Four To Go

Three decent contests and a sleeper.  Since I was rooting for Morocco, Belgium, England and Switzerland, can't say the results were what I was looking for but it was entertaining.  Don't really have a lot to say, except for the "mistaken identity" kerfluffle. 

Don't Cry For Me, Argentina

It was going along swimmingly.  Switzerland had leveled the match with Argentina at 1-1 and we were set for an exciting final 20+ minutes to the quarterfinal.  Then Breel Embolo committed a brain cramp, which you can see here (I think it shows Embolo's first yellow too).  This one requires some unpacking and you will see media coverage suggesting the Swiss were hard done by this play.  Don't believe a word of it.

Get Breel: This was a dive of the worst kind
Photo: Ashley Landis, AP

The call on the field was a foul by Argentina's Paredes on Swiss striker Embolo.  This was a reckless foul in the judgment of referee Pinheiro so Paredes was shown the yellow card.  The VAR got in the ear of Pinheiro to suggest he might have shown the wrong player the yellow card.  This type of review is specifically allowed under the revision to the "mistaken identity" section of the VAR rules.  When you look at the replay, you see it was a flat out dive by Embolo with no contact from Paredes.  As was the case with Ream and Almiron in the US-Paraguay match, the yellow for Paredes was rescinded and Embolo was booked for simulation.  Unfortuntately for Embolo, he already had a yellow in this match - ironically for a reckless challenge on Paredes.  So, Embolo was sent off and the match lost its competitiveness.  The Swiss held on through regulation and the first half of added extra time but eventually Argentina broke through for two goals and a 3-1 win.

Some very sloppy wording from various publications about the incident.  Some of the headlines read that Embolo was sent off for diving.  No, he was ejected for collecting two yellow cards in the same match.  Nor was this was a "novel application" of the mistaken identity section of the VAR as suggested by The Guardian (who should know better).   It was a correct use of the revised language in the LOTG that allows the mistaken identity clause to apply to players from either side, and as noted above, the provision had already been applied in this World Cup. 

I was further surprised that all the TV analysts felt some sympathy for Embolo, suggesting this was a harsh call.  Unlucky maybe but harsh?  Mark Clattenburg basically admitted that he would not show a second yellow to a player for a dive like that.  Well, what kind of dive would it take for you to show a second yellow?  

But the Swiss coach and players reaction took the cake for me. They need to STFU.  Their defense was, um, novel?  They felt the problem was that Pinheiro never should have shown the yellow to Paredes.  If he hadn't done that, the play would not have been reviewable.  Let me get this right, the ref effed up by doing what you would have wanted had it been a real foul.  That's really rich because the reason Paredes got the yellow was that Embolo's acting job was so good that Pinheiro, who had moved upfield by the time this happened, was convinced it was a reckless challenge.  Sorry, for me Embolo messed up big time and he and his team paid dearly for it.  Side note, had the call been made correctly on the field, what would have been the result?  Right, yellow for simulation and ejection for two yellow cards.

This vilifying of VAR and the rules is nuts.  I'm thrilled that somebody really paid the price for a bullshit dive.  Two guys got nailed so far in the World Cup with this added VAR provision and I hope the pro leagues catch on that it's a great way to penalize players for this kind of shithousery.

Hair Is Thicker Than Wire?

The England - Norway match had two flash points that I can remember.  One was Norway having a goal chalked off based on a "foul" by Haaland before a corner kick was taken.  You can see the play here.  I put the word foul in quotes, not because I disagree with the call but because, technically, there can't be a foul when the ball is not in play.  However, another new VAR provision introduced by IFAB allows for the referee to require the kick to be retaken if there is a "foul."  The press release explaining the change says:

The IFAB has approved a clarification to the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) protocol for use at the 2026 FIFA World Cup regarding clear offences committed by the attacking team before the ball is in play at a corner kick or free kick that have a direct impact on a goal, penalty kick, or disciplinary sanction.

If the offence meets the criteria set out in the clarification, the VAR will recommend an on-field review, following which, if the referee determines that an offence occurred before the ball was in play, the appropriate disciplinary action will be taken and the corner kick or free kick will be retaken.

You can argue whether Haaland's action was "an offence" but for me he had momentum and both arms extended so I thought the retake was appropriate.

What to do about the other incident?  Nyland, the Norwegian keeper took a goal that ended up at the feet of England's Elliott Anderson, who started a play that ended with Jude Bellingham getting a goal.  You can sort of see the play here (it's possible the link will be taken down by FIFA before you see it as I've seen it happen at several other sites). The Norwegian claim is that the ball hit a guide wire and came straight down to Anderson.

Ball don't lie?

I didn't spend much time trying to find more video.  On the web some claim it obviously hit the wire while others are less convinced.  There was no review at the time, though it would have been a reviewable incident.  In my referee training class, we were taught not to follow the flight of the ball on high kicks but to focus our attention at the likely landing spot as that's where fouls might occur.  Without better video, I'm not sure where VAR ends up with this.  It probably would have come down to whether the sensor in the ball noted any contact.  As you can see from the video clip above, the sensor did not record any contact until Anderson touched it.  Given that the sensor picked up when the ball hit the Croatian player's hair, one would conclude there was no contact.  Either that or there was a failure of the sensor at that exact moment.  I'm not even going to get into the conspiracy theories that FIFA delayed the release of the sensor tracking until they could doctor it.   At least the Norwegians were more restrained in their post match interviews than the Swiss.

Football Is Life!

Dani Rojas (football is life), I mean Cristo Fernandez made his USL debut Saturday night.  He plays for the El Paso Locomotive FC and came in as a late substitute against New Mexico United.  Details are here.  Fernandez didn't have quite the success he enjoyed at AFC Richmond for Ted Lasso.  At least, as the NYT notes, no dogs were hurt in his appearance.  

Several have noted that despite the expanded format and the thrills and spills to this point, the top four sides have made it to the semi-finals.  We'll be rooting for Spain over France (3 pm Tuesday) and England over Argentina (3 pm Wednesday).