(29) France-Czech Rep

 

Highlights

Report

Down four of their most influential players (due to accumlation of yellow cards), in what was a pretty heroic effort the Czech Republic held an indifferent France team for two hours in a scoreless semifinal in Manchester before winning on penalty kicks. It wasn't an out-and-out 'park the bus' operation (a la Steaua/Red Star in their respective Champions Cup finals) by the Czech side, but the orientation of their tactics were quite nonetheless clear. Most observers deemed this one of the poorest Euro'96 games, perhaps a bit harshly in my view, but certainly first semifinal -- played in front of a sparse-ish crowd at Old Trafford a few hours before the second was to kick off -- stood quite apart from the Wembley tie.

It was a southernly trip for the referee crew, as Les Mottram of Scotland had been appointed by UEFA to handle this semifinal. Mid-way through the match, the BBC commentator made an interesting remark, namely "Mottram is doing his reputation no harm at all here". The implicit comment also touched on my feeling too: having been 'il peggior arbitro del mondiale' at Usa'94 and after the incident at Partick Thistle in 1995, despite the Scottish official's good performance in his group stage match, this was a red letter occasion for Mottram and one where his decisions as a referee were under the spotlight.

However: the game certainly went well and, in final months as a FIFA referee (born in '51 and retiring his international spot at the year end) Euro'96 was a crowning success in Mottram's career. Some analysis: 

First half: In the opening 45min, the players were absolutely paralysed by nervous tension and in Mottram's way of refereeing, they didn't find much solace in his manner of conducting the match. However, with rare exception, the referee from Scotland made good decisions. He was absolutely right to book Thuram at the end of the half for a very reckless head collision, even if the delivery of the card made the call a bit surprising to onlookers. The most relevant refereeing action came though in John Fleming's very bad decision (clip) to flag down veteran Czech reserve striker Radek Drulak when he was played through 1-on-1. Replays showed that Drulak was miles onside. Overall, Fleming's performance fell short of the standard expected and individually he should have been rejected (Robert Orr was good).

Second half: Mottram continued his positive work after halftime, with the players now (as usual) relaxing more after the break, and the game felt fully in the Scottish referee's grasp. To highlight two incidents - he impressed me with his decision-making (clip) and softer skills (clip) in these respective scenes.

Extra time: In the second half of the extended period, the Czech Republic were clinging on and presented the referee with three big penalty appeals - for tripping (clip), handball (clip) and most dramatically when replacement defender Martin Kotulek made a desperate tackle on Reynald Pedros in the box with a minute remaining (clip). Mottram managed to avoid horror positioning in the box, as the situation arose from a corner kick, and well-placed didn't award a penalty to France, instead a goalkick. Replays showed that Kotulek did (just!) get a touch on the ball, before it bounced off Pedros and went over the byline. 

Penalty series: Twelve kicks were taken and eleven were scored; unlike actually the France-Netherlands quarterfinal, when the saved kick was denied by a goalkeeper prematurely off the line, Kouba's save of Pedros shot was clearly regular. The disaster averted was that Lukas Kubik, who had taken the first Czech penalty, went up to take the sixth before being sent back by Mottram. In an interview years later, the referee states that the France goalkeeper Lama noticed the violation before him. Whatever the chronology of events, the official checked his notes and sent Kubik back. Pedros by then having missed, the new taker (defender Miroslav Kadlec) scored and qualified the Czech Republic for the Euro'96 final.

As in his previous match, the nature of the game did surely help the Scot referee, but his refereeing of this semifinal was in my eyes genuinely impressive in its own right and worthy of explicit praise. This was Les Mottram's final match under UEFA auspicies, as he continued to referee until age fifty in the J-League as this article explains. So, to tie everything together as a last remark - with his two good performances in this tournament (contrary to the stateside World Cup), Mottram greatly enhanced his reputation and (consequently?), this must have helped to extend his career in 'international' football by five seasons.

Matchsheet

Leslie Mottram - 7 Robert Orr - 7 John Fleming - 5 Hugh Dallas (assessor: ridden)	France 0-0 Czech Republic (aet, Cze win 5-6 in a penalty competition) Weds 26June 4pm, Manchester Semifinal
Fra  Thuram (43') - Challenge  Roche (50') - Challenge  Lizarazu (63') - SPA (Holding)	Cze  Nedvěd (77') - Tackle  Němeček (83') - LoR (Holding)  Kubík (98') - SPA (Holding)

Rest in Peace, John Fleming (1957-2019).