59 NEDARG Brizio Carter
Dennis Bergkamp's epic goal a minute from the end catapulted the Netherlands to their first ever World Cup semifinal, leaving Argentina, down and out. Both teams had hitherto then been shown the red card by the referee on a highly eventful afternoon in the Marseille heat.
The man in charge of this high risk game was Arturo Brizio Carter from Mexico - he got all the big calls absolutely bang on, and in a tie where he was highly tested by the players, did quite okay in the rest of the match.
Big Decisions
Brizio Carter faced a number of tricky calls in the second half, increasing in importance as the game went on. We will work through them in chronological order - clip montage below:35' - Potential penalty to the Netherlands (handling)
44' - Potential second yellow card to Netherlands no.3 (tackle)
60' - Potential penalty to the Netherlands (impeding)
66' - Potential penalty to the Netherlands (charging)
76' - Second yellow card to Netherlands no.5 (challenge)
88' - Potential penalty to Argentina (tripping)
88' - Red card to Argentina no.10 (violent conduct)
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Let's start with the four foremost calls in the above video.
35' -
Impossible to determine from the live sequence; replays would have been much appreciated!
44' -
Jaap Stam's kick for which he was earlier cautioned was very different from this tackle, a careless one, correct freekick only.
60' -
More theoretically than practically interesting, impeding the attacker's progress or a fair shielding action? Rather borderline case but I agree with Brizio Carter, the attacker had overrun the ball, defender Roberto Sensini's action was reasonable, before he was pulled down. Correct response.
66' -
Again would have appreciated the normal live sequence shot (no replay), but it seems that Bergkamp falls of his own accord after a minimal charge, so correct by the referee to give the go on.
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Let's start with the four foremost calls in the above video.
35' -
Impossible to determine from the live sequence; replays would have been much appreciated!
44' -
Jaap Stam's kick for which he was earlier cautioned was very different from this tackle, a careless one, correct freekick only.
60' -
More theoretically than practically interesting, impeding the attacker's progress or a fair shielding action? Rather borderline case but I agree with Brizio Carter, the attacker had overrun the ball, defender Roberto Sensini's action was reasonable, before he was pulled down. Correct response.
66' -
Again would have appreciated the normal live sequence shot (no replay), but it seems that Bergkamp falls of his own accord after a minimal charge, so correct by the referee to give the go on.
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Arthur Numan's second yellow card was correct in my view - because it is helpful for us in this scene, let's compartmentalise what our English friend on American television said.
"that's a disgraceful decision" ->
I disagree, Brizio Carter made the correct call here. Numan jumps across Diego Simeone, stopping him with any force necessary. In addition, Simeone had a lot of free space ahead of him. You could make a case for this being either, or indeed both, SPA and reckless. So a yellow card is the correct solution.
"he [Brizio Carter] didn't realise that he'd already booked Numan" ->
I'm neigh on certain that the referee had clocked that. He even shows the yellow card with his left hand (I believe this was the only of his World Cup career not shown with the right hand), in order to make showing the red as ergonomically easy as possible.
For not even a split second does the Mexican ref look at his notes on his yellow card, the red follows it immediately. This was certainly a second caution decision, and not an 'accident'.
"he [Brizio Carter] was influenced by the Argentina players" ->
I can understand why the commentator had that impression - Brizio Carter's whistle tone, and even general manner, did not give the impression that he was going to give a second yellow card before a moment's thought.
Brizio Carter was not in 100% full control of this scene. He was surely about to pull out the yellow card for Edgar Davids' tackle, but played a passive delayed whistle. Numan's pretty crazy tackle for an already booked player took him by surprise.
He took a moment to perceive what happened before deciding to send Numan off. I think he would have even issued the cards a second earlier, if not for Wim Jonk standing right next to him trying to dissuade the referee. He probably did not even see the mobbing Argentina players, to be honest.
Too long; didn't read - the ref got it right :)
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There are two elements of the crucial 88' scene, the simulation call, and then the red card. This is worthy of very long discussion!
The Ariel Ortega dive call was a very dramatic denouement, which this whole game and performance was leading up to in the eighty-eighth minute. Brizio Carter won the war of wills, Ortega brought out his very best simulation, and the Mexican referee saw right through it. Drama indeed!
Ortega had already been denied freekicks twice by the referee having determined that little or no contact took place (13', 84') - the latter call was at only some minutes before the ultimate showdown between Ortega and arbitro.
