28 CRCTUR Codjia
HIGHLIGHTS
Perhaps no referee until now felt quite as much pressure and scrutiny in the build up to his game as Coffi Codjia did before the Costa Rica - Turkey match. Not only was this the crucial game in Group C, decisive for who would advance, Turkey made a public call for Codjia to be removed from the game, simply because of his origin (how insulting for someone who worked all his life to attend the World Cup, and to have his nation belittled like that; Codjia had every right to be furious). Before a whistle was blown all eyes were on the referee. And the game itself was not easy either.
Codjia on the whole was fine, he must have been absolutely relieved at the final whistle that his name would not (again) be in the headlines after a satisfying and decent piece of refereeing.
Referee from Benin had a clear game plan for this match - let the game flow as much as possible, as a leadership style be in the background as much as possible. He wasn't really fussed about missing a few clear fouls or playing bad advantages, but nothing too bad anyway. The first two cautions of the match could have been a divine intervention for him they were that benign - tactical foul by a Turkey player, reckless tackle by a Costa Rica player. That gave him enough credit to keep a hand on the game until the last stages; Turkey pressure on him with simulations, screams and general agitation was largely unsuccessful, save for incidents at 41' and 42'.
Codjia, as Kim was when Rüştü Reçber decided it was a good idea to pass the ball to an attacker in Turkey's previous game that caught the referee from Korea out, was bl**dy unlucky in the last minutes. A freak incident with Turkey no.21 and a Costa Rica technical area occupant in the closing stages should have resulted with them both being ejected - neither were, with the Turkey player only cautioned. From then, Codjia was actually not in control of the match, but fortunately the last minutes passed without bigger incident.
It was not the best game for the ARs - Dramane Danté was generally good but (understandably) missed a clear Violent Conduct in his vicinity that went under the players radar; Brighton Mudzamiri lost control of his decisions, with three incorrect offsides, the latter two of which are not acceptable at a World Cup-level.
Óscar Ruiz was immense as fourth official in the aforementioned freak incident, without him, the officials team might have been in big trouble.
Perhaps no referee until now felt quite as much pressure and scrutiny in the build up to his game as Coffi Codjia did before the Costa Rica - Turkey match. Not only was this the crucial game in Group C, decisive for who would advance, Turkey made a public call for Codjia to be removed from the game, simply because of his origin (how insulting for someone who worked all his life to attend the World Cup, and to have his nation belittled like that; Codjia had every right to be furious). Before a whistle was blown all eyes were on the referee. And the game itself was not easy either.
Codjia on the whole was fine, he must have been absolutely relieved at the final whistle that his name would not (again) be in the headlines after a satisfying and decent piece of refereeing.
Referee from Benin had a clear game plan for this match - let the game flow as much as possible, as a leadership style be in the background as much as possible. He wasn't really fussed about missing a few clear fouls or playing bad advantages, but nothing too bad anyway. The first two cautions of the match could have been a divine intervention for him they were that benign - tactical foul by a Turkey player, reckless tackle by a Costa Rica player. That gave him enough credit to keep a hand on the game until the last stages; Turkey pressure on him with simulations, screams and general agitation was largely unsuccessful, save for incidents at 41' and 42'.
Codjia, as Kim was when Rüştü Reçber decided it was a good idea to pass the ball to an attacker in Turkey's previous game that caught the referee from Korea out, was bl**dy unlucky in the last minutes. A freak incident with Turkey no.21 and a Costa Rica technical area occupant in the closing stages should have resulted with them both being ejected - neither were, with the Turkey player only cautioned. From then, Codjia was actually not in control of the match, but fortunately the last minutes passed without bigger incident.
It was not the best game for the ARs - Dramane Danté was generally good but (understandably) missed a clear Violent Conduct in his vicinity that went under the players radar; Brighton Mudzamiri lost control of his decisions, with three incorrect offsides, the latter two of which are not acceptable at a World Cup-level.
Óscar Ruiz was immense as fourth official in the aforementioned freak incident, without him, the officials team might have been in big trouble.
| Coffi Codjia - 7,8(2) Dramane Danté - 7,9(4) Brighton Mudzamiri - 7,6 Óscar Ruiz (BEN, MLI, ZIM) | Costa Rica 1-1 Turkey Group Stage |
 Martínez (23.) - Tackle Castro (43.) - Tackle | Aşık (19.) - SPA (Blocking) Kerimoğlu (45.) - Tackle Belözoğlu (88.) - Unsporting Behaviour |
Challenging clash for the referee from Benin, who literally had to swim: and he did! Good start with some clear gestures, whistles all the while trying to let the game flow, give advantages and stay out of the focus. The booking in 23' is a good decision, maybe an earlier whistle would have been a good choice, but play-on fitted his style.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, he lost it a bit in the five minutes before the break. While not as bad as the tackle in 23', the one in 41' deserved a YC, especially for balancing. The booking in 43' was wrong, there was either no contact or what little there was greatly exaggerated by the Turkish player. It had me fooled initially, but AR2 Mudzamiri had to help him. Missed booking for reckless use of arms in 44', in a way the SPA/Reckless one minute later was "good" for him, since it was an easy booking to balance and regain authority.
Second half looked less intense, although clearly demanding full attention. Unfortunately, AR1 Danté missed a very clear VC in 59', a crucial mistake I would mostly assign to him - game had continued several seconds earlier and Codjia's focus was elsewhere. Unfortunately, AR2 Mudzamiri was worse, with several offside decisions that were - it must be said - not on a World Cup level.
The Costa Rican equalizer in 86' could well have been a penalty + RC for DOGSO, but Parks saved Codjia from such a decision. The scene in 88' was rather bad luck, the DtR by the CRC bench a very minor one and Emre's push not quite VC from the intensity. Ruiz distinguished himself in the ensuing chaos, Codjia looked overwhelmed. Considering Emre even throws the ball towards the CRC bench during the shuffle, there were storng arguments to send him off, but Codjia's YC was perhaps the safest decision and can be defended. Seemingly reckless foul + DtR went unpunished in 90'+3, at this point he was (understandably) anxious for the final whistle.
A decent performance by Codjia, considering the pressure, he deserves praise, especially for his good start. At the end of both halfes, he made a couple mistakes, but the biggest ones were made by his ARs. He wasn't bad - 8,2 would be my assessment.