Saturday 16 June 2012

'Trifling' Condition At Corner Kick Leads To Goal

The following incident occurred during the Euro 2012 group match between Denmark and Portugal on 13 June 2012. The match finished 2—3. There were 4 YCs.

In the 24', a Portugal (white) corner kick results in the first goal of the match as Pepe heads the ball in. However, prior to the corner kick the ball does not appear to be placed "inside the corner arc". Here are the freeze frames:






Minutes later, there was another Portugal corner and the same player João Moutinho (white 8) placed the ball in the same 'controversial' place. He did this because he got away with it the first time and assumed (correctly) that Referee Craig Thomson would not check.





In a previous post (Corner Kick Offence Is A Symptom of Disrespectful Player Attitude), I asked the question: Why do players sneak a few centimetres from corner kicks?

One Answer: Because players go out there on the field of play with the unsporting and disrespectful attitude that every decision should be to their advantage with little reference to the play unfolding before them. If they can cheat their way into claiming a throw in or a corner kick, then this attitude logically lends itself to players sneaking a few centimetres at corner kicks even though, at the professional level, they do not gain any advantage from doing so. That's the disrespectful attitude of many players that match officials have to deal with all over the world.


The match officials were:
Referee: Craig Thomson (SCO)
Assistant referees: Alasdair Ross (SCO), Derek Rose (SCO)
Fourth official: Viktor Shvetsov (UKR)
Additional assistant referees: William Collum (SCO), Euan Norris (SCO)









2 comments:

  1. I agree, one has to consider how childish the behaviour of the player is. "Oh I am the best, managing to be 15 cm closer to the goal and the ref does not recognize it haha". Anyway, it perhaps touches the line, we cannot be sure..Thomson could have checked it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. It looks to me like part of the ball is above part of the line, and therefore is not an infraction, trifling or otherwise. To convince me otherwise I would need to see clear and convincing evidence.

    ReplyDelete