Random Rants: World Cup Blog

Portugese, Dutch, with help of referee, put on an ugly show.

Chris Courtney

By Chris Courtney
SoccerTimes

BRUSSELS (Monday. June 26, 2006) -- After Saturday night's fine match between Argentina and Mexico, fans watching last night's second-round game between Portugal and the Netherlands were treated to something which bore more resemblance to a Worldwide Wrestling Entertainment presentation than World Cup soccer.

Soccer at this level has often been likened to a passion play, but last night's match was a tragedy in terms of sportsmanship. The passion play (emphasis on the word play) is supposed to be produced by athletes' skill and determination, not from diving, Hollywood acting and brutal fouls. With 16 yellow cards issued, leading to a record four players sent off -- two from each team -- this one ranks as the ugliest of the tournament.

There were as many high boots last night as the Rockettes at a Saturday night show. The most brutal was a challenge by Dutch defender Khalid Boulahrouz spiking Portuguese winger Cristiano Ronaldo on the right thigh, eventually knocking him out of the game, if not the tournament. After this particular foul, the Portuguese seemed bent on revenge, leading to a tit-for-tat between the teams.

While some fouls did deserve a booking, it really started to go downhill when Russian referee Valentin Ivanov started passing out yellow cards like a small-town sheriff trying to make his quota for writing tickets. As my colleague Bob Wagman discussed in his recent SoccerTimes column on Cup referees slavishly following world governing body FIFA's new guidelines for what constitutes a bookable offense, last night showed us the bizarre results. Once the players saw how easily Ivanov was booking players, the play acting started in earnest.

For those who love the beautiful game, this was a match one would not want to show to someone trying to decide if he or she wanted to start following the sport. Both teams lived out every bad cliché that soccer-skeptics like to trot out: too much diving and acting, plus the referee has too much influence on the outcome.

Whatever little respect I regained for Luis Figo since his temper tantrum in the Euro 2004 final, I lost it all last night in his disgusting display of poor sportsmanship: head butting Dutch player Mark Van Bommel when the referee's back was turned and later falling to the ground with his face in his hands after incidental contact from Boulahrouz. FIFA would do well to review his antics and ban him for the rest of the World Cup.

At one point, when the Portuguese had to kick the ball out of touch to allow an injured player to be tended to, the Dutch did not return the ball on the next throw-in (as is common practice), but kept possession -- a particularly unprofessional display of poor sportsmanship which could not make coach Marco Van Basten very proud.

The match turned into a free-for-all in the 72nd minute when a shoving match between both sides erupted over Dutch anger at Portuguese attempts to waste time (and hold onto their 1-0 lead). Portugal playmaker Deco will sit out his team's quarterfinal match against England after he rightfully earned two yellow cards -- one for a stupid challenge and the other for delaying the game. The hot-tempered Barcelona midfielder was a real offensive spark for Portugal last night and his loss leaves his side much weaker against England's stout defense.

The statistics of last night's match tell an interesting tale -- basically a foul equaled a booking. Portugal was called for 10 fouls and two handballs, resulting in 11 bookings (nine yellow and two red cards). At the same time, the Netherlands was whistled for 15 fouls and three handballs resulting in a total of nine bookings (seven yellow and two red cards). In total, the match had 25 fouls and five handballs with 12 players booked a total of 20 times, four of them ejected for their second yellow cards.

Just to show how much the new FIFA guidelines to referees have perverted the game, let's compare this match with a similar physical match in the 2002 World Cup -- the first-round match between Italy and Croatia. In that match, a total of 43 fouls and one handball were called between the two teams. And how many cards were given at this match four years ago? While watching this year's competition, one might be forgiven for guessing somewhere between 15 and 24. The grand total? Two -- one red and one yellow. Last night, Ivanov's interpretation of FIFA's new guidelines put the game into the Twilight Zone.

By making referees call the game so tightly, it opens the door for the cynical and unsportsmanlike play actors to take over the match, instead of those who make magic with their feet (and heads). If FIFA wants to prevent this World Cup from degenerating into a farce, it would do well to meet with the referees again before the quarterfinals start on Friday and revert to the accepted rules and norms that served the game so well up to this summer. If FIFA needs more convincing, it should review a video of last night's game and ask itself if this is how it wants the world to see (what should be) the beautiful game.

Chris Courtney is SoccerTimes European correspondent and lives in Brussels. In Germany covering the World Cup, he returned home for a day to do his laundry.

Do you have a comment on this story or something to say about soccer in general? Send us a letter.