(27) Germany-Croatia
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Highlights
Report
Germany edged out Croatia in the third quarterfinal of Euro'96, a game marred by indiscipline and the poor refereeing by the official in charge, Leif Sundell from Sweden. The calm atmosphere in the stands stood in stark contrast to the red-hot feeling on the pitch, but if for Sundell this was an all-timer degree of disaster in contemporary major tournaments then for Croatia it was a match they flippantly let get away. Having equalised at the start of the second half, Germany were struggling and likely in very big trouble, but a two-minute sequence turned the tie in their favour: Igor Stimac let the excitement of the match get to him, crudely fouling and was (rightly, if unconvincingly) sent off by the referee, before Matthias Sammer later turned in what proved to be the winning goal. Given that Germany's first goal came from a crazy Croatian handball -- they certainly can't blame the Swedes in that episode -- one has to reason that Hrvatska very much dropped the ball in Manchester and could easily have won (the tournament!).
If Croatia took 'Balkanism' to an almost comedic extreme in this game, then referee Leif Sundell probably did the same for 'Nordicism' - he got the old adage 'the harder a match is, the calmer a referee must be' all mixed up. Impassive from the start, the extent of just how badly he had refereed this quarterfinal by the end can scarcely by emphasised enough; UEFA, it is fair to say, were not especially impressed.
Some analysis on how, and why, this all went so badly wrong follows in three parts.
Some analysis on how, and why, this all went so badly wrong follows in three parts.
> Big Decisions <
Even in terms of 'key match incidents', the match was very challenging. Sundell faced six match-turning episodes, the 'traffic light' for each timestamp corresponds to how each call was assessed.
Analysis of these incidents is built into the next passage.
🟠 7min -- Klinsmann is booked for kicking out at Vlaovic
🟢 20min -- Penalty awarded to Germany for Jerkan's handball
🟠 34min -- Suker penalty appeal after a bodycheck by Helmer
🔴 43min -- Bilic kicks out at Ziege while the latter is on the floor
🟢 57min -- Stimac is shown a second yellow for a foul on Scholl
🟠 59min -- Croatia appeal for a foul by Babbel before the 2-1 goal
Five of these incidents are 'things that happen' in a match, and indeed UEFA (perhaps slightly generously but not wrongly) accepted them all. The decision that should stand out though is that Slaven Bilic escaped any censure at all having aimed a kick at Christian Ziege's head while he was on the ground, with the game completely stopped and Sundell having come over to inspect Ziege's injury. It is certainly possible to be too close to an incident, but the Swede was stood right over the kick by Bilic, gestured for him to go away and did not even warn the Croatian defender (who had a similar incident in the previous match).
It is completely unacceptable that Sundell watched Bilic kick out and did nothing!
< Managing the Game >
The 'tl;dr' of this part is that Sundell approached this game completely wrongly in the first half and in the second, with the Bilic kick having already passed, he essentially gave up refereeing the match properly.
The match started with some (Croatia) players making small, late contacts on their opponents to try and rile them up which the referee clocked, shouting at the offenders while play continued (a generally reasonable course of action at this stage). Sundell correctly administered the game's first yellow card when Sammer committed a blatant tactical foul on Stanic (5'), who immediately went over to the referee and shouted at him. The first clear sign of trouble in this game occured when Klinsmann, a 'victim' of one such aforementioned late contact, made a kick out at Vlaovic having (the German) had his foot carelessly trodden on by Jarni a moment prior. Klinsmann's kick out ought to have been punished with a red card but I'd agree with UEFA, this was not a clear mistake (even stepping back from the idea that it was one of the tournament's star players in the seventh minute etc). Where alarm bells should have been ringing is that Sundell only dealt with the incident like a 'normal' yellow card. This was an extremely clear signpost of 'time to up my presence in the game', but Sundell did not, officiating it like a 'normal' match - he awarded one more yellow card, rightly, but all borderline sliding tackles were just blown up for as normal freekicks. Then, to his credit, Sundell immediately penalised Jerkan's handball in the box and awarded Germany a penalty. The referee from Sweden almost instantaneously blew as Jerkan pushed the ball away, adding credibility to his decision. That bought him some 'points' in the game, which then elapsed in Croatia's eyes when he didn't award Suker a penalty after a check by Helmer. While the commentators on British television were quite sure (and to me it was more of a foul than not), even if it seemed Helmer quite blatantly played the man, then one could also argue that Suker had played the ball to the left and instead run to the right. Croatia in the form of Suker interfering with a Germany freekick (35') and Boban trying to intimidate the linesman Hansson (37') tried to undermine the authority of the referees, with no reaction from Sundell. The game really turned into chaos though after Bilic was not sanctioned for kicking Ziege, and halftime came after a number of unconvincing scenes where no foul was given. The second half continued in the same vein as the end of the first - a clear elbow (this one understandably; 47') missed, by Boban on Freund, a horrendous tackle by Reuter on Asanovic who threw the ball at the former with no sanction for either (50') and finally everything boiled over on a reckless challenge by Stimac, who was given a second yellow card (both bookings for Stimac were clearly and inarguably correct) having chopped down Scholl. Sundell tried to play advantage on this incident and to say his conduct was unconvincing would be an extreme understatement. Play was also restarted incorrectly. Shortly afterwards, Croatia mobbed the referee (see below) after Germany scored the third and what would prove winning goal of the game. A foul ought to have been given because Jerkan had the ball under control as Scholl barged into him, but I think allowing this incident to go (in isolation) is understandable. After that goal, the game went on in 'splutters' but further clear yellow cards to Stanic (63'), Boban (75') and Stanic again (87') for deliberate and/or wild fouls were ignored. Bizarre missed fouls and uncensured player-player conflicts were also not infrequent. The final stages of the game did pass, however, without greater note.
