21 ARGSCG Rosetti

Argentina's six-nothing demolition of Serbia and Montenegro asserted the South Americans as favourites to win World Cup 2006, with a scintillating display of attacking football. 6-0 perhaps masks the pretty tricky task of the referee here, Roberto Rosetti from Italy - certainly the first fifteen minutes were played in an intense manner (we shouldn't forget that this was Latin American vs. Balkan Peninsula, after all). He adapted well from his football-focused opener Mexico - Iran; good performance by Rosetti, well-navigated.

First a look at the crucial decisions:

Key Match Incidents

24' Second Yellow Card to Serbia and Montenegro no.7?

Rosetti might well have just misperceived the incident, but I think he showed top class self-preservation here. Koroman already cautioned at 7', commits this foul - freekick, no sanction. Closer inspection shows that despite the lack of player (media) reaction, the tackle was almost definitely reckless, if not even worse than that. Koroman's caution at 7' was harsh, and in a different context one could easily imagine Rosetti not booking him. With that in mind - Rosetti played well. Rosetti, well-positioned, gets the benefit of the (very small) doubt here. 

65' Red Card (Serious Foul Play) issued to Serbia and Montenegro no.9

Brilliant call by Rosetti, not just because the flying tackle deserved a Red Card. He immediately removed dangerous tackles from the game, otherwise getting likelier with each passing minute given the ever growing frustration of the Serbia and Montenegro players. Well done.

74' Penalty (tripping) to Argentina?

Unfortunately a clear mistake here - Rosetti gets caught too central and from his position, playing the odds game, he has to assume the defender has played the ball. He hasn't, and has wiped out the attacker who was through on goal (I can say having made a very comparable mistake last season myself!). Interesting positioning case-study this:

Why did Rosetti get caught centrally?

Argentina mount a quick (counter?) attack, which ix always tricky for the referee. Rosetti managed to keep up well, but once he is up with play he is satisfied (understandably) with being there, not surprising, considering the attack is not that dynamic. But it is very promising, look at the space on the near side of the pitch! That is what surprised, as I said understandably, the referee. With one quick pass Argentina are played in 1-on-1 and Rosetti is caught out - he just had bad luck that it meant he mis-assessed a KMI because of it. He should have carried on running left, seeing the very promising attack Argentina had on, despite that they were playing at a slow pace for those seconds. 

Take home lesson: Don't be satisfied with keeping up with a counter-attack, always consider what could happen next! Criticism on a high level for Rosetti - of course, sh*t can happen. 

Approach

The opening fifteen minutes, I would even so far as to say, were very challenging to referee. Roberto Rosetti made a very astute choice to open the cards at 7' for a late tackle - probably the replays suggested it was more careless than reckless, but one can doubt how accidental the contact was - tactically proficient call. This was something of a gamble though - Rosetti banked on the players taking the hint and not kicking the sh*t out of each other - it worked. For the rest he was very attentive at managing player-player conflicts, and the match passed quite calmly. Cautions at 27' and 36' were probably of negative tactical value, but Rosetti was only doing as he was instructed.

In general it was a very quiet late afternoon for the assistant referees, but Cristiano Copelli incorrectly disallowed a goal for Argentina at 36'. 

Roberto Rosetti - 7,9(4) Cristiano Copelli - 7,9(4) Alessandro Stagnoli - 8,4 Essam Abdel-Fatah Dramane Danté ITA – EGY, MLI	Argentina 6-0 Serbia and Montenegro Group Stage
Crespo (36.) - Delaying the Restart	Koroman (7.) - Tackle Nađ (27.) - Holding Krstajić (42.) - Tackle
	Kežman (65.) - Serious Foul Play