04/19/24
June 19, 2002
Maybe FIFA can stop cheating the players and fans: "How do you choose the referees for such an event? The referees who have been selected have been involved in the top matches in their confederations and their performances have been highly rated over a period." Yet Italy-Korea's star Byron Moreno was suspended last year for six games (in spanish scroll down) by his national federation for disgraceful officiating. PS He's already been shipped back to Quito.
Well... after seeing the game again I can't say that the refereeing was terrible in any major way. It wasn't up to Anders Frisk's or Collina's standards but it was okay. For what it's worth Christian Vieri should have been sent off for his elbowing of Kim Tae-young in the first half. So the Italians really can't complain. Oh, and what's-his-Fabioface was offside. Not by a lot, but he was. Excellent call really.
posted by Kattullus at 12:03 PM on June 19, 2002
I have always found this issue slightly vexatious. The participating teams have to go through qualifiers to demonstrate their worth, which filters out the truly crap as well as some truly great teams. Having got here, it is the absolute pinnacle of their careers, probably never to be repeated in most cases. Yet they have to put with any old Tom Dick or Harry who happens to possess a whistle when it comes to officials. I cannot see that officials from Ecuador or the Maldives have the experience or knowledge of high pressure high stakes games that is required. Only the best should be participating. If that means Europe dominating, so be it. It's not a chuffing hog roast, it's the world cup.
posted by Fat Buddha at 02:34 PM on June 19, 2002
There is a great quote from an Italian paper in the Independent, " we were removed from the comptition by scalpel.......without an anaesthetic". Even without their burning sense of injustice that rings very true. It is a very inhumane way to go out of a competition.
posted by Fat Buddha at 04:10 PM on June 19, 2002
It is a very inhumane way to go out of a competition. I agree. And there's a very good Guardian piece on the golden goal's iniquities: " The suddenness and finality of it are shattering to the victims, particularly when they have spent years preparing for the tournament and are carrying their nation's hopes. "
posted by etagloh at 07:47 PM on June 19, 2002
HAHAHAHAHAHA! "chuffing hog roast." Excellent, FB. I agree with the Uefa idea to let teams play out the full 15 minutes of extra time when one team goes ahead. Getting rid of the golden goal will allow players to continue to think strategically about their overall game plan, so to speak, without worrying about having the game ended for them with a single misstep.
posted by Bixby23 at 08:22 PM on June 19, 2002
But more on topic, I'd assumed that all Cup refs had significant international experience. And regardless of how bad Moreno may be, I have to agree that there were no outrageous calls made in the match. Got to see a replay of the already infamous Teetering Totti Red Card Fiasco again last night, and the ref did, as someone pointed out in a different thread, appear to shit himself almost immediately once the Italians got in his face. To my mind, though, this just makes the argument for the justness of the call even stronger. On the other hand, if the ref had really remembered dishing out the first yellow card, he probably would have simply let play continue without calling any sort of foul, Korea would have won anyway, the Italians still would have gone home losers, but they'd definitely have one less thing to whine about...
posted by Bixby23 at 08:34 PM on June 19, 2002
The only question I have is, if the Italians thought that the referee was going to be bad (they knew he was from Ecuador before the game started), why didn't they complain then? Surely they knew the grand conspiracy was already in place (previous calls against them in previous matches), so why not point it out before the game started? I know that the Canadian Olympic women's hockey team complained about there being an American referee in the gold medal game BEFORE it started. Of course, when the referee called an insane number of penalties against the Canadian team (and much fewer against the American team), the complaints grew to a fever pitch. Any team that complains about the officiating AFTER losing is ALWAYS going to be looked at as sore losers.