28 ITANZL Batres
One of the most remarkable results of recent World Cup history - Italy, the reigning champions and four-time winners, were held by New Zealand, a notion whose sporting prowess is noted for being with a different shaped ball.
Italy were cast pantomime villains for the apparent dive of Daniele De Rossi with which Italy tied the score - if anything, it should be New Zealand's heavy handed and illicit tactics that were looked down on by the watching world.
Referee was Carlos Batres from Guatemala; it would be really interesting to know what kind of match he expected here! In any case - it was decided by one holding offence and a lot of striking fouls. It was not just the elbows that were flying around.
To be blunt - Batres struggled quite a bit. He didn't really seem to clock what New Zealand were rather blatantly trying to do, and that they would keep on doing it. On the other hand, with the help of Leonel Leal he got the game's crucial call spot on, avoided real controversy and ultimately avoided a real nightmare in a tough game.
The story then of a quite dramatic afternoon which certainly did not go to script.
Match
5' - A very clear and actually rather nasty elbow by Rory Fallon on Gianluca Zambrotta, not seen by by the referee. Batres actually has the perfect insight angle into this challenge, but ostensibly he can't have been expecting it (expectation-perception-recognition).
For me this is very borderline between being reckless and excessive force. Fallon jumps into Zambrotta, leads with his elbow, and actually has a minimal chance of reaching the ball. On the other hand, you could argue that Fallon is using his arm only as a tool and is reasonably jumping for the ball.
In any case - Fallon and his team noted that he had gotten away with it; a sanction had to be administered here, or at least a foul.
6' - (Key Match Incident) Zambrotta this time, probably not wanting to be hit in the face again, charges Rory Fallon in a careless manner and Carlos Batres awards a freekick to New Zealand. From which they score!
Unfortunately, Shane Smeltz was in an offside position when he scored, and the goal should not have stood. Remarkably, we (probably) have another case of failed referee-AR cooperation resulting in a goal!
In any case - Fallon and his team noted that he had gotten away with it; a sanction had to be administered here, or at least a foul.
6' - (Key Match Incident) Zambrotta this time, probably not wanting to be hit in the face again, charges Rory Fallon in a careless manner and Carlos Batres awards a freekick to New Zealand. From which they score!
Unfortunately, Shane Smeltz was in an offside position when he scored, and the goal should not have stood. Remarkably, we (probably) have another case of failed referee-AR cooperation resulting in a goal!
The ball takes a slight but clearly detectable deflection off Wiston Reid as he challenges for the ball, which then makes Shane Smeltz's position a clearly offside one. Fabio Cannavaro's actions do nothing to void that.
In an ideal world, Batres should actually be able to take the offside decision on his own having perceived the deflection. Actually, from the Guatemalan's angle, it does seem as though it's Alberto Gilardino who gets the touch, though the replay from behind the goal shows that not to be the case.
In an ideal world, Batres should actually be able to take the offside decision on his own having perceived the deflection. Actually, from the Guatemalan's angle, it does seem as though it's Alberto Gilardino who gets the touch, though the replay from behind the goal shows that not to be the case.
So, it is the Honduran AR Carlos Pastrana who has the best chance to see this, but unfortunately he must have just missed the touch altogether (as unlike in Busacca's game, all the opposition players did too). A rather unlucky mistake for the Central American trio, but the evidence is clear.
CRUCIAL MISTAKE
14' - Rory Fallon is at it again, this time with a much less adeptly disguised strike, on Fabio Cannavaro. This time it is clearly no more than reckless though.
Italy players clock on a bit quicker to what is happening here than the Guatemalan referee, and are quite incensed by this foul. One hopes that this made no difference to Batres' decision to quite rightly book Fallon (he definitely detected the foul this time), but personally I am not so sure. Regardless - in the end, correct call.
Italy players clock on a bit quicker to what is happening here than the Guatemalan referee, and are quite incensed by this foul. One hopes that this made no difference to Batres' decision to quite rightly book Fallon (he definitely detected the foul this time), but personally I am not so sure. Regardless - in the end, correct call.
20' - From another New Zealand long ball, this time Chris Killen is the man at the striking action, the victim this time is Cannavaro. He winds him with a clearly deliberate elbow to the chest, well-worthy of a sanction. Though Italy retain clear possession, Batres' advantage played is very poor, and eventually Italy kick the ball out so Cannavaro can recover his breath. No sanction is issued to Killen.
23' - (Key Match Incident) Giorgio Chiellini is this time the victim of Rory Fallon, who this time elbows an Italy player who is simply better placed than he to reach the ball. The force is perhaps not excessive, but at any rate is definitely reckless. Having already been cautioned, Fallon has to be sent off for this strike.
You can see Batres run into the picture just after Fallon hits Chiellini, by about a second he fails to assess the duel from a decent position. He simply misses what happens. Intuitively knowing exactly what happened though, he awards a freekick to Italy having seen Chiellini down holding his face.
You can see Batres run into the picture just after Fallon hits Chiellini, by about a second he fails to assess the duel from a decent position. He simply misses what happens. Intuitively knowing exactly what happened though, he awards a freekick to Italy having seen Chiellini down holding his face.
Perhaps this World Cup was the last where referees were not educated in detecting striking fouls in the most sophisticated way; nowadays, I doubt the Italy players would really take to this treatment quite as quietly as they did. New Zealand took advantage of that, and should have been reduced to ten players.
CRUCIAL MISTAKE
24' - Italy take that freekick, inside their own half, short and trying to move forward, Batres assesses that Vincenzo Iaquinta was carelessly tripped. To be honest, the tackle seemed fair to me, but that's not a bigger problem.