The match started with some (Croatia) players making small, late contacts on their opponents to try and rile them up which the referee clocked, shouting at the offenders while play continued (a generally reasonable course of action at this stage). Sundell correctly administered the game's first yellow card when Sammer committed a blatant tactical foul on Stanic (5'), who immediately went over to the referee and shouted at him. The first clear sign of trouble in this game occured when Klinsmann, a 'victim' of one such aforementioned late contact, made a kick out at Vlaovic having (the German) had his foot carelessly trodden on by Jarni a moment prior. Klinsmann's kick out ought to have been punished with a red card but I'd agree with UEFA, this was not a clear mistake (even stepping back from the idea that it was one of the tournament's star players in the seventh minute etc). Where alarm bells should have been ringing is that Sundell only dealt with the incident like a 'normal' yellow card. This was an extremely clear signpost of 'time to up my presence in the game', but Sundell did not, officiating it like a 'normal' match - he awarded one more yellow card, rightly, but all borderline sliding tackles were just blown up for as normal freekicks. Then, to his credit, Sundell immediately penalised Jerkan's handball in the box and awarded Germany a penalty. The referee from Sweden almost instantaneously blew as Jerkan pushed the ball away, adding credibility to his decision. That bought him some 'points' in the game, which then elapsed in Croatia's eyes when he didn't award Suker a penalty after a check by Helmer. While the commentators on British television were quite sure (and to me it was more of a foul than not), even if it seemed Helmer quite blatantly played the man, then one could also argue that Suker had played the ball to the left and instead run to the right. Croatia in the form of Suker interfering with a Germany freekick (35') and Boban trying to intimidate the linesman Hansson (37') tried to undermine the authority of the referees, with no reaction from Sundell. The game really turned into chaos though after Bilic was not sanctioned for kicking Ziege, and halftime came after a number of unconvincing scenes where no foul was given. The second half continued in the same vein as the end of the first - a clear elbow (this one understandably; 47') missed, by Boban on Freund, a horrendous tackle by Reuter on Asanovic who threw the ball at the former with no sanction for either (50') and finally everything boiled over on a reckless challenge by Stimac, who was given a second yellow card (both bookings for Stimac were clearly and inarguably correct) having chopped down Scholl. Sundell tried to play advantage on this incident and to say his conduct was unconvincing would be an extreme understatement. Play was also restarted incorrectly. Shortly afterwards, Croatia mobbed the referee (see below) after Germany scored the third and what would prove winning goal of the game. A foul ought to have been given because Jerkan had the ball under control as Scholl barged into him, but I think allowing this incident to go (in isolation) is understandable. After that goal, the game went on in 'splutters' but further clear yellow cards to Stanic (63'), Boban (75') and Stanic again (87') for deliberate and/or wild fouls were ignored. Bizarre missed fouls and uncensured player-player conflicts were also not infrequent. The final stages of the game did pass, however, without greater note.
Notwithstanding the big scenes, the way that Sundell handled the first half was very bad, but the second was totally unforgiveable. A performance this bad in a major tournament game is extremely rare. Imagining the remaining twenty-one referees in Euro'96 (twenty-three minus Heynemann and Krug), I do not believe that any could have refereed this game so poorly. Sundell's performance was unacceptable.
< Appointment >
Everything fell apart for UEFA in the quarterfinals of Euro'96, and this weekend in June/1996 caused a lot of soul-searching for the referees committee; they were forced to fail the first three of the referees 'promoted' to handle the knockout stage matches (more on this in the tournament review).
Unlike Batta and Lopez Nieto, who were rewarded for group stage performances with quality to deserve top quartile rating (top seven of twenty-four referees), Sundell's assignment to this game should have raised a lot of questions. One can split them into two categories:
-> The referee should have been rejected for missing the Scotland handball in the group stage
Unlike Batta and Lopez Nieto, who were rewarded for group stage performances with quality to deserve top quartile rating (top seven of twenty-four referees), Sundell's assignment to this game should have raised a lot of questions. One can split them into two categories:
-> The referee should have been rejected for missing the Scotland handball in the group stage
That the Swedish referee was allowed to 'survive' this episode was surely very dubious. The reason UEFA gave, as detailed in the report for that game, should not be accepted at the senior level of international football. In a scenario where seven referees must be chosen to go up for the next round from twenty-four, it should have been incomprehensible to choose Sundell ahead of others after the handball episode.
