08 GERAUS Rodríguez

 

Marco Rodríguez was back at the World Cup. The beneficiary of Carlos Batres' knee problem and Peter Prendergast not telling FIFA about an injury revealed on a scan in 2006, he was in South Africa as one of CONCACAF's top three names. In those four interceding years he certainly didn't lose any amount of courage - he sent Cahill off, rightly in my view, when many of his colleagues wouldn't have, and refereed this game in a mostly satisfying way, though having left some relatively large doubts at the same time. 

Crucial incidents is where we start again.

Key Match Incidents

48' - Penalty to Australia?

Principally, I would say Per Mertesacker's handling should be punished - despite the close distance, the Germany defender enlarges his body surface to stop the headed shot at goal. On a didactic level - penalty. 

Practically it is more difficult. I can't really see the scope for Rodríguez nor AR José Luis Camargo to see that. Perhaps only a fourth official following Pedro Proença's instructions would really have had a chance to see it, and even then, probably couldn't have been sure.

A good case-in-point for Video Assistant Refereeing, maybe :)

56' - Red Card to Tim Cahill

Two schools of thought about this red card:

1) It's a World Cup game, Cahill's tackle is not really in danger of seriously hurting Bastien Schweinsteiger, yellow card is enough there, regardless of whether he went in to hurt him (at first). 

2) Debrief is important here. 

- If Rodríguez saw Cahill's tackle as simply late but (mis)perceived studs as being what made contact then the decision was a mistake.

- If however, he saw Cahill fly in late to hurt Schweinsteiger, ie. a tackle as an attack, then the Australia player pulling back his studs is immaterial - he deserved to be sent off regardless.

-> Tim Cahill's reaction sells to me exactly what he does. Cahill obviously sees the red mist and flies in, and then pulls his studs out in an effort not to be sent off. 

His amazement at being sent off is synthetic, he knows that he did lose his head with that tackle, hence him not actually being annoyed / furious at the decision, as anyone would be if they felt they had genuinely been wrongly sent off in a World Cup game. Merely, his attempts to save himself failed, Rodríguez saw through them. 

So, for me, correct and a brave decision to send Cahill off. However, it would be wrong not to acknowledge that there were worse tackles even amongst the games thus far, which were not punished with a red card.

65' - Second Yellow Card to Carl Valeri?

In essence, Valeri should have been sent off. His standing leg tackle lacked the force to do very serious damage, but was certainly reckless in my book.

However, Rodríguez probably solved this in the most sensible way - given that Valeri did try and reduce the force of his tackle once he saw that the ball wasn't reachable, the reactions of the players and the controversial nature of Cahill's dismissal, it was probably sensible to not reduce Australia to nine. 

Approach

Marco Rodríguez, as in 2006, showed no fear of being in the limelight in his games. Excellent decisions such as the one to caution Mesut Özil early on for a clear dive, are a result of that. Others, such as that to book Craig Moore for an aggressive dissent towards AR Camargo, are simply good officiating in my book.

However, Rodríguez showed some fairly large deficiencies in managing the game and the players in my view. I would contest +92', but in principle all of his cautions were correct - however, I missed what wider tactical approach they were part of. 

Fouls at 29', 35' and 42' were all worthy of a caution, or if not issuing a card, Rodríguez should have at least made sure that everybody knew he wasn't going to tolerate play like this. Just blowing for the offences, albeit with decent whistle language at 42', was not enough. 

Decisions such as that and the chaotic restart at 22', a missed foul at 43' and the way he sold the (fully correct) booking at 58', simply made the players more anxious than was necessary. They didn't really know what this referee was going to do next. 

Despite his rather photogenic presence (and if I may say so, the Mexican trio looked rather dashing in their long-sleeved yellow shirts :)), Rodríguez also lacked soft skills. He actually seemed like a rather shy man on the pitch, sometimes unwilling to take charge of the situation (first half corner altercation, 48', 58'). Actually that makes the courage he had in his games all the more impressive in my view! 

Though less impressive when he rather capriciously cautions Cacau at +92' for a dive in the midfield. It didn't matter this late in a 4-0 game, but the Germany player jumps over the leg that would have hit him, before falling a bit more theatrically when he realises he isn't going to reach the ball. That's not really simulation in my book. Fine, but cautions were much better used in other situations in this game than there!

Balance

Overall, Marco Rodríguez handled this game in a mostly satisfying way. Personally, I really appreciated the courage he showed to send off Tim Cahill - it is not okay to pretend to tackle someone when you simply try to hurt them, even if you try to reduce the impact at the end. Cahill knows he lost his head, his frustration should be at himself, not the Mexican referee.

However, Rodríguez also showed quite significant deficiencies as a referee. No matter here really, but in a challenging game, he could find himself in pretty big trouble.

Challenging first half for nearside AR José Luis Camargo - contrary to Craig Moore's rather angry assertion, the only mistake he made was an incorrect flag actually favouring Australia at 15' (- 0,2). Otherwise, he played three very good and important onsides. Alberto Morín correctly allowed the 4-0 goal to stand.

Marco Rodríguez - 8,3 José Luis Camargo - 8,4 Alberto Morín - 8,4 Martin Hansson Hendrik Andrén MEX – SWE	Germany 4-0 Australia Group Stage 13 June
Özil (12') - Simulation Cacau (+92') - Simulation	Moore (24') - Dissent Neill (46') - Charging Valeri (58') - Tripping
	Cahill (56') - Serious Foul Play