Side by side analysis of WC Final is up on www.massref.net

Check it out here.

Full unedited versions will be posted here at Kicking Back in the days ahead.

Unsung hero award: Héctor Vergara

The other day I was gently reminded by a comment here (thank you CWY2190) of the storied career of this man, Héctor Vergara (FIFA bio here).

His contribution to GER v. URU in the 3rd place match was his third game as an assistant referee at the 2010 World Cup and with the appearance, Vergara will set a FIFA record for most World Cup games as a combination of referee and assistant referee with 14.

A FIFA referee since 1993, Vergara has quite a list of laurels to his name including the following:

International Tournaments Refereed

• 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa
• 2010 FIFA World Cup Qualification Matches
• 2010 UAE Games
• 2009 FIFA Club World Cup
• 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup
• 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany
• 2006 FIFA World Cup Qualification Matches
• 2005 FIFA Club World Cup Japan 2005
• 2004 FIFA Athens Olympic Games
• 2004 FIFA Athens Olympic Qualifying Tournament - Mexico
• 2004 FIFA Toyota U-23 International Tournament - Qatar
• 2003 Football Confederation (CONCACAF) Gold Cup - Mexico
• 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan
• 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan Qualification Matches
• 2002 Football Confederation (CONCACAF) Gold Cup
• 2001 FIFA U-20 World Youth Championship
• 2000 Olympic CONCACAF Qualifying Tournament
• 1999 CONCACAF Club Championship
• 1998 FIFA World Cup France Qualification Matches
• 1995 FIFA U-17 World Championship
• 1993 FIFA U-17 World Championship

FIFA Referee Profile 2004

• 1999 CONCACAF US Cup
• 1998 CONCACAF U-20 World Championship Qualification Tournament
• 1998 CONCACAF Caribbean Shell Cup
• 1997 CONCACAF US Cup

This will be Vergara’s last World Cup for certain, and perhaps his final elite matches. He’ll turn 44 in December, and as we know FIFA’s mandatory retirement age is 45. In addition to the above, he has worked 130 internationals, and now 14 of these at the World Cup, breaking a record.

Like almost all of his colleagues, this is a part-time dream as his day job is executive director of the Manitoba Soccer Association. Recently he stated in a recent interview with a Canadian newspaper, “I just want to make my family and friends proud.”. Well sir, I do believe you have accomplished that, and so much more.

More than 50 World Cup fans killed in terrorist attacks

A sad story indeed, and a facet of the world we live in today.

Bombers Kill More Than 50 in Attacks in Uganda Capital

KAMPALA, Uganda — At least three bombs exploded Sunday in a synchronized attack on large gatherings of World Cup soccer fans watching the televised final on outdoor screens in this normally peaceful capital, turning a boisterous night of cheering into scenes of death and panic. The police and witnesses said more than 50 people were killed, including some foreigners, among them at least one American.

Full story here, courtesy of the New York Times.

A programming note ...

Real life gets in the way again.

While many of you will be serving at Veterans Cup this week and weeks end, I have the dubious pleasure of attending a bar review class in Boston for the rest of the week and the weeks end. My access and time will be limited, so I have a series of posts and re-posts for you all that are of mostly World Cup flavor that I found interesting.

I will be checking in and may find the time to post additional information, and certainly will find time to monitor comments from the existing posts (you guys are burning up the latest post on Webb). Also, as soon as the massref post comes out, I will link to it here too as that I am sure will get the juices flowing. Also, on my return I have permission to post the full and unedited versions here for your reading pleasure.

For those at the Veterans Cup, any updates from the fields are appreciated, and I am sure we will be hearing from JAFO, Nigel, and maybe a Kicking Back guest contributor that was just over in South Africa and is writing furiously about the sights, sounds, and politics of the World Cup. Stand by for that one, it looks good!

I wonder what Newton thought?

Well friends, now comes the hard work. Work where we take apart a match and see what we as referees could have done differently, or better.

As before I am not going to share an opinion here about how Webb did specifically. I will reserve this one for a piece I am writing side by side with a National coach that will be posted on www.massref.net in the days ahead breaking down the final (report here). Today, I will ask a simple question, with what I believe is a very complex answer.

