21 GERSRB Undiano

 

Serbia upset Germany by a goal-to-nothing in game most Western observers agree was tarnished by an overly strict application of the laws by referee Alberto Undiano Mallenco from Spain. Undiano controversially had Klose off with a shade less than an hour remaining, shortly after which Serbia scored. 

Germany did the unthinkable to a (tabloid) British audience and miss a correctly awarded second half penalty, and Serbia ultimately held on for a shock win. Balkan nation were back in with a shout of progressing, and the possibility of Germany being eliminated now became a very tangible one.

It seems funny to us now (nothing against him personally by the way, just an observation on modern refereeing), but Undiano Mallenco was seen as the future by FIFA, who aggressively pushed him after the last World Cup. He was a bit unlucky that his ultra-consistent style met this particular match in his World Cup debut.

With Germany's penalty missed, the most important decision of the afternoon was the second caution to Miroslav Klose, but we'll come to that slightly later. First, the penalty that was given, another that perhaps should have been.

Penalty Area Incidents 

59' - Penalty to Germany

Nemanja Vidić totally lost his nerve and seeing the ball was going over his head, handled the ball in a very deliberate manner (he had form for it, actually). A sense of dejà vu, for those who watched Serbia's match with Ghana. The slight delay in the whistle suggests that nearside AR Fermin Martínez Ibáñez made the call, a clearly correct one, well seen by him despite being quite far away (+ 0,1). 

+92' - Potential penalty to Germany?

Well - Mario Gómez is simply kicked by Dejan Stanković in the penalty area, isn't he? Gómez has beaten him to the ball, and Stanković gets there late and kicks his leg; one senses the Serbia player knows that as well, and the injury he sustains from the duel is an attempt to muddy the waters for the referee, who as it happens isn't terribly interested. 

Stanković was not trying to make a tackle for the ball so much as kick it, and the bad luck of it all is why it doesn't really 'feel' like a penalty - insofar as that matters - really one should be given there. Germany's complaints were not directed here, though.

Approach

To understand the sending off of Miroslav Klose, you have to understand what Undiano tried to do in this game and indeed what he tried to do in all of his games throughout his career.

Klose was on his radar from the start. Actually, breaking rank from the accepted account of what happened in this game, I think Undiano's dealing of his fouls was textbook until he was sent off. He was late at 8' (haha) on Branislav Ivanović, and the Spanish referee issued him a deserved warning. 

Then, when he deliberately tripped, again, Ivanović to prevent a quite promising attack - look at Sami Khedira running back to his position after the foul - I don't really see what other option Undiano had here, besides following through on his word or doing nothing. If you wanted to, you could have avoided this caution, but such wasn't his style.

The major issue with his performance was the second yellow card. Klose continued buzzing around after his first yellow card and continued fouling players in a clearly careless manner. He had taken no need of the ref's warning. 

I do wonder how ball orientated his foul was on Dejan Stanković that got him sent off at 36' - totally, and Staković got him with smart play? Just aimed at hitting the Serbia player, to prevent him playing the ball that was on nearside? Or just a bit lazy and not really bothered if he got man or ball?

I can't actually call this decision wrong, what I can say is that it was very unwise. Klose was very stupid with this referee to do what he did, and Undiano acted as you would have expected him to. It is tribute to him in a way that his refereeing was so ideological, even to the detriment of what he could later achieve in his career.

There was a wider problem with his performance though. While as a refereeing person I could perfectly predict when Undiano was and was not going to whistle a foul (2', 25') or not issue a caution for a challenge because it was careless (44', 52', 54', 71' and even 79', a clear second yellow card nowadays), I don't think the players really knew what he was going to do next. 

Spanish referee faced the unfortunate situation for him that the players were happy to kick each other and just get on with it. A referee with game feeling would be able to pick and choose his sanctions, probably gamble with control a bit, and ultimately bring the game to a nice conclusion for everyone. Undiano was not that man, for better or worse. 

Balance

Alberto Undiano Mallenco simply executed his style, actually quite effectively, on this game as FIFA knew he would do in his games. Of course, Klose's sending off is very contested, even if he was pretty stupid to test this referee, but generally speaking the Spaniard did not so much as get a single decision wrong all afternoon.

Undiano was actually pretty unlucky to find himself in the middle of this particular game, where the technically correct decisions and the practically optimal decisions were quite far apart. The result was a performance widely denounced, not least here in Britain (besides Germany) at the time. 

I guess his performance touches on the fault-lines of modern refereeing - for some, an excellent piece of officiating that is sorely missed nowadays, or others, a nightmare for which the football understanding revolution which would follow this tournament couldn't come soon enough. At least, Pierluigi Collina who would lead UEFA Refereeing after this tournament, had made up his mind. 

Regarding ARs: two correct offside calls from Yuste Jiménez in the first half, the capricious and excellent Martínez Ibáñez was very quiet besides the penalty call. 

Alberto Undiano Mallenco - 8,4 Fermin Martínez Ibáñez - 8,5 Juan Carlos Yuste Jiménez - 8,4 Martín Vázquez Carlos Pastorino ESP – URU	Germany 0-1 Serbia Group Stage 18 June
Klose (12') - SPA (Tripping) Khedira (22') - SPA (Tripping) Lahm (32') - Tackle Schweinsteiger (73') - Persistent Infringement	Ivanović (18') - Tackle Kolarov (19') - Tackle Subotić (57')  - Tackle Vidić (59') - SPA (Handling)
Klose (36') - Tackle