60 BRAFRA Medina Cantalejo

Defending champions Brazil were knocked out by France, who after a lacklustre group stage celebrated their second big win against a major opponent. It was overall a deserved win, although the match was thoroughly competitive.

Luis Medina Cantalejo apparently found support with FIFA regarding two decisions in Italy – Australia that were widely seen as incorrect in the media landscape of 2006. The Spaniard proved himself as an excellent game manager in this challenging, though by no means unfair match. He connected quite well with the players and like his colleague Elizondo managed to solve conflicts in a non-flashy way and mostly without cards. That was surely his big plus and helped him navigate the few contentious calls he had to make with ease.

Overall, two scenes need to be looked at more closely. In the 22^nd minute, Lúcio caught Vieira when trying to clear a corner kick. A penalty? Medina Cantalejo didn’t think so, although the contact can not be denied. There were no noticeable protests and little criticism in the media afterwards (because France won?) so apparently, public opinion backed the call.

The second scene arrived late in the match and the nature of it – a possible SYC instead of a decisive penalty or goal – as well as France’s progression again meant few talked about it. Ronaldo’s attacking run ended with him hitting the turf after a tackle by Thuram, who was booked by the referee. Replays however reveal that Ronaldo made the most of it and went down prematurely. Or was there a tiny bit of contact that would at least justify not producing a booking for the already cautioned Brazilian? On the grand scale, it would be a small detail for most people anyway.

The rest was fine. Medina Cantalejo showed excellent physical fitness and mental alertness, just compare his handling of Juan’s booking in 45’ with a similar scene in Busacca’s Argentina vs. Mexico – he was not only able to keep the pace, but gave his decision calmly and with all conviction to sell it.

Both ARs Victoriano Giráldez Carrasco and Pedro Medina Hernández fulfilled their duties well with several correct onside/offside decions, with AR1 Giráldez Carrasco having the two most important ones (offside and no goal in 54’, onside and goal in 57’). He also missed a clear corner kick for France in the final minutes though (90’).

All around, Team Medina Cantalejo had another very satisfying performance and could look back at well-handled, important games.

Luis Medina Cantalejo - 8,4 Victoriano Giráldez Carrasco - 8,4 Pedro Medina Hernández - 8,4 Mark Shield Ben Wilson ESP - AUS	Brazil 0-1 France Quarter-final
Cafu (25') - SPA (Holding) Juan (45') - SPA (Tackle) Ronaldo (45+2') - Handball (Blocking SoG) Lúcio (75') - Reckless sliding tackle	Sagnol (74') - SPA (Blocking) Saha (87') - Delaying the Restart Thuram (88') - SPA (Tackle)