I think it's a good choice. He's been the most consistent referee so far. He pulls the cards when necessary, but doesn't distribute them like food stamps at a welfare convention. He doesn't fall for flopping and diving (which is why Portugal hated him in that game) and he calls a pretty even game.
The same guy who overrule the linesman on an offside call in the Swiss/Korea match. The same guy who missed two handballs in the box in the same game...okay I'll stop whining.
As for the Rooney red card, I thought it was excessive. The kick in the crotch did not look deliberate, and the shove on Ronaldo...it was not much, and Cristiano probably deserved it. ;-)
7 Maybe... but that was not the overrule you are talking about. I do not think that the ref overruled that decision. Either way, that is not the reason Korea did not make it to the next round. I blame Togo for giving up a lame goal at the end of their game against the Swiss.
10 First of all, let me say that, although I was sad to see Korea not make it to the round of 16, getting 4 points was not a bad result, considering the turmoil the team was in just 9 months prior. Also, Korea was lucky to have the goal not allowed in the France game, so I guess the luck evens out, sort of.
Having said all that, I still believe Elizondo made a bad call in the Korea-Swiss game.
1. He was not in the position to make an accurate call on onside/offside. He was like 15 yards behind the ball.
2. Given that he was not in the position to make the call on whether a player was onside or not, the only avenue he would have to overrule the linesman is if he belived that the Korean player "passed" the ball to Frei. That is a rather generous interpretation in favor of the Swiss. The Korean player just stuck his foot out and changed the course of the ball, which in my mind is still a deflection. An offside is still an offside, even if the ball is deflected off an defensive player, and this is clearly stated in the rules.
Of course, there is the missed Swiss handballs in the box. There were Swiss handballs in the box against the French that weren't called either.
There have been worse refs in the tourney, but I can't agree that Elizondo is the best.
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Having said all that, I still believe Elizondo made a bad call in the Korea-Swiss game.
1. He was not in the position to make an accurate call on onside/offside. He was like 15 yards behind the ball.
2. Given that he was not in the position to make the call on whether a player was onside or not, the only avenue he would have to overrule the linesman is if he belived that the Korean player "passed" the ball to Frei. That is a rather generous interpretation in favor of the Swiss. The Korean player just stuck his foot out and changed the course of the ball, which in my mind is still a deflection. An offside is still an offside, even if the ball is deflected off an defensive player, and this is clearly stated in the rules.
Of course, there is the missed Swiss handballs in the box. There were Swiss handballs in the box against the French that weren't called either.
There have been worse refs in the tourney, but I can't agree that Elizondo is the best.
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