25 CZEGHA Elizondo

Team Horacio Elizondo had the pleasure of refereeing one of the most entertaining matches of football at this World Cup. Czech Republic’s golden generation had started their last big tournament with a smashing of the United States, yet they were overrun by a Ghana side that went on to become one of the most positive surprises of this tournament.

For Elizondo and his assistants, the attractiveness of the wild attacking football shown especially in the second half was not as important as for the viewer though. The Argentinian trio had a very challenging match on their hands, with both Assistant Referees having to assess numerous offside/onside decisions.

Elizondo himself proved to be a very sophisticated referee. His decision making and presentation was free of the theatrics sometimes associated with South American refereeing. While there was no great deal of interaction with the players – the game was simply too fast-flowing for such scenes – his authority was never once in question. His fitness was excellent, and he was both mentally and physically fresh for the entirety of the match.

In matters disciplinary, the final tally of seven yellows and one red card is misleading. Elizondo’s disciplinary control is best described with keeping a lid on it. Especially regarding tackles, the Argentinian let quite a few of these go. Every booking given was either mandatory or well-selected. The opening card came after a minute full of hefty challenges and quelled any rough play for a long time. His control-focused line was good, although there were a number of mistakes in his foul detection, which I would describe as his area for improvement. Without sufficient replays, it is hard to say what was a very lenient play-on or a foul of course. That also includes a no foul call that led to the penalty call for Ghana.

If the match in the second half was a storm, Elizondo was the utterly calm eye in the centre of it. Even in the match’s most crucial situation, the penalty and RC for DOGSO against the Czech Republic, the referee remained composed. After pointing to the spot, he apparently conferred briefly with AR1 (what happened wasn’t shown live due to replays) before sending Ujfaluši off with a straight RC. Some criticized this as confusing, but in my book, Elizondo was merely making sure that such an important decision was taken correctly. Since the entire process did not even take a minute, the Argentinian referees did everything right here.

Both ARs were extremely challenged. In the final 20 minutes, AR1 Darío García had to assess Ghanaian attacks basically every minute and while only few replays were shown, those we saw were all correct, including crucial ones like the onside before the penalty (65’), an onside before the second Ghanaian goal (82’) and to cancel a third Ghanaian goal (89’). While AR2 Rodolfo Otero was less challenged in the second half, he nevertheless had three crucial decisions himself: Correct onside on Ghana’s first goal (2’) and to cancel the Czech’s potential equalizer for offside (46’). He can be supported in a very tight call against Ghana in 32’.

Overall, the Argentinian refereeing team made sure with a very successful performance that the press and fans were free to talk about the great football they had seen in this game and not about the referees. Well done!

Horacio Elizondo - 8,4 Darío García - 8,8 Rodolfo Otero - 8,6 Jerome Damon Enock Molefe ARG – RSA	Czech Republic 0-2 Ghana Group Stage
Lokvenc (49') - Reckless sliding tackle	Addo (18') - Reckless sliding tackle Essien (37') - Reckless play Gyan (66') - Premature Execution Boateng (75') - SPA (Tackle) Muntari (84') - Reckless sliding tackle Mohamed (90+3') - Reckless sliding tackle
Ujfaluši (65') - DOGSO (Tripping)