Do the laws of physics change for matches like these? In other words is a foul in a "regular game" the same as a foul in a "big game"? Should these matches be called the same way?

Take the following example:
I was sitting in Fat Patty's last week with the whole Region I crew after a steamy week of matches. We were having lunch and watching the URU v. NED match (report here). At one point in time, a NED player bicycled a kick and cracked a URU player in the mouth. Almost immediately there were cries of "RED CARD", "SEND HIM OFF". In reply there were cries of "WHAT, ARE YOU KIDDING? THIS IS THE WORLD CUP".

Now here was a group of very experienced referees who saw the same incident and came to two very different conclusions. Some, wanted to apply the laws as they exist and deal with the player for what they did. Others saw the pageantry in the match and just assume let the player off with a caution. What is a referee to do?

I would opine this is an untenable position for a referee at times. While the referee is certainly charged with applying the Laws of the Game in Law 5, and is also impliedly charged with upholding the Spirit of the Game, where are referees charged with upholding the pageantry of the Game? When is a foul not a foul, or a misconduct not a misconduct for the entertainment value of the game?

Granted I am oversimplifying an extraordinarily complex answer at levels such as the World Cup. I do believe however these answers become simpler the further down the "food chain" the match is. Let me use it as a spring board to make a point about matches we do everyday.

With the incident above from the World Cup final, I believe Webb painted himself into an untenable corner. For those players in that match, the bar was set that the foul in the above picture was a caution. So anything up to and including repeat offenses of this foul would receive no more than a caution. I believe the players responded accordingly in this match.

Take the incident local now. Would you allow this as a caution? Why or why not? As a referee you must always be aware of what the "tone" or "level" the match is at. There is a line that you draw as referee that if players dance over it, action must be taken. Depending how far over the line they go, will dictate the response from the referee.

A minor incursion may provoke only a mild rebuke, a look, a quiet word. A more substantial one, an "ass chewing" or misconduct. Go way over the line, and you have little choice in the matter. As referee, YOU set where that line is and how to deal with folks who go over it. Note that the line can and does change from match to match, and can even change within a match depending on how things are going. Sometimes the players need the ball taken away ... sometimes they need the ball more.

Understand that the tools you have such as cautions and send offs give cues to the players as to where that line is, and what the "tone" of the match will be. Players are looking for these cues from you, just like you as referee are looking for cues from players. Work with the players to help them understand where your "line" is, and your match management will show well for it.

Do I believe the laws of physics change for matches such as the World Cup Final? Yes I do. But I also believe that all the way up to that point everyone did just fine with the Laws as they were meant to apply. For a match, this single match, to contort the Laws, and the person charged to apply them, certainly did defy physics. History should remind us however, as it did here, that funny results can occur if we defy the Laws of Nature, and the Game.

Looks like quite a party

Spain's World Cup victory parade, in pictures:
Full post is here, courtesy of the BBC.

HBS + World Cup == World Cup Leadership Lessons

Very interesting article here, courtesy of the Harvard Business School.
Kudos to Dennis McCarthy for tweeting this one.

Referees leap to Howard Webb's defence

Former Premier League referees have defended Howard Webb after criticism of his display during Spain's 1-0 World Cup final win over the Netherlands.

Webb booked 13 players and sent off Dutchman Johnny Heitinga in a fractious and incident-packed game on Sunday. ...

Full story here, courtesy of BBC Sport.

Let the post World Cup analysis begin: But first ...

So as the World Cup comes to a close, there will be weeks and months of analysis ahead, and we here will partake in such. But to start us off, I wanted to share a somewhat humorous analysis of The Game from what would appear to be "an American perspective".

It would see clear, as ambassadors of the game here in the US, we have a lot of work ahead of us.

Ladies and Gentlemen ... Howard Webb

Howard Melton Webb, born 14-JUL-1971, hails from Rotherham, South Yorkshire England. Web has been a referee since 1993 and a FIFA referee since 2005. His FIFA bio is here, and Wikipedia page is here.

Webb will be joined by Darren Cann and Mike Mullarkey as his assistants for the final. No information at the time of this writing is available for the alternate referee, or alternate assistant referee.

