World Cup semi-final referee match reports for Rodriguez and Cakir

SEMI-FINAL 1, TUESDAY, JULY 8, GERMANY 7, BRAZIL 1

REFEREE: MARCO ANTONIO RODRIGUEZ

July 8, Match 61, Germany 7, Brazil 1: Brazil could have few gripes at the decisions by Rodriguez after their humiliating 7-1 semi-final defeat but their opponents Germany certainly could. The German’s concerns with the referee came not only for the harsh fouls by their opponents but for diving and simulation which instead of discipline was met with play on by the referee…With the focus on tactical fouling accusations by German coach Joachim Low ahead of the match, it was the Germans who instead started the match with three quick tactical fouls by Thomas Muller (9 mins) and Miroslav Klose (8 and 10 mins). The gamble paid off as no yellow cards were issued by Rodriguez on any of the fouls which thwarted Brazil’s counter-attack and Muller opened the scoring in the 11th minute. Germany then hammered home four goals in a six-minute span beginning in the 23rd minute on the way to a historical rout over their opponents…Rodriguez could easily be criticized by the victors for failing to hand out yellow cards to Brazil’s Marcelo, who in the 17th minute clearly took a blatant dive after little or no contact from Phillip Lahm and then again a comical attempt at drawing a penalty kick by Maicon on Jerome Boateng…From the opening minutes Rodriguez indicated he would be showing extreme restraint at issuing yellow cards for fouls as well after Dante’s late challenge on Muller in the 9th minute and then again just after the halftime break when he fouled Muller with a similar dangerous challenge… Dante finally earned the first and only yellow card of the match in the 68th minute for his late challenge on Muller…With Germany running up the score to 6-0, Brazil defender David Luiz was also lucky to escape a booking or possible ejection after a scuffle between he and Muller. After a challenge from behind by Muller, a frustrated Luiz turned at his opponent and took a wild swing at the ball in attempt to bean him. With the wild swing at the ball Luiz also nearly ended up clipping the striker in the knee with his outstretched cleat. It was a terrible reaction by Luiz and clearly illustrated his out-of-control reaction to the crushing defeat. This and other fouls by Brazil were cleary worth of a caution at minimum and the hosts were lucky to finish the match with 11 men. Yellow Cards: 1, Fouls: 24.

Rodriguez at World Cup 2014

Statistics

Red Cards: 2
Yellow Cards: 6
Fouls: 100

Previous matches

June 24, Match 37, Uruguay 1, Italy 0:  Rodriguez and his crew could easily be deemed negligent at their efforts to maintain order and missed several serious fouls in this must-win, physical confrontation for both teams…The turning point occurred in the 60th minute when Claudio Marchisio of Italy is shown a straight red card for his  knee-high studs up challenge on Egidio Arevalo Rios. Rodriguez immediately reached for the red card as television replays clearly show Marchisio is guilty of the foul….80th minute Rodriguez and his crew miss an apparent bite to the shoulder of Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini by Luis Suarez of Uruguay as the two players jostle for position. The alleged bite was caught by television cameras and Chiellini pulled down his shirt and pointed to his shoulder and showed an unsympathetic Rodriguez the teeth marks. The incident quickly became the talking point of the match and the tournament and Suarez, who has been suspended two previous times for the same offence, could be facing a tournament ban for this latest incident if FIFA decide to act….Uruguay could have just as easily seen a red card for repeat fouls on Chiellini. After first taking an 8th minute elbow to the head from Alvaro Gonzalez which was not spotted by Rodriguez, Chiellini is caught with a second shot to the head after Edinson Cavani delivered a forearm smash to the defender’s face in first half injury time. Rodriguez called this foul but missed others on the rugged defender…Italy withdrew star striker Mario Balotelli at halftime after he picked up a justified yellow card from Rodriguez for high-jumping over the top of opponent Martin Caceres in the 23rd minute and catching him in the head with his cleats…Rodriguez didn’t spot an earlier bookable offence on Balotelli in the 34th minute though when Uruguay defender Diego Godin clattered into the back of Balotelli and delivered an elbow to the striker’s head. Red Cards: 1, Yellow Cards: 4, Fouls: 38.

