20 FRAMEX Al-Ghamdi

 

Uruguay's victory the previous night ramped up the pressure on both France and Mexico, who both knew defeat here would likely see them exit the tournament prematurely. It was Mexico whose two second half goals decided an exciting match, both the result of good officiating by the West Asian officials team, and later France would infamously totally implode in one of the most memorable narratives of World Cup 2010.

This appointment was a huge vote of confidence in Khalil Al-Ghamdi's trio, and he found himself in something approaching uncharted waters. Saudi referee was noted for his strict policeman style, but this match required something different - Al-Ghamdi had to serve football in this dynamic match; in essence the least Premier League-esque official at the tournament had to referee it the English way.

Al-Ghamdi simply refereed the game pretty well. His assistant Hassan Kamranifar played an immense onside for the first Mexico goal, and the second was scored from a correctly awarded penalty. Saudi Arabian referee was a somewhat unlikely man in the middle, but he fully justified his appointment.

Let's start with the crucial decisions on the night.

Key Match Incidents

48' - Violent Conduct by Florent Malouda?

Efraín Juárez is deliberately tripped in a careless manner as he is trying to reach the ball. Referee awards a freekick. It is important here to note that everyone knew that this foul was coming.

Everyone including Florent Malouda, who just as the whistle is about the come apparently smashes the ball clear, which angers a gaggle of Mexico players, including Juárez himself, who pushes Malouda in an unsporting manner. 

I am quite sure that Al-Ghamdi believed that Malouda simply kicked the ball away, and actually just before the whistle, and that the Mexico pressure on him was an attempt to balance his early caution to Guillermo Franco for delaying the restart. So, he only cautions Juárez for his push. 

Actually, that's not the case - Malouda deliberately kicked the ball at Juárez whilst he was on the floor, you can see the ball bounce up off him and spin away. If assessing that as using excessive force, Al-Ghamdi was well within his rights to send Malouda off. Instead, only Juárez was cautioned for his push.

Practically, booking both players would have been the best solution. 

63' - Onside by Hassan Kamranifar

What a brilliant call by the Iranian assistant referee, brilliant courage in his own (eagle) eye, certainly the best call of the tournament so far. Well done (+ 0,2)!

77' - Penalty to Mexico

Jamal Al-Sharif, attendee of three World Cups the last of which was 1994, stated in his television work that Khalil Al-Ghamdi got this penalty wrong, and that Pablo Barrera dived and should have received a caution.

I disagree - Saudi referee got this call spot on. Eric Abidal's tackle is late, he doesn't reach the ball and he prevents Pablo Barrera from getting there. Yes, Barrera does jump over the tackle, but I actually cannot see what else he was expected to do there, Abidal's mistimed tackle created a brick wall for him. Correct and decisive call for the whole of Group A.

81' - Serious Foul Play by Mathieu Valbuena?

No angle seems to 100% clarify it, but I am quite convinced that Valbuena deliberately tried to hurt his opponent Rafael Márquez with force that was quite possibly excessive. 

France player jumps in, goes over the top of the ball, and seems to hit Márquez quite high on his shin. Especially the replay angle but also the live sequence do not offer conclusive evidence, and the whole scene is a bit off to be honest (if Valbuena really went in to hurt him, then surely Mexico players would have clocked that and exploded. 

Approach

As I mentioned in the opening, Al-Ghamdi had to officiate in a style which would not have come most naturally to him. He did a satisfying job in a tough game to referee. 

My impression was that he was a bit nervous at the start, the opening minute was a bit messy. He took quite a big gamble at 4' (was William Gallas held in the penalty area before that?), cautioning Guillermo Franco for delaying the restart by sprinting in front of a freekick. A very good call on it's own merits! It was also a risk that played off, after that, the players did not try that particular trick. In a match that promised to be fast-flowing, it was a valuable signal I'd argue.

While that did send a good message, referee could have calmed the players down a bit more with a more coherent tactical approach (whistle tone, mimics, warnings) in the first half (6', 16', 37'). It's important that throw-ins (warning to Juárez) and freekicks (20') are taken from a reasonable place, but Al-Ghamdi's priorities in some scenes was perhaps not optimal. His wider use of sanctions was predictable and good.

Foul detection was surprising on a handful of occasions (19', 45', 50') but replays proved more often than not that Al-Ghamdi had detected a contact not necessarily obvious from the live sequence. In addition, scenes like 27' and 81' showed that the Saudi referee had a really good feeling for how to serve football effectively in this match. 

In terms of mimics, gestures and presence, Al-Ghamdi was not necessarily the most flamboyant or charismatic leader on the pitch (48', 56'), but I actually liked his leadership style. He always ensured that the players didn't win when they challenged his authority, even if he did not arouse the most amount of respect from these (Western culture) players as others did in their matches.  

Balance

In a tough game that would have sunk many, Khalil Al-Ghamdi succeeded with a smart, adaptive piece of refereeing. Flanked by two strong assistants, the officials got the two big calls of the evening spot on, and showed as a trio that they were comfortable handling the competition's most sonorous matches. FIFA almost instant re-appointment of the West Asian team showed how strongly they viewed this performance. Good job! 

Khalil Al-Ghamdi - 8,2 Hassan Kamranifar - 8,6 Saleh Al-Marzouqi - 8,4 Peter O'Leary Matthew Taro KSA, IRN, UAE – NZL, SOL	France 0-2 Mexico Group Stage 17 June
Toulalan (+46') - SPA (Charge) Abidal (78') - SPA (Tackle)	Franco (4') - Delaying the Restart Juárez (48') - Aggressive Behaviour Moreno (49') - Tackle Rodríguez (82') - Tackle