It’s amazing how many times referees ruin soccer matches. I know every time it happens I have to remind myself that this so-called “human element” is apparently very important to the major powers that be in world soccer’s hierarchy. It does not soothe me, though. It just doesn’t.
I was outraged, as all of you were, at the blatant mistakes made in this past Summer’s World Cup. The brutal job in the USA-Slovenia match will not be forgotten by Americans any time soon. There were a lot of casual fans wondering how it was possible that the world’s largest sporting event could be handled by such incompetents. A lot of us were left shrugging our shoulders and having to explain to our non-hardcore friends that these things occasionally happen and it’s all part of soccer’s rich tapestry. And then we cry into our pillows and wonder why oh why we follow this maddening sport.
Most of you know by now that my Dad is a lifelong Tottenham Hotspur supporter and longtime season ticket holder. Now, I don’t know how many of you managed to catch yesterday’s Manchester United-Tottenham Hotspur match, but there was yet another mystifying and ultimately ludicrous refereeing gaffe. To quickly describe, United leading 1-0 late in the match, a tense affair, and United break loose up the right hand side. Nani ends up on the receiving end of a pass, loses his balance and ends up falling basically right on top of the ball, including putting his hand on the ball. Referee Mark Clattenburg, the stooge in question, does not signal for…anything, really…but the players all assume it’s a free kick for the keeper to take. Now, Spurs keeper Heurelho Gomes picks up the ball, places it on the ground (moving it away from the spot where Nani fell on the ball), and prepares to kick it. Nani has picked himself up and is coming from behind Gomes, and he has a quick peek at Clattenburg, who seemed to signal that the ball was actually in play and not being taken as a free kick. Now, here’s where it goes mental. Nani kicks the ball into Spurs net, and Clattenburg signals goal. Spurs players go mental, and run over to the linesman to say that Nani cannot do what he just did, and someone must have said something that resonated, because the linesman then puts his flag up to indicate…something (we all assume it was “offside” but I’m still not sure exactly)…and while Nani is celebrating his goal, Clattenburg decides to investigate why the flag is now up.
He strides over to the linesman, they have a quick chat while Rio Ferdinand comes over and berates both of them, and then Clattenburg, the final arbiter, points to the center of the pitch to indicate a good goal.
Seriously.
It’s just yet another example of a referee botching the first call by not giving the proper response to Nani’s hand touching the ball, which at that point makes the ball dead. The second mistake from there is the response to Nani’s inquisitive look which was essentially “Yes, the ball’s in play, have a go.” Now, if there were any questions about whether or not the ball was live, he had to address that with everyone, not just Nani. It’s pathetic and yet another example of shoddy refereeing at the highest levels of the game, this time at the club levels.
Now, to clarify. United certainly deserved to win the match. They had largely been the better side, although Spurs did have their moments. They had the lead when this disaster took place, so it wasn’t like this goal decided the match outcome. I’m certainly not suggesting any of that. What I am saying is that it’s ridiculous that things like this go on with no recourse for the teams that are hurt by these things, and there is no responsibility at all on the referee to explain what it was he or she was trying to do out there or how they interpreted the play. It’s ridiculous and I’m sad for it.
Here’s Sunday’s television and internet schedule, all times EDT and bear in mind that Europe changed clocks overnight.
7:30am- ESPN3.com/Fox Soccer Plus/FoxSoccer.tv- Palermo vs. Lazio
8:00am- FoxSoccer.tv- Aston Villa vs. Birmingham City
9:30am- Fox Soccer Plus/FoxSoccer.tv- Newcastle United vs. Sunderland
10:00am- ESPN3.com- Brescia vs. Napoli
10:30am- ESPN3.com- Mainz 05 vs. Borussia Dortmund
12:00pm- Fox Soccer Channel- Bolton vs. Liverpool
12:00pm- GolTV- Sporting Gijon vs. Villareal
12:00pm- DirecTV- Malaga vs. Real Sociedad
12:00pm- ESPN3.com- Deportivo La Coruna vs. Espanyol
12:00pm- FoxSoccer.tv- Monaco vs. Bordeaux
2:00pm- Telemundo- Toluca vs. San Luis
2:00pm- Fox Deportes- Morelia vs. Monterrey
2:00pm- GolTV- Athletico Madrid vs. Almeria
3:45pm- ESPN3.com- Catania vs. Fiorentina
4:00pm- DirecTV- Athletic Bilbao vs. Getafe
4:00pm- GolTV- Hannover vs. Hoffenheim (Delayed)
4:00pm- Fox Soccer Plus- Montpellier vs. PSG
8:00pm- ESPN2/ESPN3.com- Los Angeles Galaxy vs. Seattle Sounders FC
I have to be honest, I’m a bit shocked that Aston Villa – B’ham is not on television, but I guess that’s why God invented illegal streams, right? Anyway, enjoy the matches today, thanks as always for your clicks and comments, and if you want to see a writer go completely off on American soccer in general, go read Jamie Trecker’s tweets from last night after watching the RSL-FC Dallas match. Hoo boy. Oh, and Happy Halloween!
It was a gaffe by the referee for sure, but I have to put most of the blame on Gomez. No one indicated it was a free kick (you say everyone assumed that, but I’m willing to contest that assertion) and if it was a free kick, he certainly shouldn’t have put it down where he did.
I understand fox wants to make money on their properties that bring in additional revenue, but to have two Premier League matches going on right now and having paid programming on their main channel is ridiculous. Do they just hope to force people into shelling out extra money because people want to watch certain matches?
To me the whole point is that Nani should not have taken advantage of the situation. Nani knew he was getting unfair advantage of the handball no-call and confusion about the free kick. It is immaterial if it was a legitimate goal or not – there is no fair play rule in the book after all. This negated otherwise outstanding performance from Nani and left a sour taste after deserved United win.
Don’t get mad, get even.
http://www.pawest-soccer.org/referees/refresources.htm
(A player touching the ball with their hand has never rendered the ball automatically “dead”. If you don’t want to put your cards where your mouth is then at least check this out.
http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/lawsofthegame.html )