The following article was published by examiner.com on 21-JUN-2010, and authored by LE Eisenmenger.
Kicking Back comments: Following is an interview of Angelo Bratsis (see brief bio here) from 21-JUN-2010 discussing the Germany v. Serbia match and in particular the ejection of Klose. In reading, again think locally, as there are some very fertile points here for matches on any given Sunday. Article from examiner.com continues below.
Ex-FIFA referee looks at Germany-Serbia officiating and Klose's ejection
Questionable officiating in high-profile 2010 World Cup matches such as Germany-Serbia and USA-Slovenia tarnish FIFA’s tournament. Germany (Group D) lost 1-0 to Serbia after referee Alberto Undiano Mallenco ejected Miroslav Klaus early with a second harsh caution. Undiano called the game tightly from the whistle, issued nine cautions overall and his heavy hand affected the quality of the highly anticipated match. After an outstanding performance in their 4-0 win over Australia, now Klose must serve a suspension and Germany’s future in World Cup is compromised.
For insight into the officiating of the Germany-Serbia match, I spoke with Angelo Bratsis, ex-FIFA referee for the United States and CONCACAF for 12 years.
LE: What did you see in referee Alberto Undiano’s officiating of Germany-Serbia?
Bratsis: I try not to be overly critical of referees, but I do have a lot of questions in my mind when I look at the game. Where does the referee work, what league? What level? How many years has he been around? Well, he’s been on the FIFA list since 2004, so he’s very, very experienced. He’s 36 years of age, a sociologist by trade. He has worked in many, many qualifiers, he works in the Spanish league, one of the best leagues in the world - this is where he works week in and week out. For years he’s been exposed to the highest possible level of players from all over the world. He’s not a rookie, he’s been exposed to high-pressure games, and should have been better prepared having the opportunity not many referees have to work in a league like the Spanish league.
I’m questioning his approach to the game, his total tactical and technical approach to the game. Any referee – I don’t care what referee – any referee that needs nine yellow cards to control a game, I have a very serious problem with that. I question his foul selection, foul discrimination. I question whether he can differentiate between an acceptable foul at that level that players don’t mind, accept, a foul that is careless - and a foul that is reckless. If he can’t distinguish between careless and reckless, he’s got a serious problem. A careless offense is just a simple foul, just a simple free kick and some of the calls he made are just simple, simple, simple fouls. When he turns a simple foul into a reckless, borderline excessive foul and feels that he needs to have a disciplinary action attached to that, I question that.
LE: Do you think he was consistent in his calls?
Bratsis: He was not consistent, he was very tight and relied on cards to control the game. Anybody who does that I question his management skills, his ability in that particular game, understanding who’s playing and what they’re playing for and what’s at stake and the degree and severity of each offense committed on the field. In the first half [Undiano] was very, very quick on the draw, so to speak. In the second half he started taking his time and thinking about whether he should take additional action against certain offenses, so I think he was a little bit more tuned in to the game than he was in the first half.
Usually at halftime referees talk about what’s going on out there, maybe get some advice from his ARs and the fourth official and adjusts his approach to the game. What do you guys see? What am I doing right, what am I doing wrong? And they make necessary adjustments. So if you monitor the second half you have Undiano approaching the game a little differently.
Full article by LE Eisenmenger continues here, courtesy of examiner.com.
Kicking Back comments: Following is an interview of Angelo Bratsis (see brief bio here) from 21-JUN-2010 discussing the Germany v. Serbia match and in particular the ejection of Klose. In reading, again think locally, as there are some very fertile points here for matches on any given Sunday. Article from examiner.com continues below.
Ex-FIFA referee looks at Germany-Serbia officiating and Klose's ejection
Questionable officiating in high-profile 2010 World Cup matches such as Germany-Serbia and USA-Slovenia tarnish FIFA’s tournament. Germany (Group D) lost 1-0 to Serbia after referee Alberto Undiano Mallenco ejected Miroslav Klaus early with a second harsh caution. Undiano called the game tightly from the whistle, issued nine cautions overall and his heavy hand affected the quality of the highly anticipated match. After an outstanding performance in their 4-0 win over Australia, now Klose must serve a suspension and Germany’s future in World Cup is compromised.
For insight into the officiating of the Germany-Serbia match, I spoke with Angelo Bratsis, ex-FIFA referee for the United States and CONCACAF for 12 years.
LE: What did you see in referee Alberto Undiano’s officiating of Germany-Serbia?
Bratsis: I try not to be overly critical of referees, but I do have a lot of questions in my mind when I look at the game. Where does the referee work, what league? What level? How many years has he been around? Well, he’s been on the FIFA list since 2004, so he’s very, very experienced. He’s 36 years of age, a sociologist by trade. He has worked in many, many qualifiers, he works in the Spanish league, one of the best leagues in the world - this is where he works week in and week out. For years he’s been exposed to the highest possible level of players from all over the world. He’s not a rookie, he’s been exposed to high-pressure games, and should have been better prepared having the opportunity not many referees have to work in a league like the Spanish league.
I’m questioning his approach to the game, his total tactical and technical approach to the game. Any referee – I don’t care what referee – any referee that needs nine yellow cards to control a game, I have a very serious problem with that. I question his foul selection, foul discrimination. I question whether he can differentiate between an acceptable foul at that level that players don’t mind, accept, a foul that is careless - and a foul that is reckless. If he can’t distinguish between careless and reckless, he’s got a serious problem. A careless offense is just a simple foul, just a simple free kick and some of the calls he made are just simple, simple, simple fouls. When he turns a simple foul into a reckless, borderline excessive foul and feels that he needs to have a disciplinary action attached to that, I question that.
LE: Do you think he was consistent in his calls?
Bratsis: He was not consistent, he was very tight and relied on cards to control the game. Anybody who does that I question his management skills, his ability in that particular game, understanding who’s playing and what they’re playing for and what’s at stake and the degree and severity of each offense committed on the field. In the first half [Undiano] was very, very quick on the draw, so to speak. In the second half he started taking his time and thinking about whether he should take additional action against certain offenses, so I think he was a little bit more tuned in to the game than he was in the first half.
Usually at halftime referees talk about what’s going on out there, maybe get some advice from his ARs and the fourth official and adjusts his approach to the game. What do you guys see? What am I doing right, what am I doing wrong? And they make necessary adjustments. So if you monitor the second half you have Undiano approaching the game a little differently.
Full article by LE Eisenmenger continues here, courtesy of examiner.com.
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