64 ITAFRA Elizondo

Preamble

Italy and France contested the final act of FIFA World Cup 2006 to determine who would be crowned world champions. Both nations' run to the final seemed somewhat unlikely before a ball kicked - Italy were engulfed in a huge match fixing scandal with hugely far-reaching ramifications and France sported an ageing squad who had essentially failed at their last two international tournaments.

Italy saw off the Czech Republic in their decisive group game, before they were very fortunate to eliminate Australia in the Round of Sixteen, by virtue of a penalty in the last kick of the match. Italy combined their characteristic strong defence with brave attacking play in beating both Ukraine and then Germany in a semifinal described in many quarters as a classic (even if we disagree!). 

France made a slow start to their tournament and were the beneficiaries of the draw when their must win group match was against Togo, who they defeated two-nil. Thereafter France and star player Zidane shined and were probably the most impressive team in the knockout stage, beating Spain, Brazil and Portugal on their way to the final. For many in the France squad this was their last shot at glory, not least Zidane for whom the final was his last ever match. 

Portugal and the Netherlands decide they would rather kick each other than the ball

If World Cup 2002 was the last tournament of the past, then World Cup 2006 was the first tournament of the present. The way of playing football changed quite significantly in four years, swinging much more in favour of promoting technical players and favouring stamina over physical strength. Without doubt the football in 2006 was the first World Cup that resembles a lot more what we see nowadays.

The tournament also heralded something of a revolution in officiating. On the most basic level, FIFA wanted to avoid the 'disaster' (actually I would argue the refereeing was pretty good in 2002) of four years ago. For starters, officials were not appointed in isolation but in pre-selected trios with whom they would handle matches together in the four-year cycle leading up to the finals. More nuanced but arguably more important than that was the instructions FIFA gave to the referees - to be consistent in rigour, and unobtrusive in presence.  

It was the strict nature of the disciplinary control which was noted by the world's media - this tournament set a record unlikely to be broken any time soon, three-hundred and forty-five cautions and twenty-eight ejections ordered by the officials. After the so-called Battle of Nuremberg FIFA ordered the referees to cease with such rigorous officiating, but of course to remain unobtrusive - in a funny way, that was premonition of the current era of Busacca-ism at a FIFA and now world level (Busacca was of course a referee at this tournament) which rose to prominence at World Cup 2014.

An unforgettable match: Croatia - Australia

Horacio Elizondo and his two assistant referees, Darío García and Rodolfo Otero were selected to referee the World Cup 2006 Final. Amongst their four prior matches, the trio from Argentina faced quite a range of challenges but always managed to give a convincing impression. 

They controlled the opening match between Germany and Costa Rica and Elizondo delivered a perfect rendition of the kind of officiating FIFA were looking for - it is, by the way, a tiring style to execute and despite only one caution issued this occasion was by no means a walk in the park. Despite García missing a clear offside for Costa Rica goal, both assistant referees otherwise impressed with their very good computing of offside situations.

Czech Republic - Ghana was not the most sonorous of all the matches at World Cup 2006, but by our observation and Elizondo's admission, it was one of the hardest of all and certainly the toughest of Elizondo's set of matches. By setting clever tactical signals and holding his nerve in the most important situation, Elizondo himself convinced and again his assistant referees were pretty impeccable in extremely trying circumstances. Argentine trio showed to be not only able to solve the biggest matches, but also the most challenging.

They were rewarded with another very important match, between Switzerland and Korea. The match was chiefly memorable for the second Switzerland goal, where Elizondo correctly waved down the flag of his teammate Otero; the trio showed real fortitude in that moment, and Elizondo's calm manner succeeded the whole match through. A rather tedious quarterfinal, England - Portugal followed for them; Elizondo again showed he had bottle by correctly ejecting Rooney for a violent stamp, amidst a match otherwise widely unremarkable. 

All four semifinalists being European and the appointments for the last three matches of the previous World Cup did nothing to harm the Argentine trio's cause. In our view FIFA made the right choice by selecting Elizondo, García and Otero for the big match. They formed part of an all Hispanic refereeing team, joined by Luis Medina Cantalejo and Victoriano Giráldez Carrasco from Spain, who were fourth official and reserve assistant referee respectively. Perhaps Ľuboš Micheľ could make the case that he and not Medina deserved to accompany Elizondo's team, but the lobby of Slovakia is always going to fall behind that of Spain. Perhaps communication considerations played a part, too. 

The stage was set!

Match

Italy defeated France in a penalty competition to win the World Cup in a stop-start final defined by a crazed and violent headbutt by France's star player Zidane, for which he was shown the Red Card. Zidane totally lost his composure, having in the opening minutes showed remarkable nerve to score a Panenka penalty. Italy equalised in the quite eventful first half with a header by defender Materazzi, who later provoked Zidane's extra time headbutt on him by making crude comments about Zidane's sister. The second half and extra time did not belong to the most exciting pieces of football at World Cup 2006, but it is fair to say Zidane's headbutt instantly became one of the most famous moments ever in the playing of football. Even if France probably deserved to win the final match more than their opponents, Italy were surely the best team of the championship and it would be hard to begrudge them what was their fourth World Cup win.

So, a highly dramatic final for the referee Horacio Elizondo from Argentina whose decisions in crucial situations were highly relevant (including perhaps the most momentous decision ever taken by a football referee to eject Zidane for that headbutt), yet at the same time after the first forty-five minutes it was a final played at a relatively pedestrian pace. Besides awarding a correct penalty at the start and following the advice of fourth official Luis Medina Cantalejo to issue a red card in extra time, Elizondo can be satisfied with how he solved the biggest match of his life - I would argue it was the best performance by a referee in a twenty-first century World Cup Final.