Howard Webb's father was a referee and it was he who made his son aware of a referee's course. Howard passed the course when he was 19 years old and started refereeing locally. He became a referee in the Northern Counties East League in 1996. In the year 2000 he was included on the National List of Football League referees. By then he was only 29 years old. Three years later he was selected as a Premiership referee. In 2005 at the age of 34 he received his FIFA badge.

Webb will be the first Englishman sine 1974 to preside over a World Cup final where Jack Taylor was the last who refereed the Dutch loss to West Germany.

Webb is also the youngest at 38 to referee a World Cup final in 72 years, the last being Pierre Capdeville. 

During this time he has accumulated quite a record of matches as noted here by WorldReferee.com. Also of note is his discipline record statistics listed below:

Year	Games	Total	per game	Total	per game
2000–01	26	58	2.23	1	0.04
2001–02	32	69	2.16	5	0.16
2002–03	39	145	3.72	4	0.10
2003–04	34	92	2.94	9	0.26
2004–05	34	100	2.94	2	0.06
2005–06	47	117	2.49	7	0.15
2006–07	43	151	3.51	9	0.21
2007–08	38	128	3.37	2	0.05
2008–09	40	132	3.30	6	0.15
2009-10	35	124	3.54	4	0.11
Overall	368	1116	3.03	49	0.13

Webb's style is seemingly one of presence and communication, not strict discipline. This would seem to be emphasised in a recent BBC interview where Howard notes that, "being a good referee all comes down to the way you manage people and how you communicate with them".

NED v. ESP will be a significant test of that style as he leads us into the closing match of this quadrennial festival.

A new way to predict the World Cup winner ... Toxoplasma Gondii?!?

This one goes into the "you have to be kidding" file. However, the little blue bug to my left has a correlation with winning at World Cups, and maybe some other notable things in history.

While not conclusive by any means, the following is a fun and provoking story (it can get kind of gross in spots too) that describes this little guy and all it may have to offer the sporting world in the future.

We shall see the result of the match itself, but Spain has a toxo rate of about 45% in its population, where Netherlands has a toxo rate of a whopping 80% at last count. If that is any indication it would bear out my prediction for the final of NED 2 - ESP 1.

Of course this is against the prediction made by Paul the Pyschic Octopus the other day, who chose Spain.

This interesting article worth reading is here, courtesy of Slate.com.

Your Referee for the 3rd Place Match - Benito Archundia

I must say I do like this assignment, but did hope Benito would be doing the final, not the 3rd place match. See his official bio here, and a pretty good Wikipedia article here.

Archundia with this match will have a total of (8) at World Cup Tournaments, making him the referee with the 3rd most matches in World Cup history.

An economist and lawyer by trade (a man after my own heart), he is a tremendously experienced referee as noted by his match experience shown here, courtesy of WorldReferee.com.

While (possibly incorrectly) seen as one of the "lenient" referees for only averaging less than (4) cautions per match, he certainly is no pushover. Statistics below are instructive.

Statistics

Totals:	Home	Away	Total
Penalties	7	4	11
Red	15	12	27
Yellow	162	186	348

Averages:	Home	Away	Total
Penalties	0.08	0.04	0.12
Red	0.17	0.13	0.30
Yellow	1.82	2.09	3.91

based on 89 international matches

He certainly is no stranger to controversy as noted by his dealing with the Canadian national team, and the two incidents that have occurred with them. These are detailed in the Wikipedia page above. I do have to say though while every referee has detractors from one point or another, Archundia has a set of particularly vitriolic fans as indicated by their facebook page: The Benito Archundia Hate Society | Facebook

I for one am excited about the appointment, and look forward to Archundia working this last match of his World Cup career with the flair and professionalism he has put into his whole career.

Arivaderchi Rosetti

I Did Not Quit Refereeing Because Of World Cup Mistake - Roberto Rosetti

World Cup referee Roberto Rosetti has blown the whistle on his career, but said his mistake during the Argentina - Mexico clash did not influence his decision.

Full story here, courtesy of Yahoo sports.

The World Wide Webb

World Cup 2010: England's Howard Webb to referee World Cup final

England will have a representative at the World Cup final after all with Fifa confirming that Howard Webb is to referee Sunday's showpiece event between Holland and Spain.