Three white-shirted players react in an angry manner, which could be construed as dissent. Then, Simon Elliott pushes Claudio Marchisio in an attempt to a) annoy him and b) to prevent him taking a quick freekick. Batres angrily, and clearly, warns Elliott for his actions.
Three white-shirted players react in an angry manner, which could be construed as dissent. Then, Simon Elliott pushes Claudio Marchisio in an attempt to a) annoy him and b) to prevent him taking a quick freekick. Batres angrily, and clearly, warns Elliott for his actions.
27' - A careless, tactical charge off-the-ball by Fabio Cannavaro which the referee seems to see, but does nothing (advantage signal, verbal warning) about.
28' - (Key Match Incident) Daniele De Rossi is clearly held by a panicked Tommy Smith in the penalty area. On the shout of his (eagle-eyed) Costa Rican assistant Leonel Leal (+ 0,1), referee Batres correctly awards a penalty to Italy and cautions Smith for the foul. Great teamwork, correct decision.
I don't really understand how people call this penalty soft; you can see how significantly De Rossi was tugged just by looking at his shirt number!
Penalty is calmly scored by Iaquinta, 1-1.
Rest of the first half is without further critically relevant incident.
Halftime
50' - Potential SPA trip by Rory Fallon, but I agree with Batres that a freekick only was the correct call.
56' - Referee correctly awards an attacking freekick to Italy, in the vicinity of Carlos Pastrana, but the Honduran doesn't raise his flag.
59' - Rory Fallon seems to elbow Domenico Criscito inside the Italy penalty area. Only Leonel Leal really has any chance to see it, and the contact doesn't look clearly un-careless from the one replay we get.
68' - I would love to have seen Chris Wood ejected for his behaviour here. Wood is correctly penalised for charging Criscito by Leonel Leal, whom screams in Leal's face "it was f***ing shoulder" twice. That certainly enough for a caution by itself, but it is the way Wood appears to try and intimidate the Costa Rican assistant referee that should really draw ire here. It seems to be only Giorgio Chiellini, running past by chance, that prevents Wood from impeding on Leal's personal space.
Of course, in the real world, that is never a red card, especially not at FIFA's World Cup finals, but that doesn't make Wood's behaviour acceptable either.
69' - A tactical foul by Leo Bertos should see him cautioned, given that Ricardo Montolivo was in a rather promising attacking position. Batres awards a freekick only.
69' - A tactical foul by Leo Bertos should see him cautioned, given that Ricardo Montolivo was in a rather promising attacking position. Batres awards a freekick only.
71' - Batres steps in well to prevent Cannavaro unreasonably delaying the restart having penalised him. Good.
72' - (Key Match Incident) The boy (team) who cried wolf. With the two having challenged for a high ball just before, a better positioned Chiellini does seem to commit some kind of striking foul on Winston Reid inside his own penalty area. A potential penalty for New Zealand.
Regardless of whether any referee at the World Cup finals would actually give a penalty for that, it would hardly be fair that Italy be penalised there given the tactics New Zealand used in the rest of the match. Supportable at least.
72' - (Key Match Incident) The boy (team) who cried wolf. With the two having challenged for a high ball just before, a better positioned Chiellini does seem to commit some kind of striking foul on Winston Reid inside his own penalty area. A potential penalty for New Zealand.
Regardless of whether any referee at the World Cup finals would actually give a penalty for that, it would hardly be fair that Italy be penalised there given the tactics New Zealand used in the rest of the match. Supportable at least.
Scene at 71:45 is higher on comedic than educational value :D
87' - throwback to a World Cup sixteen years previous. Caution for Ryan Nelson who calls for a stretcher to waste time when he was not really injured.
87' - throwback to a World Cup sixteen years previous. Caution for Ryan Nelson who calls for a stretcher to waste time when he was not really injured.
After four and a half (correctly enlarged) additional minutes, Carlos Batres blows for fulltime - New Zealand pull off an amazing feat and achieve a draw with holders Italy!
Analysis
Even if Carlos Batres did survive this game, he didn't offer a particularly convincing performance. The most glaring error was to not clock on to the New Zealand's aggressive tactics early, especially concerning striking offences. Fallon could probably have been sent off three times in theory, but certainly should have not completed the match.
One had the impression he struggled more widely to consistently assess aerial duels (36', 37', 42', +46', 65', 80', 82'), and he didn't really do too much to consistently punish unfair play - the one verbal warning given, at 24', was good but rather angry and reactive.
One had the impression he struggled more widely to consistently assess aerial duels (36', 37', 42', +46', 65', 80', 82'), and he didn't really do too much to consistently punish unfair play - the one verbal warning given, at 24', was good but rather angry and reactive.
In terms of personality, Batres could show himself to be a true leader on the pitch (14', 24') even if this wasn't done in the most optimal, modern refereeing way.
Balance
Not a disastrous performance by Batres in a challenging match - but despite the correct penalty, the performance of the trio as a whole did not leave a satisfactory impression with regards to being taken further in the tournament. FIFA, or perhaps rather necessity, determined otherwise.
| Carlos Batres - 7,8(1) Leonel Leal - 8,5 Carlos Pastrana - 7,9(4) Koman Coulibaly Rédouane Achik GUA, CRC, HON – MLI, MAR | Italy 1-1 New Zealand Group Stage 20 June |
 Fallon (14') - Striking Smith (28') - SPA (Holding) Nelsen (87') - Simulation (Injury) |
Not a good performance by Carlos Batres, he really should have read the writing on the wall regarding elbow offences. Not expelling Fallon was one crucial mistake, but that does not give Italy a "freebie". 72' should have been a penalty. I always considered the holding penalty given soft, but that is a bit biased.
ReplyDeleteOtherwise, not the most promising performance in terms of management and disciplinary. Perhaps understandable considering what happened in his life, but the QF appointment was quite a surprise.