46 PRKCIV Undiano
You couldn't write it! Alberto Undiano Mallenco, who drew ire from the watching world for his rigour in Germany - Serbia, was the only referee who handled a (non-semifinal :)) game at World Cup 2010 without issuing a card, in this match, which was rather out of the media's focus.
This was not a dead rubber though. The likelihood of Brazil beating Portugal was quite high (even if it never happened), and if they did, Ivory Coast actually 'only' had to win by at most eight goals to go through, theoretically certainly plausible against the weakest team at the tournament.
As time passed, Côte d'Ivoire got more and more frustrated by their opponents' ultra-defensive play (and you saw what happened when they lost it against Brazil). The result was a somewhat predictably tense encounter, in danger of boiling over at any moment. Undiano's appointment was very different to eg. Pablo Pozo's second inset (CMRNED), in my opinion.
Undiano succeeded in a not-easy tie because he showed this game it's due respect; technically rather weak, but he never lost motivation in making or selling his calls (18', 22', 79') and thanks to that enthusiasm, managed to succeed where others - such as the appointed fourth official - really might not have.
Spaniard was in fact even lenient - he declined quite a few opportunities to issue yellow cards (8', 23', 30', 34', 67'), sensibly so. The key in this game was just reacting to the challenges effectively, and Undiano did that. If the referee had booked at 8', the tackle did look more reckless than careless, he would have been in big trouble - perhaps he did heed what happened in his first game, on some level.
There was also a rather interesting penalty area incident right at the start of the second half (46') - Undiano decided that North Korea goalkeeper Ri Myong-guk didn't carelessly foul Kader Keïta in trying to reach for the ball. Referee blew for the offside which occurred after this duel. I think he took the optimal decision there, wasn't enough for a penalty in my opinion.
The rather funny thing about this performance was that most referees would have been more strict as a matter of course - cautions at 85' and 89' would have been tactically valuable given the atmosphere on the pitch in the latter stages, but Undiano stayed true to his very clear line, and finished the match without sanction.
Both assistants were stellar, Yuste Jímenez disallowing a Côte d'Ivoire goal in the first half (11'), Martínez Ibáñez in the second (86' - the ball did touch Saloman Kalou, right?).
I guess the surprise at Undiano's next appointment came from a misreading of this one - Spaniard genuinely did pretty well to come out of this lose-lose game for the referee unscathed, and the least you can say is that he left the door ajar for a knockout stage assignment.
| Alberto Undiano Mallenco - 8,4 Fermin Martínez Ibáñez - 8,6 Juan Carlos Yuste Jiménez - 8,6 Massimo Busacca Matthias Arnet ESP – SUI | DPR Korea 0-3 Côte d'Ivoire Group Stage 25 June |
Good/supportable performance overall. I think both 85' and 89' should have been cautions, what I don't like about is the danger that his approach was "not give any card ever". Most of no-card calls were rather clearly supportable/correct, but especially the cynical nature of 85' has me worried if Undiano Mallenco overdid it (would he have given an even clearer card or would he have held on?).
ReplyDeleteStill, uncontroversial enough to justify a third appointment. Although I get the feeling that the reason he got and Al-Ghamdi didn't (both referees did have performances that were under fire by the media) is simply that he is from Spain...
Yes, surely it wasn't too harmful for him to have both Villar Llona (referees committee) and García-Aranda (head of department) as compatriots.
DeleteI agree it was de facto impossible to give Al-Ghamdi another game after CHISUI regardless of how you evaluate his performance, but the key difference between the Saudi and Undiano for me is leadership style - Spaniard was well-accepted even in GERSRB with his confident, solid and determined presence.
By the way my personal feeling is that Al-Ghamdi would have inflamed THIS game a bit, whereas Undiano kept it relatively calm.