62 FRACRO García-Aranda
Lilian Thuram more than made up for his amateurish mistake allowing Davor Šuker to score the game's opening goal for Croatia when the defender scored twice thereafter to secure France a place in their first ever World Cup final on home soil. The Balkan debutants were brave in defeat during an epic game.
José María García-Aranda was selected for the second semifinal, after highly convincing performances in his two prior games (BRASCO - NEDYUG). The Spaniard famously had Laurent Blanc off, correctly so, and very impressively held it all together in a match of great tension.
Big Decisions
In the video clip below are the following incidents; analysis below begins with the ejection of Laurent Blanc:
17' - Potential penalty to France (impeding)
17' - Potential penalty to France (impeding)
25' - Potential penalty to Croatia (holding)
+47' - Potential penalty to Croatia (holding)
50' - Potential penalty to France (handling)
56' - Potential second yellow card to Croatia no.7 (SPA / challenge)
69' - Potential penalty to France (holding)
74' - Red card to France no.5 (violent conduct)
82' - Potential sanction to France no.12 (striking)
+92' - Potential red card to Croatia no.20 (DOGSO)
+94' - Potential red card to Croatia no.4 (DOGSO)
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Referee García-Aranda actually did very well to properly assess the Laurent Blanc - Slaven Bilić duel in the penalty area, in the middle of a gaggle of players waiting for a centred ball; it was very hard to foresee what happened, actually happening!
This decision is quite correct in my view, at least in 1998 - Blanc's actions are not "brutal", but I think he does use an excessive amount of force as he hits Bilić on the neck / chin. Blanc lost his composure, he struck Bilić in anger. In the climate of 1998, when FIFA were genuinely strict on such incidents even if they do not pose a danger to player safety, the Spanish ref didn't have much option.
For what it is worth, Slaven Bilić said that he didn't dive to get Blanc sent off, per se. The Croatia defender had already been cautioned in the knockout stage (by Javier Castrilli), and really did not want to miss a World Cup final, so his dive, he says was an attempt to absolve himself from any potential suspending-sanction.
What do you think would happen in this scene nowadays?
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As for the other situations:
17' - if punished, this should actually result in a freekick outside the penalty area, but it was probably better to turn a blind eye to this duel altogether
25' - way too trifling, play on
+47' - again too trifling, defender falls of his own accord, penalty would be a very clear mistake
50' - impossible to tell from the live sequence, no replays
56' - in principle I like to see deliberate tactical trips punished with yellow cards, however a second yellow card here would have been strongly contravening the ref's line in this match, besides anything else
82' - Thierry Henry leads with the elbow, but this duel should definitely be assessed as reckless only, no excessive force
+92' - closeish to DOGSO but the other defender is present so clear yellow card
+94' - seems to be a clear foul from the live sequence, if given rather SPA than DOGSO (distance from goal, control of the ball)
The referee opened the cards on a fully deliberate handling at 45', but FIFA also wanted a caution at 32' under the same heading. For refereeing aficionados, this is rather amusing - the referees at World Cup 2010 were instructed to always punish handballs which "attempted to deceive the officials" with a yellow card. The head of refereeing at that tournament was... García-Aranda himself. :)
This approach worked well but it got a bit messy after the red card where it seemed the referee was a little now off - missed foul at 76', and then clear cautions to Henry ignored (tackle 78'; striking 82'). There were some tight moments in this late period, but García-Aranda impressively saw it through to the end.
The whole performance ascertained my impression that the referee from Spain was the officiating number one at World Cup 1998 - his helicopter-esque patrolling style, supported by a very good foul detection and top drawer soft skills, FIFA were fortunate to be able to call on such a high class official for this tournament!
17' - if punished, this should actually result in a freekick outside the penalty area, but it was probably better to turn a blind eye to this duel altogether
25' - way too trifling, play on
+47' - again too trifling, defender falls of his own accord, penalty would be a very clear mistake
50' - impossible to tell from the live sequence, no replays
56' - in principle I like to see deliberate tactical trips punished with yellow cards, however a second yellow card here would have been strongly contravening the ref's line in this match, besides anything else
82' - Thierry Henry leads with the elbow, but this duel should definitely be assessed as reckless only, no excessive force
+92' - closeish to DOGSO but the other defender is present so clear yellow card
+94' - seems to be a clear foul from the live sequence, if given rather SPA than DOGSO (distance from goal, control of the ball)
Managing the Game
José María García-Aranda opted for the same approach as in his first two matches - very lenient, but always on top of the incidents, having a clear line in cards. Such an approach is rather tough to pull off in such an intense match as this one, but the for the third match running the Spaniard did pull it off; he had a strong evening.
If he so wished, García-Aranda could have had a player in the book inside sixty seconds - Zvonimir Boban was late in the first minute, but sensibly the referee chose only to warn him. The Spaniard set a high bar for the illicit play which was below the caution threshold (1', 18', 23', 24', 26', 32', 40', 55', 56').
If he so wished, García-Aranda could have had a player in the book inside sixty seconds - Zvonimir Boban was late in the first minute, but sensibly the referee chose only to warn him. The Spaniard set a high bar for the illicit play which was below the caution threshold (1', 18', 23', 24', 26', 32', 40', 55', 56').
This approach worked well but it got a bit messy after the red card where it seemed the referee was a little now off - missed foul at 76', and then clear cautions to Henry ignored (tackle 78'; striking 82'). There were some tight moments in this late period, but García-Aranda impressively saw it through to the end.
The whole performance ascertained my impression that the referee from Spain was the officiating number one at World Cup 1998 - his helicopter-esque patrolling style, supported by a very good foul detection and top drawer soft skills, FIFA were fortunate to be able to call on such a high class official for this tournament!
Assistant Referees
Hard to assess the performance of Fernando Tresaco Gracia and Jorge Díaz Gálvez in this match. Only one offside situation faced by the Spanish (12') and Chilean (10', 19', 29', 30', 81', +91') assistants respectively were we able to actually judge - a well-played, if irrelevant, crossover onside in additional time at the end of the second half. Both performed well as team members.
Balance
José María García-Aranda was a referee whom FIFA could depend on in any match at this tournament, and in a tie of great tension (the hardest of his three in 1998), the Spaniard delivered a top class performance. Quite correct to send off Blanc, García-Aranda excellently managed to keep everything in view in pretty trying circumstances.
He would have certainly merited an appointment to the final. But regardless - the Spanish referee can be quite content with his tournament, he performed on a very sophisticated level in all three of his matches, this semifinal especially.
| José María García-Aranda - 8 Fernando Tresaco Gracia - 7 Jorge Díaz Gálvez - 7 Epifanio González ESP, ESP, CHI | France 2-1 Croatia Semifinal 8 July |
 Asanović (45') - Lack of Respect (Handling) Stanić (74') - SPA (Challenge) Šimić (+92') - SPA (Challenge) | |
 Blanc (74') - Violent Conduct |
Garcia-Aranda was indeed a top performer at WC98 in France. I really liked his approach; however, I had and still have doubts whether Blanc actually used an "excessive force" that merited a red card, especially in the context that Bilic tried to provoke his opponents on several occasions during the match. Looking at the big picture, Garcia-Aranda demonstrated a high level of refereeing.
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