Conmebol Category 2 Referee on a Conmebol Category 1 Match
Lost
Lost is the only word I can describe Mr. Henrique's performance in the first half of this match. The game brought many situations to take easy and early control of the match, but Mr. Henrique missed them one by one as they happened. 10th min- Clear as day tactical foul on Corinthians defender #23, making himself big to stop Santos left wing back Juan from penatrating into Corinthians Penalty area. No foul called. Had Mr. Henrique been close enough to this play and read the defender's body language this match would have gone much smoother. 13th min- Corinthians forward tried to feint a penalty kick decision which Mr. Henrique did a great job not falling for it. Many officials would have fell for this act and a yellow card to me should have been shown. It would have set an early tone for no foolishness to a Brazilian clash where both teams tried countless times to feint the referee. 18th min- Santos play maker Ganso who just came off another knee surgery took a reckless tackle targeting his weak knee by Corinthians midfielder. Mr. Henrique did notice the foul thankfully but did not show a yellow card for a late challenge knee high in the middle of the field. 29th min- Late challenge from behind Corinthians #20 tackles Santos Neymar. Foul given again no yellow card shown, very simple stuff. Neymar recieves any where on average from 4-7 fouls a match, could have cut this out early but didn't. 34th min- Corinthians #4 fouls Santos Neymar carelessly and was shown a yellow card for a simple careless foul. Santos players started getting to Mr. henrique's head and he was tricked into showing a yellow card. 44th min- Due to miss reading the game, was way too far and missed a clear tactical, reckless, 100% misconduct foul on Santos midfielder #7 for taking down Corinthians forward Emerson just before he could enter the penalty area from a beautifuly put together counter attack. Simply awful...
Can't get any worse...
As Corinthians grabbed an away goal in the first half, they came out to hold on to the result in the second. This facilitated the match tremendously for Mr. Henrique. He no longer had to run up and down the field but focus on one half of the field and be prepared for the counter attacks. How ever it began the same way he left the first half before things got better. 52nd min- Clear as day tactical foul on Corinthians defender #3 for making himself big as Santos Neymar blew past him looking to enter penalty area. Mr. Henrique just wasn't reading the players body language and just simply missing important fouls which deserved cautions. Another no call.
Improvement
After the clear as day missed foul which should have resulted in a yellow card for Corinthians defender # 3 Mr. Henrique improved. Showed two appropiate yellow cards for Corinthians. One of them ended up being Corinthians forward Emerson second caution which lead to him being sent off. Kept the game flowing, didn't allow for Corinthians to waste too much time. Cautioned Corinthians goalie for wasting time afte he had previously been warned. 83rd minute when Santos was really making a push to tie the game the lights went out in the stadium. Good job staying focused through the 10 minutes and finishing the match strong. I believe how ever more time should have been added. However in the 106th minute Santos forward Alan clearly tried to feint Mr. Henrique for a foul in the penalty area but he was not having it. I understand he didn't call a feint in the first half for Corinthians forward, but that still does not make it ok for Santos to try to get away with it in the second. These situations need to be punished because they hurt the game and can influence a horrible decision that will hurt not only the referee but the out come of a match!
The Little Things
1) Time wasting- Corinthians came into this game looking to attack when possible but would take a 0-0 any day knowing the second leg match will be in their stadium. Mr Henrique delayed the match for 2 minutes in the first half to pick up a plastic water cup. 2) After showing Corinthians forward Emerson his second caution for a reckless foul on Santos Neymar, which lead to Emerson's dismissal of the match. It took 3 minutes to restart the match. Mass confrontation broke out where no one recieved a caution and Emerson walked as slow as possible off the field. At this level you must be able to clean this up. Mr. Henrique didn't know what to do but stand and watch. Not knowing he was wasting valuable time that Santos needed and kill game rhythm that effected Santos. To Mr. Henrique's defense he did a nice job managing time wasting late in the second half.
Ok Im Done
Obviously I was not pleased with Mr. Henrique's performance. After watching for the most part some pleasant officiating at the Euros, to come watch this was rough. This was one of the highest matches Conmebol has to offer, surprised a category 2 referee would blow the whistle.