The way to WC2014

The game

Until the goal was scored we had been watching a dull game dominated by Nigeria. Since the goal the level of play has improved and more goal-scoring opportunities were created. But although Burkina Faso tried hard, especially n the last ten minutes of the game, Nigeri were the worthy winners of the Africa Cup of Nations 2013.

Referee and ars

The refereeing team was comprised of three nationalities - Algiria, Morocco and Burundi. The referee, Mr. Haimoudi of Algiria, was very affable, and his smile and relaxed manner contributed a lot to the sportsmanship generally displayed by the both teams. In afew cases he didn't blow his whistle for fouls that should have been called, thus leading the culprits to take advantage. The most obvious case happened in the Burkina Faso penalty-area when their player, Kone, clearly pushed an opponent in a tussle for the ball. The ref certainly saw it from where he was positioned at the time, but decided not to award a crucial penalty-kick at 0-0 (34'). I support this quite sensible decision, and assume 90% of referees would have done just the same. On the othe hand, there were some incidents of sheer simulation which the ref fell for. It began with a very clear one, when Ideye of nigeria threw himself on the ground and got a free-kick in his favour. And then there was the "Pitroipa saga". Pitroipa (Burkina Faso), whose red-card for diving in the semi-final had been rescinded, has learnt the wrong lesson. Probably feeling immune from punishment, he threw himself to the ground whenever and wherever he found it beneficial for himself and his team. The referee sometimes ignored it, wisely playing on, but on a couple of occasions fell for it and awarded Burkina Faso undeserved free-kicks (57', 61'). But one should make it clear: Mr. Haimoudi demonstrated a lot of positives in addition to his smiles. The most important of them was the application of the advantage rule, culminating in the perfect decision to do so in the 40th minute, which led to the winning goal. The ars had their lapses. Mr. Burumushahu of Burundi was the more convincing between the two, and one can't make a final judgement about his questionable decisions, as there were no replays for them. Mr. Achik of Morocco made some offside/onside mistakes - most importantly, the crucial one in the 40th minute. The ref applied the advantage rule when one Nigerian was fouled, but the ball went to another one who was in a good position to lead their attack on. But alas, this player was offside when the ball left the fouled player's leg. Mr. Achik didn't raise his flag, play went on and ended in Nigeria scoring the sole goal of the match.

Moses vs. Pitroipa

I mentioned before the good spirits displayed throughout this encounter, and added the caveat about simulation performed especially by Pitroipa. But there was the positive side of the coin illuminated by Moses (Nigeria). During the attack which ended with the crucial goal, scord by Mba, Moses received the ball (from the player who mistakenly was not adjudged offside by Mr. Achik) inside the Burkina Faso penalty-area. Then Moses was clearly kicked from behind, He stumbled a bit but decided not to stretch himself on the ground (which, under the circumstances, would have resulted in a penalty-kick for his team), but rather regain his steadiness and hold on to the ball.