Match 15, June 17, Belgium 2, Algeria 1: Rodriguez came into the game with the reputation as a card-happy referee having handed out four red cards in his previous World Cup matches, but dispelled that notion and gave one of the top performances of the opening round…Correctly awarded a penalty kick and yellow card to Belgium’s Jan Vertonghen after he put his arms around forward Sofiane Feghouli in the penalty area. Feghouli stepped up and converted the penalty kick for the opening goal of the match…Rodriguez exhibited restraint after Belgium cried foul on Mehdi Mostefa’s challenge on Eden Hazard in the 51st minute but the referee correctly awarded the free kick and did not challenge Mostefa. Replays showed that Hazard was looking for the foul and embellished it…Could have shown Vertonghen his second yellow card of the match for his midfield challenge on Feghouli ten minutes later but correctly Rodriguez chose to only award a free kick.  Yellow Cards: 2, Fouls: 38

MARCO RODRIGUEZ PROFILE

Nationality: Mexico
Date of Birth: 10/11/1973

Linesmen: Marvin Torrentera, Mexico, 25/02/1971; Marcos Quintero Huitron, Mexico, 21/04/1973

Nicknamed ‘Chiquidracula’ because of his resemblance to the Mexican television version of a young Count Dracula, Rodriguez appears to feast on the emotions and tempers of inexperienced footballers…This card-happy official - who has handed out four red cards in all four of his World Cup matches ahead of Brazil 2014 - should be one of the most feared officials at this year’s tournament. Potty mouth and foul tempered players and coaches, you have been forewarned…At the 2010 World Cup he garnered headlines for his quick red card to Australian Tim Cahill…A former professor of sport. Outside of football, he is currently a protestant priest at a church outside of Mexico City….Last year he was at the centre of a highly public feud with Atlas coach Tomas Boy who called the referee a “liar” in a well-publicized dispute that helped further his reputation as a vigilante-style referee.

 

SEMI-FINAL 2, WEDNESDAY, JULY 9

ARGENTINA 0, NETHERLANDS 0 (ARGENTINA WINS 4-2 ON PENALTIES)

REFEREE: CUNEYT CAKIR

A strong effort by the referee from Turkey and his crew through 120 minutes with the only possible blackmark, some questions surrounding forward motion by Argentina goalkeeper Sergio Romero on two game-deciding penalty kick saves. It was a slow start to the match with three early fouls by the Netherlands and Argentina not registering its first foul until the 36th minute when Martin Dimichelis took a wicked swing to the shin guards of Netherlands’ Wesley Sneijder  …The match officials ran a fair first half and were quick to whistle down any fouls while calling an incredibly tight offside trap…With the correct amount of discipline shown, it took Cakir 44 minutes to issue his first caution of the match for repeat fouling by Bruno Martins Indi who also blatantly impeded the progress of Argentina striker Lionel Messi in the 38th minute as well…The play and fouls intensified towards the end of the opening half and after the break as both sides struggled to break the deadlock…Demichelis was issued a yellow card in the 49th minute for grabbing the arm of Arjen Robben, with the striker going to ground at the top Albicelestes’ penalty area…Holland appeared to dodge two cards with some harsh challenges midway through the second half which only resulted in free kicks from a very lenient Cakir. Daryl Janmaat was extremely lucky not to receive yellow or even a red card after losing control of the ball and sliding studs up into the knees of Argentina’s defender Lucas Biglia in the 61st minute. The wet conditions thoughout the match contributed to the force of the nasty collision which left Biglia on the ground for two minutes…Then 11 minutes later a clumsy challenge along the touchline by Netherlands defender Ron Vlaar could have easily led to a caution as well…As in all of the Netherlands matches at the tournament thus far, Arjen Robben continued to draw fouls for the slightest while grossly overemphasizing the physical contact against him. While his chronic unsportsmanlike behaviour went unpunished by Cakir on at least two occasions, Argentina resentment reached the boiling point in the 86th minute when Dimichelis became the target of an unconvincing ploy by Robben to draw a foul. As Demichelis cleared the ball for a corner kick, Robben then clattered into his opponent and fell to the ground drawing a scornful reaction from the defender and a visual appeal to Cakir for a yellow card…Cakir looked as if he had become fed up by Robben’s well-known antics in the 103rd minute when the slightest of touches by Pablo Zabaletta saw Robben overemphasize and the referee wave play on…Klaas Jan Huntelaar earned the Netherland’s second yellow and third card of the match just moments before the first extra time break for a late slide tackle on Maschereno 35 yards from the Dutch goal…On Holland’s first and third penalty kicks television replays showed Romero moved early, albeit only slightly, with in an illegal forward direction on both. Firstly Romero stopped Vlaar after making a subtle forward motion slightly before the ball was struck and then again he thwarted Wesley Sneijder with a unpunished two footed hop off of his line stopping his opponent. Yellow cards: 3, Fouls: 25.

