Velasco Carballo

charmless

Last week I saw Markus Strombergsson whom I found a little too nice, a ref who needed to be more reflike. Velasco Carballo however seems to be the opposite. He is severe right from the start, in complete control. We assume he will go far, but compared to the refs in the top - Busacca, De Bleeckere, Kassai and his predecessor Mejuto Gonzalez - he seems to lack a certain kind of charm.

penalty

I didn't agree with all his decisions (so what?) but Velasco Carballo is not the man to get in trouble with the players: he's in control. I agreed with the penalty though. A player who raises his arm to protect his face handles the ball alright. If that's allowed what is going to stop someone to jump up and do the same but a little higher?
But why did he cancel the first Twente penalty? There was a Spurs player who went into the box too fast but the ball went in anyway.

oops

40 year old goalie Sander Boschker has been a great one for Twente for I dont know how long. This year he finally had to make way for a younger guy but his coach wanted to show him respect by putting him on goal for what would be his first and only ever Champions League match. The first Spurs goal was one for the bloopers section on Youtube. Poor guy.