Fascinatingly, I think Brizio Carter knew what was coming! Just seconds before Ortega tries his perfect dive, in the attacking sequence before, he tries to make a break laterally in exactly the same part of the penalty area - you can see the Mexican referee sprint towards the diagonal channel. Brizio Carter was ready for a big in-box decision involving Ortega!
When Ortega did make his play a very short while later, Brizio Carter could hardly have hoped for a worse angle - not only a nightmare on the diagonal control path, but two players run in the referee's way. Reynaldo Salinas even runs to the corner - I think the Honduran AR was expecting, and perhaps even discreetly signalling for, a penalty decision.
And yet, Brizio Carter still got it right. Jaap Stam does leave his leg out, bamboozled by Oretga's dribbling skills, but the Argentina striker deliberately kicks the ball slightly too far forward in order to trawl his legs and trip himself.
The first replay shows it perfectly - but the second two are more akin to what Brizio Carter would have seen himself, I am still partly amazed that he got this decision right; a real compliment to him indeed.
Reaching for the yellow card, Brizio Carter made one (subconscious) decision which had a decisive impact on the game - he didn't choose to run over to the conflict scene, instead opting to walk. A fascinating choice, at least personally, my instinct would be to sprint there!
Ortega had already been denied freekicks twice by the referee having determined that little or no contact took place (13', 84') - the latter call was at only some minutes before the ultimate showdown between Ortega and arbitro.
Fascinatingly, I think Brizio Carter knew what was coming! Just seconds before Ortega tries his perfect dive, in the attacking sequence before, he tries to make a break laterally in exactly the same part of the penalty area - you can see the Mexican referee sprint towards the diagonal channel. Brizio Carter was ready for a big in-box decision involving Ortega!
When Ortega did make his play a very short while later, Brizio Carter could hardly have hoped for a worse angle - not only a nightmare on the diagonal control path, but two players run in the referee's way. Reynaldo Salinas even runs to the corner - I think the Honduran AR was expecting, and perhaps even discreetly signalling for, a penalty decision.
And yet, Brizio Carter still got it right. Jaap Stam does leave his leg out, bamboozled by Oretga's dribbling skills, but the Argentina striker deliberately kicks the ball slightly too far forward in order to trawl his legs and trip himself.
The first replay shows it perfectly - but the second two are more akin to what Brizio Carter would have seen himself, I am still partly amazed that he got this decision right; a real compliment to him indeed.
Reaching for the yellow card, Brizio Carter made one (subconscious) decision which had a decisive impact on the game - he didn't choose to run over to the conflict scene, instead opting to walk. A fascinating choice, at least personally, my instinct would be to sprint there!
Having not done so, Ortega executed a pretty amusing headbutt on Edwin van der Sar, and for his violent conduct on the goalkeeper, had to be shown the red card, after the yellow one was (probably) shown.
Not only had Brizio Carter saw through the simulation which this whole game was leading up to, Ortega was stupid enough to get himself sent off too. It was then ten against ten, and a very short while later, Dennis Bergkamp scored that goal, and Argentina were out; Netherlands, in the semifinal.
Managing the Game
Arturo Brizio Carter was selected for a game which promised great trouble for it's referee - his wider performance was not perfect, but on the whole was definitely a good one.
The Mexican certainly set his stall out from the start - Jaap Stam's deliberate kick at 10' brought the game's opening yellow card. Would a freekick have been enough? In any case, the following yellow cards at 17' and 22' were mandatory and excellent respectively, the latter helpfully balancing the cautions at two-one.
After that however, the first half got a bit choppy - Edgar Davids ought to have been cautioned for persistent infringement (7', 12', 24'), in addition to his teammate Bergkamp, whose stamp on Ariel Ortega was definitely reckless at 36'. As appropriate for each match he was in charge of, Brizio Carter's leadership style got more-and-more distant as his World Cup 1998 went on - whereas in France - Saudi Arabia (FRAKSA) his friendly leadership style was a wonderful feature of that performance, here he was very firm and did not entertain the players at all (eg. 45'). A smart choice I'd say in Argentina - Netherlands.
Brizio Carter showed himself not to be a man for balancing cautions - the tactical value, and technical correctness by the way, of cautioning Edgar Davids for a reckless charge through the back of Ariel Oretga was clear - but no card (56'). Perhaps he didn't want to irritate the Netherlands too much after 52' and 54'. Argentina were fortunate not to pick up a card for (passive) mobbing themselves.
As the game grew on, keeping a high technical accuracy got easier as play became more stretched - given he was slightly caught in the centre of the pitch, Brizio Carter's foul detection was good, though probably not more than that.
The referee was seldom called upon in the minutes after the goal, and after the four additional minutes (the solitary minute in the first half was not really enough) elapsed, Brizio Carter could call time on a job well done in a very high pressure match.
