EPT
.Wtf was that game
Before I really go at it, here are the qualms I had from watching the game yesterday, in order from what made me grate my teeth most to least
- The Brazilian team's physicality
- The Spanish refusal to RUN
- Refereeing issues galore
- Oscar, Marcelo, and David Luiz in general
Brazil's physicality during the game was excessive. I don't mean like the normal, Oh-god-he-just-kicked-a-guy-in-the-leg-but-oh-well-just-let-the-play-go-on kind of physical, I mean ripping off shirts physical. From previous games, Brazil has become more and more physical. It peaked during this game. During the game vs. Uruguay, which Uruguay lost, Marcelo ripped Cavani's shirt. These aren't cotton shirts, Marcelo was holding Cavani so hard that he ripped Polyester mixed with a nylon and other wear-resistant materials. In this game the physicality became even worse. The game progressively got worse to the point where Iniesta picked up the ball, with his hands in the middle of a play, after Oscar and Paulinho had kicked him no less than 3 times a piece and not once touched the ball. That isn't yellow deserving the first time, but the 4th time in 30 minutes, it is. On defense Paulinho along with David Luiz and Marcelo slide tackled, but rarely to take the ball, opting rather to hit the Spanish player's legs; few of these ended in fouls for some reason. On the Offensive, I have less to complain about, except for Hulk. Hulk, especially when unable to complete a play, became excessively physical pulling down defenders by their shirt's collar, and generally fouling the Spanish Defense. This wouldn't be so bad if it didn't make the game hard to watch. I get that the Brazilian team outplayed the Spanish when it came to the tip-tap style of Spanish ball, but what I saw them do to outplay the Spanish team could have only occured inside of a Brazilian stadium. To quote Ian Darke, "It's a foul everywhere else in the world, it should be a foul here." The physicality of the Brazilian team made the game look more like Rugby than the "Beautiful Game."
The Spanish refusal to run made the game look like the Spanish were throwing it on purpose. Before Jesus Navas and "Dave" (I can't spell the defender's actual name, and apparently everyone just calls him Dave) were put in, the Spanish side looked like they had taken some kind of downer before the game. They just did not run. They refused to. I understand the tippy-tappy style of the Spanish offense, I understand that it is a slower, more methodical, style; that doesn't mean they don' ever run. Torres, someone who is known to have terrible stamina and usually gasp for breath late in the game, was never gasping for breath. The rest of the Spanish attack sluggishly walked down and back, and the defense was even worse about this, letting Fred, Neymar, and Paulinho waltz up and down the field; hell, Neymar sauntered back onsides without Arbeloa covering him for Fred's 2nd goal. It was awful to watch. I could kind of understand the demoralization, considering how much kicking was going on, and how much stuff the fans seemed to be throwing onto the field near the Spanis side, and the 1:32 goal by Fred which was technically a handball on Arbeloa in the first place.
The reffing issues are always something fans harp on, but in this case, there was a problem. The first problem was that the refs allowed the Brazilian crowd to pressure them. When Marcelo became physical and started pulling on Jordi Alba's shirt early in the game, it took Ramos and the Brazilian players to pull them apart, the refs did little to stop it. This wasn't because the refs didn't see what was happening, but because it seemd they were afraid to give Brazilian players yellows for anything. David Luiz, Marcelo, Oscar, Neymar, Hulk and Paulinho, all of those players deserved yellows at one point or another. The refs were pressured by the Brazilian stadium, the noise, everything it seemed. They didn't give out fouls in any way that could be seen as fair or equal. The instant red to Piqué probably shows this best. Piqué was given a straight up red for tripping Neymar, and while he certainly deserved a yellow for an unnecessary foul, his foul was in no way malicious, nor did it stop any kind of goal scoring opportunity considering the pass to Neymar was too high and long - it ended up in Iker Casillas's hands long before the fould was called. Several Brazilian players committed egregious fouls inside the box, but only one was called, and that was when Jesus Navas sold it pretty hard with a terrible looking dive. The failure on the side of the refs to call the game in a fair manner, or at least a balanced way where the players could get a sense of how to play to the ref's liking was an impossible task. For the refs not to give out more yellows than they did to the Brazilian side is inexcusable considering the fact that the ref told specific individuals on the Brazilian side, including Oscar, Paulinho and Marcelo no less than 2 times each to stop their physicality.
Last one. David Luiz, Marcelo, and Oscar. What do all of these players have in common? Is it their skill? Yes. Is it their Brazilian heritage? Yes. Is it the fact that each of these players committed enough fouls in one game that in any other stadium they would have bordered on red card level punishment? Yes. Earlier in the day, in Italy vs. Uruguay, Riccardo Montolivo received a red card for a tackle on Edinson Cavani. His tackle gave him a second yellow, thus giving him a red. Montolivo's tackle resembled the tackles and activities of the three players I just mentioned. I could add Gustavo or Silva, but that wouldn't add anything to the point. All of these players were not just excessively physical, they played maliciously at some points. Marcelo started a fight, David Luiz backed him up, Oscar was in the mix, and none of them received a card for hitting other players and grabbing shirts, which are generally malicious activities. Their tackles resembled Montolivo's in many cases, in their lateness and in their lack of ball, but unlike Montolivo, none of these players received cards or even fouls in many cases. Fouls that are fouls anywhere else in the world were no longer fouls in Brazil. Players like Neymar and Oscar running into the crowd, which is a yellow card by rule, did not get yellow cards; I realize that part is nitpicky, but that just shows how lenient the refs were to the Brazilian team. Each of the players I mentioned on the defense got an individual talking to, but none were punished at any point for continuing the same activities. It made the game ultimately hard to bear, and hard to watch.
Don't get me wrong, Brazil deserved to win that game, Spain played poorly, and I won't argue that either of those facts are true. However, the way the game was officiated, the way the Brazilian side played, and the atmosphere created made me not want to watch it. It paled in comparison to the third place match, which was an incredible game, well officiated most times, and clean enough that other than a little hissy fit by Diamanti, the game was easy to watch. The Brazil vs. Spain game really let me down because of these reasons, and I really hope none of these affect the World Cup in 2014, it would be a shame if they did.
