(2) Spain-Bulgaria
Highlights
Report
An amazing game for Italy's number two referee at the tournament, Piero Ceccarini, a Latine-Eastern clash that bore great chaos, saw both teams finish the match with ten men, and no few controversial episodes for the Italian referee to run rule over. A game which if badly refereed which could have degenerated into a total disaster, did not and Ceccarini can hold his head high having coped with everything more than decently - even if the performance just fell short of being 'excellent'. It should also be mentioned that Bulgaria were wrongly denied a goal due to a poor call by one of the linesmen. Some talking points:
Strengths
++ Biggest calls all correct ++
Strengths
++ Biggest calls all correct ++
All in the second half, the three key scenes for the match were resolved correctly.
64min: Penalty awarded to Bulgaria (tripping)
71min: Red card awarded to Hubchev (Dogso)
64min: Penalty awarded to Bulgaria (tripping)
71min: Red card awarded to Hubchev (Dogso)
75min: Red card awarded to Pizzi (Sfp)
It's funny to see now, but the DOGSO question (as a careless, accidental foul where the attacking player was happy to win the decision) never even came into view with the penalty awarded. Pizzi's expulsion, having slid in for a normal tackle before making a second movement and wildly kicking his opponent's knee, was an outstanding decision. Other situations, such as not giving Bulgaria penalties in 35' (theatre by the attacker) and 58' (outside the box) and only booking Abelardo 90' (not dogso), were also right.
It's funny to see now, but the DOGSO question (as a careless, accidental foul where the attacking player was happy to win the decision) never even came into view with the penalty awarded. Pizzi's expulsion, having slid in for a normal tackle before making a second movement and wildly kicking his opponent's knee, was an outstanding decision. Other situations, such as not giving Bulgaria penalties in 35' (theatre by the attacker) and 58' (outside the box) and only booking Abelardo 90' (not dogso), were also right.
++ Sound level of calls throughout the game ++
The seven cautions meted out by Ceccarini followed a clear and generally predictable line. Six of the yellows were for fouls, but Stoichkov's for dissent in 28' should be highlighted - a very brave decision by the Italian ref, given that he knew for over an hour he would be treading the tightrope of having to give him a second (but never had to, and rightly). Additionally, foul recognition was also quite good.
Areas for improvement
The game was very difficult, so these points should be seen within that context:
-- Having excellently sent off Pizzi, another crude challenge occurred two minutes later by Jankov (77'). In a way, the game called Ceccarini's bluff a little here - according to the strict line against 'brutal' fouls, the Bulgarian should have been sent off. After this period, the game was brought back into order.
-- Three potential SYC incidents for Sergi (+46'; 51'; 68'), which all involved Kostadinov rather blatantly trying to get the Spanaird sent off. In all three episodes, I believe the referee to have decided correctly, ie no (second) yellow card offence was committed. However, the Italian ref went (especially in the two scenes which happened after the interval) for an 'ostrich head-in-sand' approach. This served to add more tension to the game, especially as he totally ignored the conflict generated by the 68' incident.
-- A feeling that everything was a bit chaotic, or to put it more fairly for this match, the feeling that this piece of refereeing was just a little more chaotic than it needed to be. Partly, UEFA's instructions pertaining to 'maximising the effective playing time' are to blame, but Ceccarini's way of refereeing can be described a little as 'skating on ice' too; the game never felt fully within his grasp, an uphill struggle, contact with the players was often adversarial. His line with bookings was clear, but it would have been possible to get more of a grip on the game by starting a bit earlier with cards.
-- Not to do with the referee, but rather his (first, Enrico Preziosi) linesman wrongly disallowed a goal for Bulgaria in 48'. A clear mistake by Preziosi, worthy of censure - presumably he didn't countenance the deepermost Spanish defender when watching the situation. That err was the exception throughout the game too, both assistants seemed to ensure a high level of competence in their work and calls. This was a very big mistake for the game and analysing the Italian crew .
-- Having excellently sent off Pizzi, another crude challenge occurred two minutes later by Jankov (77'). In a way, the game called Ceccarini's bluff a little here - according to the strict line against 'brutal' fouls, the Bulgarian should have been sent off. After this period, the game was brought back into order.
