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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Pipe down, conspiracy theorists.
If you want to argue FIFA is rigging the World Cup for Lionel Messi and Argentina, and some of you are hellbent on doing just that, you’re going to have to do better than this. The red card on Switzerland’s Breel Embolo was the right call.
Whether it happened in the second minute of the game or the 72nd, as it did Saturday, July 11, when Switzerland had started to make things interesting, you cannot do what Embolo did. Which was to flop as if he’d been shot, without Leandro Paredes even breathing on him, and then, for good measure, to kick at Paredes as he went to the ground.
Making it even dumber? Embolo was already playing on a yellow. You want to be reckless, do it on your own time. Not in a World Cup knockout game, and sure as hell not when a win would give Switzerland its first-ever spot in the semifinals.
It was gut-wrenching to watch Embolo leave the field sobbing. He had the wherewithal then to realize what he’d done, but it was too late. His mistake forced Switzerland to play with 10 men for the remainder of the game, which Argentina won 3-1 in overtime.
Argentina will play England on Wednesday, July 15, in Atlanta for a spot in the World Cup final.
Of course, because this is Argentina and because the refereeing at this tournament has been trash, there was no shortage of folks howling that Embolo's red card is just more proof of the fix being in for Messi and the Albiceleste.
Just because the president of the United States decided to act like a mob boss over Folarin Balogun’s red-card suspension for the round-of-16 game against Belgium — which went about as well as his fix of the reflecting pool — and FIFA’s moral code is as flexible as a rubber band, does not mean Argentina is being gifted a second consecutive World Cup title.
Sometimes what you think you see is nothing more than a mirage.
There have been bad calls in this tournament. Lots of them. The way VAR has been used is … confusing, and there really needs to be some thought after the tournament on whether FIFA wants to continue going down this road of letting referees in a windowless box make decisions they were never intended to.
But those things can be true without there being some underhanded reasons for the calls that have gone Argentina’s way.
Do star players and rockstar teams get the benefit of the doubt? Sure. But the number of people who'd have to be on the take, over this many games, to tilt a World Cup in Argentina's favor is simply non-sensical, and you need a leap the size of the Grand Canyon to make it make sense.
“With VAR and all these things, it’s very tough for them to help you,” Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni said. “After, social media — everything gets blown up and the debate starts. (But) it’s very hard to benefit anyone.”
And, in this case, there is no way to argue the officials should have let their original call stand.
Paredes, the Argentina midfielder, was originally given a yellow for a takedown from behind of Embolo. But Guillermo Pacheco, the VAR official, told referee João Pinheiro it was Embolo who deserved the yellow for diving. When you watch the replay, that's exactly what happened.
Call is reversed, yellow is given to Embolo. Because of his first yellow, he's given a red for accumulation and ejected from the game. It's cut and dried.
Quite frankly, an example of the way VAR is supposed to work. Correcting obvious errors without slowing down and picking apart game footage like amateur detectives. Because it's Argentina, however, and because Egypt's coach cried foul rather than acknowledge his team decided defense was optional in the last 15 minutes of regulation in their round-of-16 game, people are seeing things where there are none.
Bad calls happen in sports. Sometimes, though, the refs do get it right. This was one of those times.
If you'd take off the tinfoil hat, you'd see that.
Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Pipe down, conspiracy theorists. Red card to Switzerland was right call | Opinion
Continue reading...
If you want to argue FIFA is rigging the World Cup for Lionel Messi and Argentina, and some of you are hellbent on doing just that, you’re going to have to do better than this. The red card on Switzerland’s Breel Embolo was the right call.
Whether it happened in the second minute of the game or the 72nd, as it did Saturday, July 11, when Switzerland had started to make things interesting, you cannot do what Embolo did. Which was to flop as if he’d been shot, without Leandro Paredes even breathing on him, and then, for good measure, to kick at Paredes as he went to the ground.
Making it even dumber? Embolo was already playing on a yellow. You want to be reckless, do it on your own time. Not in a World Cup knockout game, and sure as hell not when a win would give Switzerland its first-ever spot in the semifinals.
It was gut-wrenching to watch Embolo leave the field sobbing. He had the wherewithal then to realize what he’d done, but it was too late. His mistake forced Switzerland to play with 10 men for the remainder of the game, which Argentina won 3-1 in overtime.
Argentina will play England on Wednesday, July 15, in Atlanta for a spot in the World Cup final.
Of course, because this is Argentina and because the refereeing at this tournament has been trash, there was no shortage of folks howling that Embolo's red card is just more proof of the fix being in for Messi and the Albiceleste.
Just because the president of the United States decided to act like a mob boss over Folarin Balogun’s red-card suspension for the round-of-16 game against Belgium — which went about as well as his fix of the reflecting pool — and FIFA’s moral code is as flexible as a rubber band, does not mean Argentina is being gifted a second consecutive World Cup title.
Sometimes what you think you see is nothing more than a mirage.
There have been bad calls in this tournament. Lots of them. The way VAR has been used is … confusing, and there really needs to be some thought after the tournament on whether FIFA wants to continue going down this road of letting referees in a windowless box make decisions they were never intended to.
But those things can be true without there being some underhanded reasons for the calls that have gone Argentina’s way.
Do star players and rockstar teams get the benefit of the doubt? Sure. But the number of people who'd have to be on the take, over this many games, to tilt a World Cup in Argentina's favor is simply non-sensical, and you need a leap the size of the Grand Canyon to make it make sense.
“With VAR and all these things, it’s very tough for them to help you,” Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni said. “After, social media — everything gets blown up and the debate starts. (But) it’s very hard to benefit anyone.”
And, in this case, there is no way to argue the officials should have let their original call stand.
Paredes, the Argentina midfielder, was originally given a yellow for a takedown from behind of Embolo. But Guillermo Pacheco, the VAR official, told referee João Pinheiro it was Embolo who deserved the yellow for diving. When you watch the replay, that's exactly what happened.
Call is reversed, yellow is given to Embolo. Because of his first yellow, he's given a red for accumulation and ejected from the game. It's cut and dried.
Quite frankly, an example of the way VAR is supposed to work. Correcting obvious errors without slowing down and picking apart game footage like amateur detectives. Because it's Argentina, however, and because Egypt's coach cried foul rather than acknowledge his team decided defense was optional in the last 15 minutes of regulation in their round-of-16 game, people are seeing things where there are none.
Bad calls happen in sports. Sometimes, though, the refs do get it right. This was one of those times.
If you'd take off the tinfoil hat, you'd see that.
Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Pipe down, conspiracy theorists. Red card to Switzerland was right call | Opinion
Continue reading...
