A yellow card for the referees
Germany and Spain go head-to-head on Sunday in the final of soccer’s European Championship, but there is one thing that both coaches, both teams and both sets of fans agree upon: referee Roberto Rosetti should not be deciding the game’s outcome.
If Rosetti can remain invisible, if he can officiate the match so that the winner is decided on the field by the skill of the players and not by the whistle of the Italian referee, then all will be well.
But as excellent a tournament as co-hosts Austria and Switzerland have staged, Euro 2008 has not been free of refereeing controversies.
There have been times when coaches have gone into total meltdown at game officials. Listen, for instance, to Austria Coach Josef Hickersberger’s scathing denunciation of the way he and Germany Coach Joachim “Jogi” Loew’s were simultaneously ejected by Spanish referee Manuel Mejuto for arguing with the fourth official:
“I have experienced a lot, but nothing like that -- normally I did something wrong, but this time around I don’t know. . . . There were no insults, neither from Jogi Loew nor from myself, toward the four gentlemen.
“But the gods in black have spoken and we need to heed their judgment. Of course, it is easier to send a trainer off the bench than to judge correctly on an offside or a foul.”
Mejuto defended his decision, saying: “Myself and the fourth official tried to avoid this decision to send them off, but we had no choice. It is not acceptable to raise your hands to the crowd, to try and raise the temperature of the game.”
Hickersberger was not alone in his criticism.
Sweden Coach Lars Lagerback lashed out at Dutch referee Pieter Vink for not calling a foul against Spain and thus allowing David Villa to score an injury-time winner against Sweden.
“It’s a bitter way to lose,” Lagerback said.
“I am standing 20 meters away from Markus Rosenburg being kicked and then Spain goes on and scores. I hope the referee is dealt with.”
Roberto Donadoni, coach of Italy before being let go this week, said Norwegian referee Tom Henning Ovrebo had made a “gross” error in ruling Luca Toni offside in the Italians’ game against Romania.
“I am not used to discussing a referee’s performance in detail but this was not his finest day,” Donadoni said.
Poland Coach Leo Beenhakker lashed out at English referee Howard Webb after Webb had awarded Austria a penalty kick in injury time that cost the Poles a victory.
“Since the tournament started I’ve seen wrestling at free kicks and corners and several divers but no yellow cards,” Beenhakker said, lambasting officials for their inconsistency.
“I’ve been 43 years in this business, I always accept referee’s decisions, but this is something I really can’t understand in relation to other situations.”
Polish fans were so upset that death threats were sent Webb’s way, and even Donald Tusk, Poland’s prime minister, said he felt as if he wanted to “kill” Webb.
“This criticism is nothing new,” Webb said. “You have to develop a thick skin. I gave what I saw on the day.”
Webb admitted he had erred in allowing Poland’s goal in the same match. “The Polish goal was offside,” he said. “We made a mistake. . . . We are not perfect.”
Neither is Sunday’s referee, Rosetti. The Swiss complained that he had ignored a hand ball by Czech defender Tomas Ujfalusi; the Greeks were angry that he disallowed them a late goal against Russia on a disputed offside call, and the Croatians claimed he had added too much injury time, allowing the Turks to tie them.
For his part, Rosetti, a 40-year-old hospital administrator from Turin, said referees make errors “in just the same way as strikers, defenders and goalkeepers.”
The Italian will make a bit of history Sunday by becoming the first official to referee the opening and final game of a European Championship.
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EURO 2008 FINAL
Who: Germany vs. Spain
When: Sunday, 11:30 a.m.
TV: Channel 7
