1 GERCRC Elizondo

Horacio Elizondo from Argentina had the honour to blow the first whistle of World Cup 2006. He refereed the opener well, and stayed out of focus in a smart piece of officiating.

Elizondo's plan was to attentively serve football - he used advantage liberally, but stepped in with his presence in situations where a player-player conflict was possible (and always prevented). In the early stages there were some challenges which perhaps could have warranted a sanction, but sensibly Elizondo didn't reach pocketwards. The only card given was correct, and valuable in this football-focused atmosphere on the pitch.

Actually, despite the matchsheet reading only one card, this was not an easy match to handle with the (correct) approach used by the referee, so some mistakes here-and-there are to be expected. Penalty appeal for handling at 38' nowadays should be given as a penalty, but I think you can find reasons to support the decision - in-so-far as it was a decision at all, only fourth official Carlos Chandía from Chile had any chance to spot it. There was a further interesting penalty appeal in the second half, where Elizondo was helped by his wide position.

Really challenging afternoon for both assistant referees. Rodolfo Otero had a very good performance with one doubtful situation (supported); Darío García was pretty stellar with a number of excellent calls, but made a disappointing mistake to allow Costa Rica's second goal - it was clearly offside. In 2002, we probably wouldn't have seen García again...

Horacio Elizondo - 8,3 Darío García - 7,9(6) Rodolfo Otero - 8,5 Carlos Chandía Cristian Julio  ARG - CHI	Germany 4-2 Costa Rica Group Stage
	Fonseca (30.) - Delaying the Restart

To watch highlights click on the picture of the referee :)