18 ARGKOR De Bleeckere
Frank De Bleeckere looked in with a very good shout to referee the nineteenth World Cup final. Quietly impressive in his 2006 matches, the Belgian referee was perhaps the pre-tournament star of the European referees this time.
In his opening game, one of the most enjoyable if not necessarily sonorous of the group stage, he executed his strong personality and consistent disciplinary control to very good effect, giving us perhaps the most aesthetically pleasing performance so far. So, only some smaller pointers here from me:
- Was the caution to Gabriel Heinze too much at 74', or simply just following FIFA's directives?
- Did he miss yellow cards at 65' (tackle), 68' (tactical foul), 80' (tackle) and 88' (simulation)? 68' is of particular interest as it would have had Jonas Gutiérrez; was there a material difference between that situation and the opening booking at 10'?
- Was the freekick played quickly before Argentina's fourth goal taken from an acceptable position?
- Regarding his whistle, he put it to his mouth only not to blow it a couple of times (49', 69'); what do you think of his toots at 1' and 85'?
Strong showing from De Bleeckere in a normal difficulty match, and the very high esteem in which he was held was displayed by his next assignment. Walter Vromans played a well-seen onside for Argentina's second goal (+ 0,1), the correctness of which he seemed to tell a South Korea player between the two halves! Peter Hermans was quiet.
| Frank De Bleeckere - 8,5 Peter Hermans - 8,4 Walter Vromans - 8,5 Jerome Damon Céléstin Ntagungira BEL – RSA, RWA | Argentina 4-1 Korea Republic Group Stage 17 June |
 Gutiérrez (54') - Delaying the Restart Mascherano (55') - Tackle Heinze (74') - Lack of Respect (Handling) | Ki-hun (10') - SPA (Holding) Chung-yong (34') - Tackle |
De Bleeckere... one of the UEFA mysteries... very good reputation, two WCs, but no major final given in his own confederation in his entire career...
ReplyDeleteDo you believe Argentina's third goal was onside? The commentary on our US board 10 years ago seemed to reach a consensus that it likely was offside by a few inches. But apparently no good replay was ever shown on the international feed. Watching it again, it does seem like the goalscorer was ahead of the ball and the second-to-last defender.
ReplyDeletehttps://imgur.com/a/Wck8l4E
DeleteThis is the earliest frame in which Messi could have taken his shot. It does seem as though Higuaín is more-than-likely offside at that moment, indeed.
Not the only very tight / tricky situation for Peter Hermans at that tournament!
I always liked De Bleeckere, he was perhaps not the most sophisticated referee, but a trustworthy one - I really appreciate this type. His decisions (minus one missed card for a tackle) were quite good here, small mistakes aside. The card in 74' I would refer to this day as the sort of "De Bleeckere-class attacking handball", we will see more of them in the future. (Or the past?!) ;)
ReplyDeleteReview by MARCA.com: 5/10. Biggest mistake was not disallowing Argentina's third goal.
ReplyDelete