-- Three potential SYC incidents for Sergi (+46'; 51'; 68'), which all involved Kostadinov rather blatantly trying to get the Spanaird sent off. In all three episodes, I believe the referee to have decided correctly, ie no (second) yellow card offence was committed. However, the Italian ref went (especially in the two scenes which happened after the interval) for an 'ostrich head-in-sand' approach. This served to add more tension to the game, especially as he totally ignored the conflict generated by the 68' incident.
-- A feeling that everything was a bit chaotic, or to put it more fairly for this match, the feeling that this piece of refereeing was just a little more chaotic than it needed to be. Partly, UEFA's instructions pertaining to 'maximising the effective playing time' are to blame, but Ceccarini's way of refereeing can be described a little as 'skating on ice' too; the game never felt fully within his grasp, an uphill struggle, contact with the players was often adversarial. His line with bookings was clear, but it would have been possible to get more of a grip on the game by starting a bit earlier with cards.
-- Not to do with the referee, but rather his (first, Enrico Preziosi) linesman wrongly disallowed a goal for Bulgaria in 48'. A clear mistake by Preziosi, worthy of censure - presumably he didn't countenance the deepermost Spanish defender when watching the situation. That err was the exception throughout the game too, both assistants seemed to ensure a high level of competence in their work and calls. This was a very big mistake for the game and analysing the Italian crew .
Balance
In a very difficult game, Piero Ceccarini held his nerve and generally gave a pretty strong performance. My mark for him in the current interpretation of the UEFA system would be '8,5'.
It is a pity that the Italian crew can't wholly reflect on a positive contribution to the match, due to Enrico Preziosi's mistake at the beginning of the second half.
Matchsheet
| Piero Ceccarini - 7 Enrico Preziosi - 5 Fabrizio Zanforlin - 7 Alfredo Trentalange (assessor: björck) | Spain 1-1 Bulgaria Sun 9June 230pm, Leeds Group Stage |
Esp  Caminero (27') - LoR (Handball) Sergi (38') - Challenge Amor (42') - Tackle Pizzi (75') - SFP (Tackle) Abelardo (90') - SPA (Challenge) | Bul Stoičkov (28') - Dissent Kišišev (55') - Tackle Hubčev (71') - DOGSO (Holding) Jankov (77') - Challenge |
Parrieto deserved the final or not Mikael in your opinion?
ReplyDeleteIn terms of performances, I'll be able to say about the group stage is finished, but as a general comment he was a reasonable/expected choice without question.
DeleteIn an interview with a newspaper after he won the 1995 IFFHS World Referee award Sandor Puhl said "I'm surprised, I thought that Pairetto would win it this year".
Isn't Ceccarini also missing another red card? For my taste the penalty to Bulgaria, the Spanish should have their first red card! clearly DOGSO i think.
ReplyDeleteThe offender in that case (Sergi Barjuan) had actually already been booked, so even a yellow card given would have seen him sent off!
DeleteThe situation is a clear DOGSO position as we would understand it nowadays, but back then it worked a little bit differently. The concept was kind of similar to the 'DOGSO attempt for the ball' that we have since 2016, where the aim was to give red cards for cynical, deliberate fouls that denied goal-scoring opportunities. Comparing Sergi's foul with Hubcev's is quite useful I think. Analysing every (penalty) foul under the aspect 'was it DOGSO?' wasn't something that happened until fairly recently.
Below are three clips from WC2002. In the first two clips, penalties were awarded with no sanction shown, even though nowadays we would expect there to be 🟥. In the third clip, the referee awards the penalty immediately but only after mobbing by the Mexico players, did the expulsion follow. The last clip is quite pertinent because it underlines a key point: only due to 'fair play' or even not realising by players, was it possible to take the 'old' approach where not every foul was analysed under the 'DOGSO?' heading.
https://youtu.be/Skq5lMUr64U?t=38
https://youtu.be/UEtoLMz722I?t=44
https://youtu.be/odwFA_T0iTE
Finally, later in Euro'96, a referee was rejected by UEFA having (correctly) awarded a penalty, but only having shown a yellow card to the offender, when it ought in their opinion to have been a red card for DOGSO.
I liked a lot Ceccarini's performance. I remember him as a great referee. I agree with your analysis, Mikael
ReplyDelete