62 PORFRA Larrionda

France defeated Portugal one-nil in an intense and tight match, to qualify for the World Cup Final. Try as they might, Portugal could not equalise the first half penalty scored by France - correctly awarded by the referee from Uruguay, Jorge Larrionda, who resisted a large number of subsequent penalty appeals by Portugal. 

Larrionda, an excellent referee by any measure, was in something of uncharted waters - his progress through this World Cup and his career had been marked by a brilliant law-enforcer style but here FIFA were asking for something different. A newfound leniency was now the order of FIFA's World Cup, after the Portugal - Netherlands match, which hardly played to Larrionda's strongest hand.

Something of a unique challenge then for Jorge Larrionda - let's look at the crucial situations, starting with the crucial situation.

Key Match Incidents

32' - Penalty to France (tripping)

Larrionda was well-placed and got the call that decided the semifinal spot on - Carvalho carelessly tripped Henry. No doubt - correct call by the referee.

37' - Penalty to Portugal (pushing)?

Portugal thereafter tried to exhort as much pressure as possible on the officials to even up the penalty calls, the appeal that generated the most commotion was this exaggeration of a trifling contact by Ronaldo minutes after France had scored. Larrionda was not interested and rightly so - this was never enough for a penalty. 

50' - Serious Foul Play by Portugal no.7?

Interesting incident - at a high ball, Figo catches Abidal flush in the face with his studs. If ejected for it, Figo couldn't really have too much to complain about - but, considering the accidental nature of the contact and the relative lack of force entailed in it, perhaps a caution only is the better choice. In any case, AR Pablo Fandiño should have reported the recklessness of the offence (- 0,1) to Larrionda. 

83' - Serious Foul Play by Portugal no.16?

Carvalho frustrated, flying, out of control and dangerous should really have been sent off for this tackle - instead, Larrionda sorted out the first yellow card of the evening. Tackles like this at the end of matches are not a surprise when the officiating is not preventative. Actually there is no reason to support a caution on a theoretical level - of course, we should keep in mind that FIFA would have wanted an SFP+ in order to directly eject someone in such a match, but also that the happenstance of this tackle was not abstract and a result of the first eight-two minutes.

CRUCIAL MISTAKE

Approach

Jorge Larrionda had to face this match quite disarmed by FIFA's wishes - given that Larrionda keeps conversations with the players to a minimum, and his fearless punishment of infractions is his key attribute, it would be interesting to see how Larrionda would execute such a lenient style.

Having bared a quite tactical foul by mirroring the lack of resonance with the players (10') a late, reckless tackle occurred at 27' - on a normal day, the perfect moment for Larrionda to open the cards. He gambled and decided to keep his cards close to his chest. From then on, the moment to draw the line had gone, and seldom others appeared. 

That made the game rather boring and stop-start, with careless tactical fouling tolerated, but that was a problem of FIFA's own making. Larrionda did the best he could, especially with so much ground to cover he must have been simply exhausted at the final whistle - but fouls such as Carvalho's are only a logical consequence of officiating like this. But the officials passed through it in the end with a performance widely recognised as good. 

As the match drew to its' conclusion, Pablo Fandiño faced calls increasing in importance as the final whistle and Portugal's elimination drew closer, and he got them all right (+ 0,1). Walter Rial had a quiet evening, in so far as officiating a World Cup semifinal can be quiet, controlling the other line.

Jorge Larrionda - 7,9(3)                       Walter Rial - 8,4 Pablo Fandiño - 8,4 Mark Shield Ben Gibson URU - AUS	Portugal 0-1 France Semifinal
Carvalho (83.) - Tackle	Saha (87.) - Tackle