-> The referee was a bad choice for this specific match-up
Hindsight, especially after near thirty years(!), is easy. But looking back, I would argue the big mistake made by UEFA was not being able to delineate between the level of difficulty faced by referees in their group matches. The latter two quarterfinals are quite useful to outline this, because both their referees (Leif Sundell and Hellmut Krug) also took charge of their group fixtures on the same day. The later game that day, between Romania and France, was technically challenging, and required some level of 'weaving' through the disciplinary incidents by Krug. The earlier Scottish-Dutch clash did not, and only orientated around decision-making for the referee in charge. Sundell's performance in that game, handball aside, was good - but it was clear by some incidents (especially in the second-half) that the referee from Sweden would very likely be troubled by a match which was technically challenging.
What Germany-Croatia clearly required from Sundell was for him to enter into a 'higher gear' with his approach. In some respects, the first half was a tougher watch than the second - events after halftime were a repeat of the 'depressed' refereeing by Emilio Soriano Aladren in the last Euro (coincidentally, then a committee member) which made UEFA equally incandescent. But in the first half, despite signposts that could rarely have been more blatant, Sundell remained distant and let everything blow up around him.
What Germany-Croatia clearly required from Sundell was for him to enter into a 'higher gear' with his approach. In some respects, the first half was a tougher watch than the second - events after halftime were a repeat of the 'depressed' refereeing by Emilio Soriano Aladren in the last Euro (coincidentally, then a committee member) which made UEFA equally incandescent. But in the first half, despite signposts that could rarely have been more blatant, Sundell remained distant and let everything blow up around him.
The 'emotionality' of the Croatia team was a hot topic internally after the game, and perhaps UEFA were a little disabused by that too: they had two excellent and one very good referee(s) handle their three first matches, and the debutant ex-Yugoslavia nation were kept very much 'in check' on each of their group outings. But much more likely, it was a question of necessity that Sundell was insetted to this particular quarterfinal. Of all the candidates for the semifinal and final (more in the review!), none came from the eight countries who had qualified for the last stages, and of the referee pool in consideration for the quarterfinals, only one came from a country not participating in the knockouts - Leif Sundell.
Perhaps that is an apt comment itself, but practically this left UEFA with quite limited options. Referees were not allowed to handle matches in their countries 'bracket' of the tournament. So, Marc Batta was only eligible to handle Spain-England and Germany-Croatia (already encountered Croatia) and Hellmut Krug only free for France-Netherlands and Portugal-Czech (already met France). Switching Sundell and Lopez Nieto may well have led to a better result on both fronts, but it wasn't possible: had Spain beaten England, they would have played either Germany or Croatia in the semifinals.
So, having determined that Sweden's no1 referee should handle a match in the quarterfinals, the only option left for him was this Germany-Croatia match. It is an assignment that the committee would live to regret - and I also believe that they would get fortunate in the respect underlined in this segment once more before the tournament was over. In any event, perhaps this disaster was punishment enough for UEFA, who were absolutely furious with Sundell and had to reflect themselves that they had explictly authored what remains one of the most obviously-impeding major tournament disasters in recent history.
Perhaps that is an apt comment itself, but practically this left UEFA with quite limited options. Referees were not allowed to handle matches in their countries 'bracket' of the tournament. So, Marc Batta was only eligible to handle Spain-England and Germany-Croatia (already encountered Croatia) and Hellmut Krug only free for France-Netherlands and Portugal-Czech (already met France). Switching Sundell and Lopez Nieto may well have led to a better result on both fronts, but it wasn't possible: had Spain beaten England, they would have played either Germany or Croatia in the semifinals.
So, having determined that Sweden's no1 referee should handle a match in the quarterfinals, the only option left for him was this Germany-Croatia match. It is an assignment that the committee would live to regret - and I also believe that they would get fortunate in the respect underlined in this segment once more before the tournament was over. In any event, perhaps this disaster was punishment enough for UEFA, who were absolutely furious with Sundell and had to reflect themselves that they had explictly authored what remains one of the most obviously-impeding major tournament disasters in recent history.
The official from Sweden, on a strong path throughout the 1990s, would never recover his number one rating after this afternoon (the only official from his country invited to the February 1997 UEFA Advanced Course for Top Referees in Cyprus was Anders Frisk), but it was actually another affair in February of 1998 which would end Sundell's consideration for matches more than early rounds stuff in European football. Very finally, to put this game in something of a wider context: talking 'refstoriographically' there is quite a clear parallel to this performance from more modern times, with quite a number of crossovers.
Leif Sundell's performance in this game was rejected by UEFA.
Matchsheet
| Leif Sundell - 2 Kenneth Petersson - 7 Mikael Hansson - 7 Karl-Erik Nilsson (assessor: ponnet) | Germany 2-1 Croatia Sun 23June 3pm, Manchester Quarterfinal |
Ger  Sammer (5') - SPA (Holding) Klinsmann (7') - Aggressive Behaviour | Cro Štimac (18') - Tackle Štimac (57') - Challenge |
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