Now that I finished refereeing the South America vs. Mexico game with my fantastic crew and the game ended in a 1-1 tie, I had little time to rest because FIFA said you guys were so great, we need you to ref the highly anticipated U.S. vs. England match.
"Wow!" I said, then I followed, who do you want as the center referee? They said me! I was so excited. I told myself inside, this can't be possible. This is just an incredible dream! Don't pinch me, I don't want to wake up. Every referee gets the adrenalin rush when they get a great assignment but I felt it odd, that they would allow me to ref the game given I'm a U.S. Citizen. Normally FIFA (the International Football Federation that organizes the tournament)does not allow a referee to officiate a World Cup game if he's a citizen of one of the countries playing. This is done to avoid any potential conflict of interest and avoid protest.
FIFA allowed me to ref because they were also impressed in watching me the way I was sprinting up and down the field when Trinidad & Tobago played the U.S. in a qualifying match in Nashville, TN. That's the picture you see above. And do you see that little guy in the lower right hand corner of the still photo? Guess Who's that?
Though the US and England game ended 1-1, I should have anticipated more how physical the game was going to be. I felt I had a great pre-game discussion with my team. Wayne was my AR-1 (Assistant Referee 1), Bryan was my AR-2, Anthony was going to be the 4th official. Wayne replaced Jeff who twisted his ankle in the parking lot and it became very swollen. Bad luck for him. I decided let's where our red referee colored Jerseys.
Like I said, I wish the game wasn't as physical as it was, but it seemed none of the players complained after the game, so it was in my opinion a successful match of officiating. I did feel really bad when England's forward Emile Heskey slid and collided with USA's goalkeeper Tim Howard. I mean Heskey's foot cleats up slid on the grown striking Howard full force into his sternum. I immediately blew the whistle realizing how hurt he was, but also realized it was a 50-50 ball, meaning both players made a play for the ball and neither were in possession to get there before the other. Some say, why didn't I call dangerous play because Heskey's cleats were up and award the US an indirect free kick? I decided in a split second that was not the case and I wouldn't have changed my mind if the same thing happened again.
The cards I issued for the tactical fouls such as when the US's Findley placed his foot right on the ankle of his English opponent clearly causing apparent severe pain deserved a yellow card(caution). Findley received it for unsporting behavior. Sort of like a penalty in American Football when an NFL ref calls unsportsmanlike conduct. I just wished I had given more cards earlier on during the game because it was so intense later on the game. The TV cameras just couldn't pick up the energy and intensity on the field the way my referee team was feeling. It was obvious, neither team wanted to lose or back down. I had to call a couple charging, trip pings and of course the ever so popular offsides.
I still remember when Clint Dempsey took that shot at England's goalkeeper Robert Green, I said to myself okay, routine shot on goal, keeper will collect it and then get it out, but when the ball rolled off his hands and behind him, I quickly glanced at Wayne. He was running into position, ran to the end line and then sprinted 10 yards up the touch line, which was his way to communicate with me that the goal was good as we discussed during pre-game warm up.
Now that the game was 1-1, I told the entire crew,let's tighten it up. The game is about to get real intense. Even Anthony was busier than normal because one of the English defenders caught a bloody nose and I told him to leave the field. He kept giving me lip like, "What? What?" I said you have blood on your lip take care of it and then see my AR before I allow you back in. Because I wanted the game to quickly continue, I told Anthony, who was my fouth official to come around and take this player away, so I can the game rolling again.
I did get a big kick when I blew the whistle before one corner kick and told both teams to stop shoving each in the penalty area before the corner kick. They did not want to risk either a penalty kick or yellow card caution on an attacker.
Also what was challenging to see was the shirt pulling like what Michael Bradley did during a corner kick that television replays kept showing. Sometimes, I hate our technology of replays being shown over and over again, but oh well, that's life!
Anyhow I will do a better job of watching for when the defenders pull on the attackers shorts, or when the attackers are fouled by the midfielders from the opposing team.
All in all, we did a great job! "Daddy, Daddy, are you dreaming again! Please wake up, wake up and tell me a bed time story! "It's time to go to bed!"
No comments:
Post a Comment