26 ITAUSA Larrionda

Italy and the United States played out a score draw in their second game of World Cup 2006 which had more red cards than goals. Ultimately the one-all scoreline was probably one that satisfied both nations. Jorge Larrionda from Uruguay became only the fourth referee ever to eject more than two players in a World Cup game - and he really had no choice in any of the situations. It is to Larrionda's credit he had the bottle to follow through on what he saw. The weird thing - this was a match played, for almost the entirety, by calm and calculated players and Larrionda's assistant referees had busier games over the piece than he.

Insofar as any game isn't, this was a game defined by the crucial situations:

Key Match Incidents

Red Cards: 

28' (Violent Conduct); 45' (Serious Foul Play) and Second Yellow Card, 47' (Tackle)

There really is very little to say here, mandatory ejections with a capital 'M'. Especially regarding De Rossi, it would have been a travesty if he was to continue playing in the match after such a violent elbow - the low-point of the tournament so far ("FIFA told us they gave him a four-match ban rather than a five-match ban because they appreciated the letter De Rossi wrote them apologising for his actions" ...).

Larrionda was well-placed on each occasion and every time took the courageously correct decision. 

Well done! (+ 0,2)

52' - Penalty (holding) to Italy?

Fascinating situation for Larrionda this. United States no.21 quite clearly holds Italy no.11 in the penalty area, causing him to not be able to run forward. Referee was right in-front of the duel as well! Hard to find an explanation for this policeman-style referee not punishing what he saw? I don't think so:

Larrionda had already given three (fully correct) red cards. In any FIFA competition, at any time (of course more nowadays but back then too), giving three red cards puts your performance in extremely sharp focus - you had better hope those ejections were correct, and clearly correct too. Even for 2006, Larrionda was, through no fault of his own, dicing with death a bit. When a holding, albeit a clear one, occurs from a freekick only a few minutes after the third red card, when nobody appeals, when the ball flies over the attacker in question's head, when you can reasonably suspect that your three red cards not a potential penalty will be in the headlines - you can't blame anybody for closing their eyes a bit. 

For the record - this is very different from refereeing to be popular. But the evidence, though a very de jure mistake, cannot be ignored.

CRUCIAL MISTAKE

Approach

There were as many Red Cards (including second cautions) as Yellow Cards in this game - perhaps this paints a picture as to how random the quite idiotic sending offs were for the offending players. The first ten minutes was very scratchy with a lot of infractions, but Larrionda was suitably unimpressed and the players realised this referee was not messing around - yellow card at 5' was not just the calling card of a law-enforcer who would take the same decision at 85', it sent a very important early signal to the players. They headed the message, save for some moments of madness.

I am not actually fully convinced by the card at 21' - it seemed Larrionda'a AR Wálter Rial had the right idea by playing on, but it is hard to call his decision wrong. Referee from Uruguay missed a reckless tackle at 65'.

The rest of the game was largely quiet!

Assistant Referees

Wálter Rial and Pablo Fandino faced highly challenging halves when they controlled the side to which Italy attacked. Funnily enough the most important decision taken by them was a disallowed goal for the United States, the only time they were caught offside. A résumé then:

Wálter Rial

Pablo Fandino

10' Important (reasonably tight)

13' Normal (clear)

36' Important (fairly tight)

40' Important (fairly clear)

51' Important (tight)

53' Important (tight)

54' Important (really tight)

62' Important (tight)

64' Correct (very clear)

65' CRUCIAL (teamwork needed)

72' Important (fairly clear)

84' Brilliantly correct (ultra-tight)

85' Correct (very clear)

-> Very tough evenings for the two linesmen. 65' merits further discussion - does the playing standing in an offside position touch the ball (very lightly, even accidentally)? And if he doesn't, is he an active offside position (Larrionda should determine that himself)? In my view the answer to at least one of those questions is - yes. 

Jorge Larrionda - 7,9(6) Wálter Rial - 8,5 Pablo Fandino - 8,2 Khalil Al-Ghamdi Hamdi Al-Kadri URU – KSA, SYR	Italy 1-1 United States Group Stage
Totti (5.) - Tackle Zambrotta (70.) - SPA (Pushing)	Pope (21.) - SPA (Holding)
	Pope (47.) - Tackle
De Rossi (28.) - Violent Conduct (Striking)	Mastroeni (45.) - Serious Foul Play