defender's torso being where the attacker wanted to go. So definitely not simulation for me anyway.
Thanks. What are your thoughts on the quick free kick?
DeleteOn principle, I LOVE it. And I think it was correct then. But, I have heard a lot of instruction about making anything ceremonial from that distance if there is any sort of delay. And I've always been told to ensure you are not gesturing at or engaging the defending team when a free kick is taken.
Again, I personally love this call and I think this was correct then (and Brazil did not complain, perhaps most importantly). But Ghandour being AT the spot, holding his signal and having just "shooed" the Brazilian players back... I don't think this would be acceptable in today's game. Thoughts?
Agree that it is very interesting!
DeleteI think the problem with this scene is that Al-Ghandour was taken by surprise by the quick freekick and was not 'in control' of the incident. You can see he doesn't move immediately after the kick taken, and everything goes on 'without him'.
In the end, the Brazil players could hardly complain (and they didn't), but for that reason I can't get too excited about what the Egyptian ref did here. But agree in principle - a referee's job is to facilitate (exciting) football and Al-Ghandour do that, if slightly by accident.
12: although a case can be made for a red card, I think that the yellow card was appropriate in that context.
ReplyDelete