Nice guy, mediocre referee

It is all about foul-detection and card-policy

So, there is no question of "control". For me, usually there is no question of "neutrality" either (and certainly not in this case). I also liked Mr. Studer`s style, the way he demonstrates "advantage" and his efforts to sort things out by some quiet words. Problems arise when one has to assess the issue of foul-detection and the kind of personal punishment attached. Though it wasn`t a too difficult contest, there were some questionable decisions and a few chains of errors.

Chains of errors

Mr. Studer performed some pretty "advantages" which indicated his understanding of the game (the best use of the advantage rule came in the 34th minute of the second half when the ref waited quite a while after a foul on a French player had been committed, until one of his colleagues retrieved the ball). On the other hand the opposite happened in the 21st minute of the first half: A spanish player made a clean tackle. Nevertheless, had the ref thought otherwise, he should have kept his whistle silenced as a French player seized the ball and started dribbling. Unfortunately, the whistle went, the advantage was destroyed and the French had to backpedal to the spot where the free-kick had to be taken from. In the second half there were two other chains of errors: In the 20th minute of this half, Bakambu of France took the legs of an opponent. The Spaniard fell down and the ball got stuck close to his body or underneath it. The French player tried to get thball by hook or by crook, kicking the Spaniard who was on the ground. Mr. Studer, very close to the incident6, after he had whistled for the initial foul, called both players aside, had a few words with them. Thus Bakambu got away with no booking. In the 44th minute of the second half, when the scoreline was in France`s favour, the Spanish team were desperate to get a second goal. When a French player tackled cleanly a Spaniard in mid-field, his opponent, obviously nervous retaliated aggressively. Mr. Studer who was very close, in center-circle, turned away when the ball was kicked by the French player, bending a bit not to be hit by the ball. He sensed something fishy going on and turned back, quite obviously, after the act of retaliation had taken place. Then he called the two players aside, this time flashing the yellow card to both of them, and as if to excuse the caution given to the French defender (Faure), play was resumed by the Spanish team taking a free-kick the ref had decided belatedly to award for Faure`s "foul". Mr

The game of football

At the beginning, the French team seemed to be overwhelmed by the big occasion and the huge home crowd. The Spanish dominated completely the first half and should have reached half-time with more then just one goal in their favour, but they didn`t achieve more goals, and had to pay dearly at the end for the lack of scoring ability. Less than three minutes into the second half (and after squandered another chance to ger on the score-sheet), France equalised with their first shot on goal. Then the pattern of the contest changed completely, France gaining the driver`s seat, almost eliminating Spain, and scoring a second goal at a crucial moment, 40 minutes into the second half.