Cakir at World Cup 2014

Totals

Red Cards: 0
Yellow Cards: 11
Fouls: 75

Previous matches

Match 16, June 17, Brazil 0, Mexico 0: It was Surprising we didn’t see more yellow cards and possibly red in this chippy match-up but Cakir stuck to the tone and trend of restraint so far at the tournament but maybe too much so…He did somehow manage to keep emotions from boiling over in this highly charged match…Dani Alves could have received yellow or worse from Cakir for his late tackle on Guardado in the 13th minute and a similar offence on Miguel Layun in the 36th minute could have been a bookable offence…Thiago’s Silva’s lunging two-footed challenge on Javier Hernandez could have easily seen Brazil reduced to ten men but Cakir decided only to produce  yellow…He closed the match by correctly denying a penalty kick to Brazil’s Marcelo in the 89th minute after he made a meal of a subtle tug on his shirt by Raul Jimenez. Yellow Cards: 4, Fouls: 21

June 26, Match 48, Algeria 1, Russia 1: Although supporters of Russia might be more critical of his efforts after a game-deciding free-kick call by Cakir in the 59th minute and some other blips and bloopers, the referee from Turkey had a competent outing in final Group H action…In the 28th minute one of the bigger blips occurs when Cakir accidentally (we hope) charged into Victor Fayzulin during an Ageria rush but thankfully his teammates intercept the ball…40th minute Djamel Mesbah holds back Alexander Kerhakov to earn the first yellow card of the match…Russia’s Dmitry Kombarov is also booked for impeding Sofiane Feghouli in the 57th minute…A yellow card to Russia’s Alexei Kozlov of Russia for a foul on Abdelmoumene Djabou which set up the tying goal by Slimani of Turkey on the resulting free kick. Russia protested the foul on Kozlov because Djabou could have easily been called for holding back Kozlov himself when a scuffle for the ball began. Later coach Capello would also protest to FIFA as a fan from the stands flashed a laser light in the eyes of goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev, but there was little or nothing Cakir could do about this…Cakir correctly denies Russia’s 66th minute penalty-kick appeal as the contact by Esseid Belkalem seemed minimal if any…Cakir closes out the match with two yellow cards. One was displayed to Russia’s Dmitry Kombarov for his late challenge on Nabil Ghilas in the 87th minute. The final one of the match went to the Algeria bench in injury time as unused substitute Liassine Cadauro went into Cakir’s notebook for dissent. Yellow Cards: 4, Fouls: 29

CUNEYT CAKIR PROFILE

Nationality: Turkey
Date of Birth: 23/11/1976

Linesmen: Bahattin Duran, Turkey, 26/09/1975; Tarik Ongun, Turkey, 03/02/1973

An experienced official known for letting play run, Cakir won’t stand any nonsense such as time wasting, verbal descent or unsportsmanlike conduct…Cakir drew the ire of Manchester United fans when he produced a red card against Nani for the midfielders’ studs-up, karate-style challenge to the ribs of Real Madrid midfielder Alvero Arbeloa in their Champions League quarter-final match in March 2013…Most observers - including former Irish international Roy Keane and RedCardTheRef - backed Cakir`s decision to send off Nani… An insurance broker by trade in his native Istanbul, Cakir began refereeing Turkish Super Lig matches in 2001 and became one of the nation’s first professional referees…Became a FIFA referee in 2006…Cakir was also responsible for the sending off of Chelsea captain John Terry in a 2012 Champions League match against Barcelona.

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