Referee rulings were a headache for FIFA at the 2002 Japan/Korea World Cup, especially as they turned out to be particularly local, especially in the case of South Korea. It is that the host team received a big hand from the referees in the duels against Portugal, in the group stage, Italy, in the round of 16, and Spain, for the quarterfinals, which aroused many suspicions.
Attention began to arouse in the penultimate game of Zone D, when Hiddink’s team secured first place by beating Portugal 1-0. That day, the Argentine Ángel Sánchez expelled two Portuguese players (Joao Pinto and Beto) when they were still tied without goals. The general agreement was that these red cards were deserved and the issue did not escalate.
Spain fell to the locals in the quarterfinals Getty Images
However, the theme picked up steam again in the first round of direct elimination, when the Asians beat Italy 2-1 in extra time. The Ecuadorian Byron Moreno interrupted a legitimate scoring play by the Azzurri offside that ended in a goal (Tommasi ended up pushing the ball into the goal and was not ahead) and sent Francesco Totti off for diving into the area in a move that was at least debatable . The Italians say it could have been a penalty, and it is possible. What is certain is that -whether it was a foul or not- the man from Roma did not fake the fall that cost him the second yellow card. In addition, the referee awarded a penalty for Korea, which was saved by Buffon, although it was undoubtedly well charged.
Precisely Italy was the nation most affected by the referees, since they annulled five goals in three games, including two absolutely legal against Croatia, for the group stage, one of them on time, in a game that ended up losing. Englishman Graham Poll, at the behest of Danish assistant Jens Larsen, was wrong on both decisions. First he drowned out Vieri’s scream (because he considered that he was in an irregular position) and, towards the end, Matterazzi, for an alleged foul by Filippo Inzaghi on Simic.
Trappatoni’s men were also deprived of a legitimate goal in the 1-1 draw against Mexico, when the Brazilian Carlos Simón charged Filippo Inzaghi with a nonexistent offside, who ended up scoring a goal for the Europeans.
However, the most controversial performance was undoubtedly that of the Egyptian judge Gamal Ghandour, who in the game that South Korea beat Spain on penalties to reach the first World Cup semifinal in its history, canceled two legitimate goals against Spain: one in regulation time and the other in extra time.
After 50 minutes of play, Ruben Baraja had scored the first goal for the Iberians after a cross that came from a free kick, but the referee decided that he had committed a non-existent foul before heading into the net. Five minutes had passed into extra time when the judge whistled again for a Spanish goal: a cross from Joaquín, a header from Morientes and a whistle that indicated that the ball had gone over the baseline before heading towards the area. It was a scandal that the Spanish will hardly forget.
2 Related
The list goes on with some less resonant facts. Two rulings that favored Brazil against Turkey, for example: in the first round, they charged a penalty when the foul had been outside the area and Unsal was sent off for hitting Rivaldo with a ball, who pretended that the ball had hit him in the face when it hit him in the knee. The champions also benefited in the 2-0 against Belgium, they did not validate a goal from Wilmots when they were still tied.
In the United States 2-0 Mexico, the Portuguese Vitor Pereira Melo did not sanction a penalty for the Mexicans, after a handball by John O’Brien, when the game was 1-0 in favor of the winners. And in Germany 1-0 United States, the Scotsman Hugh Dallas did not charge at 4 minutes of the second stage, a clear hand from Frings on the goal line, which prevented Berhalter’s shot from becoming the North American equalizer .
Just a review of some decisions that will remain in the collective memory. And that left a World Cup marked with more arbitration doubts than certainties.