One week after Kassai (and Barca-ManU)

The contest

Bad and bumpy pitch, mediocre players, but a game eagerly contested, as Israel had what to play for - places 1-2 in the group - and Latvia wanted to prove something to the home crowd who pushed them forward. Israel dominated the first half, leading 2-0 at the end of it. In the second half Latvia asserted themselves, scored a goal after about a quarter of an hour, and in the last 15 minutes or so, tried very hard to get an equaliser. But to no avail.

Referee and assistants

As for Mr. Kelly, there were a first quarter, in which he was unnoticed (very good!), a dubious second quarter, and a great second half. The problematic second quarter started a minute before the end of the first one, when the ref robbed Israel by not letting them use a clear and easy to detect advantage. Then there were some cases where the whistle was not blown for clear fouls, and the assistants accumulated the untidy spell for the refereeing team with some questionable decisions regarding throw-ins and offside calls. The bad spell culminated in minute 42' when the referee awarded Israel withe a penalty, which more a result of a fine act at diving than a reckless foul. And the outcome: Israel 2- Latvia 0, at half-time. The marvellous second actually started with the appropriate use of the advantage rule seconds before the end of the first half. Then, in minutes 56' and 70' the advantage given to Israel in both cases proved evn a higher quality of understanding the spirit of the game. The penalty awarded to Latvia was also a correct decision - a well detected Israeli deliberate hand-ball. The assistant-referees, Mr. McGrath and Mr. Douglas gave decent assistance to Mr. Kelly, though their downs were just at the time Mr. Kelly was not at his best, thus not helping when he most needed a "rescue team".