48 UKRTUN Amarilla

Tunisia, who needed to win in order to advance, lost one-nothing to Ukraine in a controversial match which saw the nation from Eastern Europe through. Carlos Amarilla was assigned in crucial circumstances - referee from Paraguay had made a mostly positive impression so far in World Cup 2006, controlling the United States - Czech Republic and Togo - Switzerland matches effectively (whether his tournament would have continued if the penalty he didn't give to Togo was instead afflicting say France is a different question).

Amarilla had to face a very challenging match - I can't remember seeing a more measured, considered fight than this one. The players stayed calm and never took their eyes off the prize (the antithesis to the Portugal - Netherlands game, if you will). But a fight it was - an extremely important test for the referee from Paraguay. Certainly no small amount of lobbying behind him, with a good performance Amarilla could have reached really quite a lot at Germany 2006.

After a more-or-less perfect first half, Amarilla lost his nerve and incorrectly ejected a Tunisia player, fooled by a perfectly executed act, the perpetrator of which later had studs stamped on his shin in eery revenge nearly an hour later. Tunisia also fumed, justifiably, that the officials missed a penalty for them but Amarilla pointing to the spot at the other end, a decision which resulted in Ukraine scoring the only goal, was quite right.

Odd thing to say perhaps for a referee who was the first to handle two Copa América Finals since the 1970s but this a seminal moment in the (FIFA) career of Carlos Amarilla - unfortunately he failed. Let's look at how and why:

Key Match Incidents

+46' - Second Yellow Card to Tunisia no.5

As said in the intro - Amarilla simply lost his nerve and doubted his perception here. He initially let play continue with Ukraine no.4 rolling on the ground seemingly in pain after a challenge by Tunisia no.5. Ukraine then shot and the goalkeeper put the ball behind for a corner. Amarilla surely caught Tunisia no.5's tackle out of the corner of his eye and seeing Ukraine no.4 down then convinced himself that it was a reckless one, and then ejected the Tunisia player. 

It was no such thing - despite being a sliding tackle, the contact was very trifling and certainly not worthy of a caution, if even a foul at all. A second yellow card like that at a World Cup especially constitutes something of a cardinal sin, and all so avoidable for the referee. Adding insult to injury, Amarilla then asked for the ball and blew for halftime over twenty-seconds early (ball had left the field of play with 00:35 played of one additional minute) - not a courageous choice by any means.

CRUCIAL MISTAKE

65' - Penalty to Tunsia (handling)?

It's easy to castigate Amarilla here watching replay-after-replay (one senses the match director was certainly pleased with his detective work to spot the handling), but the offence can hardly be that easy to detect if none of the players even appeal for it. Regardless - Tunisia had to be awarded what was a penalty for a black-white case of handling, and Amarilla clearly saw there was some deflection, as he ordered a corner. 

How did Amarilla miss it then? 

His position. Referee opts to stand square-on to the wall, in so order to better to assess duels inside the penalty area. Not where I would instruct to stand, but ninety-nine of a hundred times you would get away with it - not Amarilla. It's quite credible to stand there but in this instance I would argue (strongly) against it:

From that position, it is much more likely that Tunisia are going to try a shot at goal, and therefore there is less reason to make what happens inside the box your priority. That is more important than any prevention of holding offences may be. Furthermore, there was no chance for fourth official Marco Rodríguez (or AR Amelio Andino) to see the handling, referee had to see it himself. 

I would prefer a more neutral position offering a decent (not optimal) view of the both the gaggle of players in the penalty area and also the wall. With his position, there was simply no way that Amarilla could see a handball in the wall. He just had the misfortune that it happened in his game and not somebody else's.

CRUCIAL MISTAKE 

69' - Penalty to Ukraine (tripping)

Widely judged as incorrect fourteen years ago, I maintain the view that this was the right decision by the referee. Quite how well Amarilla actually assessed what happened from quite far away is something else, but he probably saw a natural fall and then gave a penalty. Correct. Bad defending by the Tunisia player who gets too close to the attacker and with his legs pushes Ševčenko's right leg against his left, which trips him up - penalty (and correct no sanction).

75' - Serious Foul Play by Tunisia no.14?

Quite how calculated the revenge gained here was is slightly scary - Ukraine no.4 who successfully deceived Amarilla to reduce Tunisia to ten players is the victim of Tunisia no.14's very painful vigilantism; this was no accident at all. The studs mark tells its own story. Quite an unpredictably bad tackle, and Amarilla totally missed it. Somewhat surprisingly nobody made a big deal out of it either - but this is a clear case of Serious Foul Play which should have resulted in ejection.

CRUCIAL MISTAKE  

+91' - Penalty to Tunisia (holding)?

It's impossible to say whether the Tunisia player inside the Ukraine penalty area was felled by the holding on him by the defender or whether he was just tripped inadvertently by his teammate who had already fallen to the ground easily. At least supportable play on call.

Approach

Carlos Amarilla for the most part handled this game well. An area where he excelled was foul detection - it was one of the best that I've ever seen, my compliments! Perhaps the area where he struggled most was physical condition, it didn't play in his favour here. 

Disciplinary control was for the most part a strength of Amarilla's performance: after two cautions in the first twenty minutes, he was more discretionate until the end of the half and let the players play. The second yellow card was a question of confidence in your own perception more than tactical choice - then in the second half, he was very strict on sliding tackles and booked three Ukraine players for that reason. The last of those I would call incorrect, and more of a careless trip. Caution at the end for a blatant holding was a good choice.

Amarilla's manner was highly interesting in this game. On the one hand he presented himself as a hardman who would not tolerate any dissent and reacted against it angrily; on the other hand he seemed a little shy and would rather turn away from players or not look them in the eye, than interact with them. Most interesting of all is that it worked here. If that would also be the case in a game played between two bigger football nations is perhaps more doubtful.

Both assistants had a good match, with good decisions taken by Amelio Andino at 13' and Bernal Manuel at 54'.

Carlos Amarilla - 7,1 Amelio Andino - 8,4 Manuel Bernal - 8,4 Marco Rodríguez Hamdi Al-Kadri PAR – MEX, SYR	Ukraine 1-0 Tunisia Group Stage
Sviders'kyj (18.) - Striking Šelajev (47.) - Tackle Tymoščuk (61.) - Tackle Rusol (65.) - Tackle	Jaziri (9.) - Simulation Bouazizi (43.) - Persistent Infringement Jaïdi (90.) - Lack of Respect (Holding)
	Jaziri (45.+1') - Tackle