62 GERESP Kassai
A repeat of the last EURO finale returned the same result in the World Cup 2010 semifinal - Spain deservedly victorious, this time over a young Germany side, by virtue of scoring the only goal. Carlos Puyol's header, flying through the air, was something like heroism; he gave his nation the chance to break their World Cup duck in Johannesburg.
He must have been quietly confident before the tournament, but being told he would handle a semi would surely have come as a surprise even to Viktor Kassai himself. But indeed, after three successful games thus far (BRAPRK - MEXURU - USAGHA), it was the Hungarian trio who got the nomination for this game.
Only three UEFA refs remained, all the others had fallen by the wayside. Kassai outlasted big names Busacca, Rosetti and De Bleeckere (fourth official here); Hungarian had come into this tournament as the most anonymous referee of the European squad; after sixty-four matches he arguably finished as the one with the most credit.
He must have been quietly confident before the tournament, but being told he would handle a semi would surely have come as a surprise even to Viktor Kassai himself. But indeed, after three successful games thus far (BRAPRK - MEXURU - USAGHA), it was the Hungarian trio who got the nomination for this game.
Only three UEFA refs remained, all the others had fallen by the wayside. Kassai outlasted big names Busacca, Rosetti and De Bleeckere (fourth official here); Hungarian had come into this tournament as the most anonymous referee of the European squad; after sixty-four matches he arguably finished as the one with the most credit.
In his semifinal, Viktor Kassai avoided major controversy and delivered the game - a success, well done for that. He was correct to not award a penalty in three major scenes: +46', 63' and 82'. +46' though should have resulted in a freekick on the penalty area's edge and a yellow card (even, DOGSO?) for Sergio Ramos - Mesut Özil was clearly tripped (- 0,1).
Kassai issued no sanctions in this match. He made a clear mistake to not book Sergio Ramos for a reckless treading foul on Lukas Podolski at 27' (- 0,1). This was probably the clear error of his disciplinary control, as he then lacked the base from which to work from in terms of cards.
By my reckoning, in total Kassai missed as many as five reckless tackles which should have resulted in a caution: 27', 42', 54', 76', 84'. It's true that he managed the game well (eg. 68'), but he allowed too much here, even if he was in control all the while (- 0,1).
Players didn't seem to respond as well to him as in previous matches (eg. Xabi Alonso at 76', 84'), made some smaller perception mistakes not visible until now in his tournament (54'), and seemed to slightly lack concentration in some moments (eg. 60'). So, certainly not a bad performance in a World Cup semifinal, but one with fairly significant deficiencies.
In perhaps somewhat a nod to the future, it was not a strong night for Kassai's teammates either - both Tibor Vámos (10') and Gábor Erős (24', 41') made some important / poor mistakes, but none with any direct influence on the match.
By my reckoning, in total Kassai missed as many as five reckless tackles which should have resulted in a caution: 27', 42', 54', 76', 84'. It's true that he managed the game well (eg. 68'), but he allowed too much here, even if he was in control all the while (- 0,1).
Players didn't seem to respond as well to him as in previous matches (eg. Xabi Alonso at 76', 84'), made some smaller perception mistakes not visible until now in his tournament (54'), and seemed to slightly lack concentration in some moments (eg. 60'). So, certainly not a bad performance in a World Cup semifinal, but one with fairly significant deficiencies.
In perhaps somewhat a nod to the future, it was not a strong night for Kassai's teammates either - both Tibor Vámos (10') and Gábor Erős (24', 41') made some important / poor mistakes, but none with any direct influence on the match.
Balance
Viktor Kassai had an excellent World Cup and it's hard to argue that he didn't deserve a semifinal (though I think FIFA would have sooner switched referee and fourth official if not for the Netherlands?). He repaid that trust by delivering the game. However, my feeling was he was slightly above his head in this match (in 2010) on a technical level.
It seemed unthinkable that this would be Viktor Kassai's last ever World Cup match, but indeed that became the case. He was very much on track to attend both Brazil 2014 and Russia 2018, but he lost his form at the wrong time, and FIFA ultimately left him out of the final list both times.
It seemed unthinkable that this would be Viktor Kassai's last ever World Cup match, but indeed that became the case. He was very much on track to attend both Brazil 2014 and Russia 2018, but he lost his form at the wrong time, and FIFA ultimately left him out of the final list both times.
Though, that analysis does ignore that Kassai's time at the real top was rather short. Of course that includes a Champions League Final in 2011, and a tournament in EURO 2012 where if not for a mistake by the man standing behind the goal (how quaint do AARs feel now...), he would almost definitely have gotten the final.
From this tournament anyway - Kassai leaves behind one of the best refereed World Cup matches of all-time (Mexico - Uruguay), and perhaps even more significantly, anywhere between some and huge inspiration for what we now consider modern refereeing. An excellent tournament for the pioneering Hungarian!
| Viktor Kassai - 8,1 Gábor Erős - 8,1 Tibor Vámos - 8,2 Frank De Bleeckere Peter Hermans HUN – BEL | Germany 0-1 Spain Semifinal 7 June |
I have to admit that Kassai became my role model in 2010. I absolutely loved his style and tried to take as much as I could from it. Thank you, Viktor for your inspiration!
ReplyDeleteAs said above, it is indeed very hard to believe that this was Kassai first and last World Cup.... his team paid for the AAR's huge mistake at Euro 12, then he came back strongly at Euro 16, but unfortunately not enough for another World Cup. He was indeed a pioneer of the modern refereeing that worked remarkably for him in 2008-2011. I really miss Kassai's refereeing from that time!