Some four years after English refereeing was ridiculed in the wake of Graham Poll awarding Josip Simunic three yellow cards in Croatia's 2-2 draw with Australia in Stuttgart, Webb will become the first official to oversee both the Champions League final and the World Cup final in the same season. The 38-year-old Yorkshireman, who is currently on a five-year break from South Yorkshire police where he serves as a sergeant, will be assisted by Darren Cann and Michael Mullarkey.

Full story here, courtesy of guardian.co.uk.

More details and a referee analysis coming soon.

No Vuvuzela for you!

Here today, gone tomorrow. While the debate rages on about if vuvuzelas should be allowed for the remainder of the World Cup, broadcasters have taken the matter into their own hands.

Earlier I shared (2) opinion pieces with you about why or why not the vuvuzela should be allowed at the remainder of the World Cup. For now however several broadcasters are filtering out the noise with specially designed filters, apparantly to the liking of their viewers.

Broadcasters Filtering out World Cup Vuvuzelas

By Scott Roxborough

June 17, 2010

COLOGNE, Germany (Hollywood Reporter) - Around the world, broadcasts of the football World Cup have been accompanied by the same, annoying drone ... of commentators complaining about the vuvuzelas.

The plastic horns are a traditional noisemaker in South African sports stadiums, local officials claim. But the sound of thousands of vuvuzelas honking has commentators, networks and audiences at home raising their voices in protest. ...

Complete story here courtesy of ABC news.

Be the duck

Have you ever watched a duck cross a pond? Looks pretty effortless, just seemingly calmly gliding across the water without a care in the world. We look across and sigh in satisfaction that all is at peace with the world. Calm, serene, relaxed. Look under the water however and it is a different story. Cranking, churning, hard working webbed feet are pounding away at the water getting away from that raccoon that just tried to eat it. Not so serene.

So what is the difference here?

One answer is fairly simple in that it is a matter of perception. If we see the calm, gliding duck we have a very relaxed feeling, the viewer feels relaxed by watching the duck glide by. If we turn the duck upside down (or look under the water), it is a whole different story. Frantic thrashing, splashing, chaos, and general discontent.

Think about refereeing, and how people (players, assessors, coaches, fans) will react when they watch you referee. Are you one who brings a feeling of serenity and calmness to a situation, or match. Are you one who raises the tempo or stirs things up? Trust me, as an assessor, I am looking at that.

Don't get me wrong, there is no one right answer, and the best do both, and other variations of temperament in between. There is a time for frenetic conduct, anger, comedy, sarcasm, and the host of other emotions that comprise the human experience. All I'm saying is to learn when to bring those out, and how to wrap the match in a sense of calm confidence is a very successful way to approach and conduct a match. Look at some of the best referees today (I'll let you pick), their calm, measured approach goes a long, long way. Particularly in the more difficult situations.

My thought ... be the duck.

Random observations from the Nederlands v Uruguay semi-final match

The pace to start this match was lightning fast! The tone was set by the first hard tackle, under 30 seconds into the match by Van Bommel against Pereira. And no foul called!

The combination of the orange and the sky blue uniforms did not work for me.

Even at high levels defenders put their hands up to indicate offside to the referee. Silly.

Did you notice the Uruguayans initial onslaught lasted exactly 15 minutes? You could see the team take a breather in unison almost as if the coach had sounded the whistle for a water break. The Dutch withstood the challenge and proceeded to come forward for the first time after that. Does any team in the world play one-touch soccer better than the Dutch?

And can you recall a more stunning goal than the one scored by Holland’s Van Bronckhorst in the 17th minute? With the possible exception of the answering blast by Forlan in the 40th! If there are anyone left still complaining about the ball, they must be goalkeepers.

I like The Dutch continuing to go forward even when leading by a goal in after 70 minutes. They deserved this win.

Who was this referee? Did anyone notice him for the first 80 minutes? Fantastic. Smiling deep into the second half, of a World Cup semi-final. Amazing. (By the way, his name is Irmatov from Uzbekistan.) A nice even game, with the one weak yellow card to Nederlands’ Boulahrouz in the 79th minute. 31 fouls in the game, and a nice flow throughout. This was a classic example of the players getting the game and the pace they wanted.

