52 ESPIRL Frisk
HIGHLIGHTS
After a pretty nonsensical appointment to the Brazil - China match, the referee of the last EURO Final, though appointed to the Spain - Ireland match in the Knockout Stage, Anders Frisk was in my view an underused resource. This match did offer suitable challenge for the referee from Sweden, whose excellent manner and brilliant leadership style saw him solve this not-too-difficult match without any complications. Indeed, most interesting were the two penalties awarded to Ireland in the the second half.
Not-too-difficult could not be further from the games that Leif Lindberg and Igor Šramka had to face, especially the former, who had an extremely challenging first half to bare.
Leif Lindberg
7' Correct, offside
34' Correct, offside
38' Correct, offside
40' Incorrect, onside, offside given (CRUCIAL)
41' Correct, offside (CRUCIAL)
Wow! If Lindberg had kept the flag down at 40', is mark would have been 9,0 and fully deserved. Spain had four goals disallowed by the assistants' flags, three were correct. Šramka's onside at 43' was the best of a very large bunch.
After a pretty nonsensical appointment to the Brazil - China match, the referee of the last EURO Final, though appointed to the Spain - Ireland match in the Knockout Stage, Anders Frisk was in my view an underused resource. This match did offer suitable challenge for the referee from Sweden, whose excellent manner and brilliant leadership style saw him solve this not-too-difficult match without any complications. Indeed, most interesting were the two penalties awarded to Ireland in the the second half.
Not-too-difficult could not be further from the games that Leif Lindberg and Igor Šramka had to face, especially the former, who had an extremely challenging first half to bare.
Key Match Incidents
62' - Penalty to Ireland (Tripping)
As far as the world is concerned, this is a clear penalty, as Duff is tripped by a stupid sliding tackle by the defender. But, just because the tackle is stupid it does not mean it is a foul, and my strong conviction is that Duff performs a very well-executed simulation which fools not only the referee, but everyone. However, as Leif Lindberg kindly runs in the way of the live sequence camera and the only replay angle shown is hardly conclusive, one should support Frisk in whistling.
89' - Penalty to Ireland (Holding)
Brilliantly courageous penalty given to Ireland for a very clear holding offence on Quinn. One might ask - was that call really necessary: that's the wrong question to ask, in my opinion.
Frisk held his nerve - chapeau.
Assistant Referees
What a game for both ARs! No words for how challenging a game Leif Lindberg had to face - Igor Šramka's was not easy either - especially in the first half. Assistant from Sweden had to face all these situations, which were all very tight by the way:Leif Lindberg
Igor Šramka
16' Correct, offside
22' Correct, offside
23' Correct, offside
23' Correct, offside (CRUCIAL)34' Correct, offside
38' Correct, offside
40' Incorrect, onside, offside given (CRUCIAL)
41' Correct, offside (CRUCIAL)
43' Correct, onside
44' Correct, offside
61' Correct, offside
68' Correct, offside (CRUCIAL)
88' Offside, no replay
106' Offside, correct
Wow! If Lindberg had kept the flag down at 40', is mark would have been 9,0 and fully deserved. Spain had four goals disallowed by the assistants' flags, three were correct. Šramka's onside at 43' was the best of a very large bunch.
| Anders Frisk - 8,4 Leif Lindberg - 7,9 (8,9) Igor Šramka - 8,5 Urs Meier (SWE, SWE, SVK) | Spain 1-1 Ireland (Spain win 3-2 in a penalty competition, AET) Round of Sixteen |
 Juanfran (62.) - Tackle Baraja (87.) - Persistent Infringement Hierro (89.) - Holding |
I had some questions about Anders Frisk after a rather unimpressive showing in the clear BRACHN game. This one was way more telling in what a referee he is and while some concerns remain, the penalty decision in 89' outshines everything. What a brilliant, courageous, correct call to give such a penalty despite the circumstances: against the bigger name, late in a game that was close, after having already given a penalty against them and despite the player held not going to the groud. But: It is prolonged, blatant holding and tugging of the shirt. Hierro did not protest, he perfectly knew what he had done.
ReplyDeleteThe first penalty looks so clear, but the replay suggests there was little contact and even that only as Duff was already going down. I'd sad rather a dive than a pk, but Juanfran himself seemed quite convinced he had fouled him. Difficult to judge, more replays could have helped perhaps. Therefore, no crucial mistake IMHO.
Disciplinary-wise, I wasn't overly impressed. The death glare warning for a LoR incident in 56' was haunting, but he missed a couple of cards for me in 66' (clear reckless tackle), 84' (cynical trip), 89' (DtR that should have been stamped out considering he punished such a case in 87') and 102' (SPA obstruction). Not much in favour, most of these I would call mandatory.
Still, Anders Frisk was unlucky not to be considered for further appointments, having outperformed most of the names that went on to get further matches despite some disciplinary over-leniency in my eyes.
A word about the ARs: Fantastic work by both. Of course there was what looked like it was one crucial mistake in there, but considering the sheer amount of scenes, this will happen without doubt.