For the last time - let's start with the crucial decisions that defined the World Cup Final. 

Key Match Incidents

6' - Penalty to France (tripping)

Elizondo stated in an interview that it is this decision, not that to eject Zidane, which gives him the most satisfaction, as it was more important with regards to determining the winner of the World Cup.

Materazzi - there is no doubt that he made his mark on the final - carelessly tripped Malouda in the penalty area by catching one of the France player's leg and forcing the momentum by which Malouda tripped himself up. Elizondo made a very good dynamic sprint to gain an insight angle into what happened - one can wonder how much he actually detected what happened, so much as that Malouda fall naturally, and the referee from Argentina correctly awarded a penalty.

Now, a more tricky question - should Materazzi have been sent off for Denying an Obvious Goal-Scoring Opportunity? In my view, yes! Malouda is ahead of the other defender present, Cannavaro, before he is tripped up and he would have had a very good chance to score. However, the thought very likely did not even enter Elizondo's consideration as he whistled and sprinted toward the penalty spot. Such a discussion is largely abstract as nobody expected a red card there (if Materazzi deliberately pushed Malouda rather than accidentally tripped him, it would probably have been different). Even if in my view Cannavaro couldn't have intervened, his presence is enough to make the lack of a red card to Materazzi supportable.

53' - Penalty to France (tripping)?

Another interesting situation involving France player Malouda - Zambrotta trips him from behind, and without doubt it is possible that Elizondo could have awarded a second penalty to France. Too soft for a World Cup final? Well I wouldn't disagree with that statement, but I would argue play on is a better decision in any game - Malouda simply puts his leg in a position where he knows Zambrotta is going to kick him in so order to win a penalty. It wouldn't have been a mistake to give a penalty but I much prefer that tactics like that aren't rewarded, especially in a World Cup final.

108' - Red Card (Violent Conduct) to France no.10

The most momentous decision ever taken by a football referee? Perhaps.

To start by saying that on a theoretical level Zidane's headbutt is unambiguously an act of violent conduct, the rest is explained by Elizondo in this interview. You can subscribe to the conspiracy theory if you wish that Victoriano Giráldez Carrasco, the reserve assistant referee with access to television replays, informed fourth official Luis Medina Cantalejo only with the benefit of having looked at the monitor of Zidane's offence, but a conspiracy theory that will remain.

The final word on the matter best rests with a quote from Zidane, I cannot remember where I found it, where he was asked if he felt any ill-feeling towards Elizondo - "no", he answered. Continuing, "imagine what the reaction would have been if I wasn't sent off... especially if we won the World Cup"; Zidane concluded that "I'm glad that Elizondo sent me off".

114' - Second Yellow Card (striking) to France no.18?

The most interesting thing that happened in the final which you never realised!

Diarra commits a striking foul against his opponent, for which Elizondo blows for a freekick. At the this time the match has absolutely no flow, boos are still ringing around the stadium in reaction to the ejection of Zidane for an offence almost nobody in the stadium saw. In other words - a yellow card was totally unnecessary here. However, it is hard to argue that the strike was not reckless, but I'd support no second caution here without a doubt. That is not though why the situation is so interesting, though.

Diarra was already cautioned for dissent in the second half - but wait, he wasn't. The match record, which one has to imagine was checked and double checked for the final, records the caution at 76' as being for Makélélé. Makélélé was standing next to Diarra when he fouled, then dissented, and then was cautioned by referee Elizondo - the card was clearly shown in the direction of number eighteen, Diarra.

Elizondo did not write his caution on his yellow card as other referees, but he took his notes in separate notebook in one of his shirt pockets. He attentively updated what he had written in his notebook in the match, even to reflect substitutions and goals. My theory is that having cautioned Diarra by showing him the yellow card, he got his notebook out some seconds later, and saw Makélélé standing in front of him. He took Makélélé's name.

How life can be funny - imagine if Diarra committed a clearly tactical foul after that. Would Elizondo have ejected him, remembering his face from the first caution? Or would he have made the same unfortunate and highly cruel mistake that Graham Poll made in the Croatia - Australia game? In a way it doesn't bare thinking about, but luck was certainly on Elizondo's side in the final. 

Approach

Horacio Elizondo refereed the World Cup 2006 final well. He showed to be an astute decision taker with the opening two cautions, and knew when to increase his presence, for the most part utilising small toots on his whistle that were sometimes inaudible to television viewers. On a manner level, Elizondo offered something a bit different from his four previous matches - he had quite a supercilious leadership style, making use of quite expressive gestures and firm verbal warnings which were well-delivered. The players accepted and followed his style. To sum it up: Elizondo never lost the overview, neither of the match in front of him nor of being in the middle of a World Cup final. Good job!

Both assistant referees, Darío García and Rodolfo Otero, had a very good match. Otero was correct to disallow an Italy goal in the second half, but made an important mistake a few minutes from the end of the extra time. 

Horacio Elizondo - 8,5 Darío García - 8,5 Rodolfo Otero - 8,4 Luis Medina Cantalejo Victoriano Giráldez Carrasco ARG - ESP	Italy 1-1 France (Italy win 5-3 in a penalty competition) Final
Zambrotta (5.) - Tackle	Sagnol (12.) - Tackle Makélélé (76.) - Dissent Malouda (111.) - Dissent
	Zidane (110.) - Violent Conduct (Striking)
Italy win World Cup 2006

A huge thank you from HowardMaxi and I - we hope you enjoyed our look back at World Cup 2006 as much as the two of us did! A future project regarding a tournament from the 1990s may be on the horizon :)