Assistant Referees
FIFA appointed a full CONCACAF trio for this match, and a full trio in every sense - a referee from the North region, one assistant from Central America. another from the Caribbean. Jamaican Owen Powell is perhaps the greatest 'turn around' story of this World Cup amongst the officials.
After two unconvincing performance, Powell did a (very) good in all of his last three. The onside played for the Argentina equaliser was not really more than good or even expected, but generally he did well in this game, also as a team member. Fair play.
Reynaldo Salinas was less convincing - one couldn't criticise him in the 88', if did signal for a penalty he did so discreetly, but he made two rather important mistakes in tight crossover situations (68', 74'). In general, still passing rather than failing the test.
After two unconvincing performance, Powell did a (very) good in all of his last three. The onside played for the Argentina equaliser was not really more than good or even expected, but generally he did well in this game, also as a team member. Fair play.
Reynaldo Salinas was less convincing - one couldn't criticise him in the 88', if did signal for a penalty he did so discreetly, but he made two rather important mistakes in tight crossover situations (68', 74'). In general, still passing rather than failing the test.
Balance
Arturo Brizio Carter was the man on the spot - his spotting of the Ortega simulation was just excellent for me (and I still have no idea really how he got it right), and all of the other big decisions were spot on as well. In terms of managing the game, this was not the most sophisticated performance, but the overall picture was definitely (very) good.
| Arturo Brizio Carter - 7 Owen Powell - 7 Reynaldo Salinas - 6 Epifanio González MEX, JAM, HON | Netherlands 2-1 Argentina Quarterfinal 4 July |
 Stam (10') - Challenge Numan (17') - Tackle | Chamot (22') - Challenge Sensini (59') - Delaying the Restart Ortega (88') - Simulation |
 Numan (76') - Challenge | |
 Ortega (88') - Violent Conduct |
This was the most interesting match in terms of refereeing. Same as you, at the time, I was amazed by some of Brizio's major decisions in this very challenging match, especially the scene at min. 88. However, when I discussed it afterwards with an insider from WC98, I was told that FIFA wanted a penalty kick, not simulation. I asked him right away whether he was joking, but he repeated that FIFA was not pleased with Brizio's performance. Even now, after two decades, I am not sure what was actually FIFA's official position on that. Would you, Mikael, or any reader be able to find it out? It would be interesting to know for sure.
ReplyDeleteWOW, okay, that would be a turn of events indeed. I should be able to find out from a reliable source in time to include it in the tournament review piece on Wednesday.
DeleteI was lucky to never have heard the American commentators on this match!
ReplyDeleteMy questions were always a bit more theoretical than practical. At 76', you discerned exactly what I did--that he WAS going to book Davids for his foul (either reckless or PI). So why didn't he? I'm asking that rhetorically, of course. Selling that caution and a 2CT for Numan would have been impossible. So I guess I ask if he could have slammed on the whistle and only booked Davids? It seems fanciful, but again I bring up Simeone's antics. They were the talk of the tournament after this match in a lot of ways. He had "got" two opponents sent off in back to back matches after his theatrics. We both know Numan's card was warranted but... when faced with a situation where Numan and Davids both commit reckless fouls and Numan's would result in a 2CT AND it is accompanied by Simeone's play-acting... is there any scenario where Brizio Carter could have overexaggerated the seriousness of the Davids foul and cautioned him instead?
As for 88', I just love Brizio Carter's pointing to the ear and smiling after Ortega speaks to him. I would love to know what was said between the two. My only question on this scenario was whether or not Van der Sar deserved any sanction for confronting Ortega but, having watched it again here, I think not. My memory was more of VDS leaning over him and being more provocative than he was in actuality. A caution would have been too much.
The whole 76' scene is actually pretty weird to be honest - I'd argue that Brizio Carter was not really 'in control' of the incident.
DeleteHe didn't play a great advantage after the Davids challenge, he just let the game go on (passive delayed whistle) because he realised as he was about to whistle that Argentina were still on the attack. The game was pretty unhinged at that exact moment for that reason, and explains Numan's crazy intervention; in everyone's mind, the game had de facto been stopped for Davids challenge.
But of course it hadn't, and Brizio Carter then had to send Numan off. As I see it, the only way the ref could have avoided this SYC is by blowing up immediately and cautioning Davids - as he had 'already' done in his mind, if you get what I mean. Having not, there was no real option, as it would have been obvious to everyone that he was simply avoiding a brave decision, even if (for us) it was in a 'noble' way.