Day 6: Enjoy the experience

Back in 1994 the Regionals were held in New Jersey. It was that year I learned this lesson the hard way. A lesson that all these experiences with the youth game should be enjoyed, because they are not around forever.

It was that year I was fortunate enough to be selected for Youth Nationals. I remember it clearly, I was in some shock as I stood in the parking lot just after leaving the fields after being told. My dad was near by, he was assessing at the tournament and had taken some time to watch me that day to make sure I was behaving myself. He didn't know yet, or at least didn't let on he knew about me going to Youth Nationals.

I was just standing there watching a match from a distance and the SYRA came up and said, "Well, I guess that's it." I snapped out of my daze and said something to the effect of, "Just what are you talking about?"

"That's it. You're done with the youth game after Nationals. Time for you to move on." He pated me on the back and he and my dad walked off discussing if it would be okay for my dad to watch me in Minnesota.

I just stood there dumbfounded ... and started to cry.

That was it? All that time, all those friends and experiences ... done? Years of refereeing flashed in my head.

Yes. That was it. It was just about the end of my competitive youth refereeing career.

I barely took the time to take it all in along the way. One day I was refereeing 6 a side matches in Walpole when I was 12 years old ... the very next it seemed, I was on a flight to referee in the most prestigious youth tournament in the US for me. It was too much. I continued to choke back tears for a few minutes just watching that match from the parking lot. Trying to cope with having to let that part of my refereeing career go.

So why do I offer such a personal story?

Just as a thought.

Take the time to enjoy the ride. It does not last forever, and may just end sooner than you may like.

Day 5: Not everyone is a winner - deal with it

So as the tournament wears on, there are some things that will become more clear if they were not already. Not everyone finishes first. Now this comes in a number of different forms that the referee has to deal with. Here are some ways to consider:

Teams that do not qualify for a final.
There is an old axiom that the toughest match is the semi final. Well that is generally true. Some equally tough matches are those for a chance to get into a semi-final. Those can be brutal. So before you start ANY MATCH, look at the standings and understand what each team has to win ... or lose. This foresight can be invaluable as you prepare for a match.

Parents of players on teams that do not qualify for a final.
This is somewhat corollary from the above, but has its own flavor. Regionals are a place that college coaches come to watch promising young players, and those players that a parent has berated a coach into coming to watch. I've said it before, college is expensive, and any edge that can be had, a parent will look for. As with any match, determine who those stars may be and protect them. It may be their chance to shine in front of a college coach. This is not to say that they deserve special treatment, all players are equal. However things may get a little more animated than usual ... and this may be a reason why. Just a thought.

Not all referees will get a final.
This is an obvious, but sometimes painful fact of a tournament like this. It may leave a referee sitting on the touchline for the whole day of finals. It may leave whole teams of referees from the same state sitting on the touchline. It can hurt ... and as I have personally experienced, it does hurt. Especially when you thought it should have been you doing that U-19 final.

Now I can not even begin to explain what goes into assigning stuff like this, It is a real black art to me and one I just assume leave that way. It is more than ability, more that politics, more than luck. It is just the way it is and a referee has to be aware of that.

My thought is to support your compatriots or one who are going out there that day. They will appreciate the support and remember it forever. It is truly an event to be selected for a final at the regionals, and that referee carries everyone from the state with them. Show them your support.

Referees are generally competitive animals and it can sting when one is not first. Just remember that these referees that you may feel competition with one day, are your brothers and sisters for all time. These relationships you make, can last a lifetime and tranced the game and everything attached to it.

Embrace the competitive spirit, but remember the human element and support your friends when they need it most. They will in turn, do the same when your time comes ... to be first.

MA SYRA to tweet semi-final and final assignments live!

As those who follow us know, as the round robin matches are over, the real nail-biting begins for the referees as the assignment for semi-final and final assignments are coming out tonight and tomorrow.

Each can be seen as an acknowledgement of a "job well done" for those referees who are selected.

Follow the Massachusetts SYRA (State Youth Refreee Administrator) here to keep up to date on all the action.

Stay tuned, this are getting good as we come down to the wire.