Who are they and what controversial background do the referees have for the final date of the 2022 Qualifiers

After a long and exciting process, the South American Qualifiers They come to an end this Tuesday, March 29 with exciting matches. Although the four direct quotas have already been defined Qatar 2022, it is still necessary to determine which team will access the intercontinental repechage, the last chance to qualify for the World Cup. For now, Peru He remains in fifth place and depends on himself to establish himself in that privileged place. But you can’t rely on it, because Colombia and Chile are waiting for the ‘Blanquirroja’ to stumble against Paraguay. Now, with the controversies on the surface, even more so at this decisive moment, it is necessary to make a brief profile of the five referees who will direct the final date of this qualifier.

Fernando Rapallini (Peru vs. Paraguay)

The person in charge of imparting justice in Peru vs. Paraguay will be He has directed several important meetings, mainly in his country. He has experience coaching in continental competitions at the club level such as the Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana, and also at the national team level such as the Copa América and the Eurocopa.

Two years later, the Argentine became the first South American referee he directed at the European Championshiphaving taken charge of the match between North Macedonia and Ukraine.

However, Rapallini has not been able to escape the controversy in some specific meetings. For example, in the 3-3 draw between Boca Juniors and Huracán in 2018, Fernando Gago accused him of mistreatment of xeneizes players. “He is fooling us, that we do time, that we are bad, that we are outside”said the ex-flyer annoyed.

Fernando Rapallini is also remembered for the massive expulsion (eight players) in the Porto de Alegre classic between Gremio vs. Inter in 2020, a duel that he did not know how to control. Likewise, last year he was criticized for awarding a controversial penalty and for an alleged attack that he did not see in the quarterfinals of the Libertadores between Olimpia and Flamengo.

It should be noted that, at the beginning of 2020, the Argentine judge was suspended for a month by the AFA, due to the repetition of errors made in the drafting of reports. Rapallini acknowledged that he did not prepare the reports, but he did approve them without prior review, which led to unjustified sanctions against players from the gaucho league, which were later revoked.

Watch out for VAR

Meanwhile, you also have to see the VAR room. It will be in charge of the Argentine Mauro Vigliano, who last year was sanctioned with a date for charging a penalty, being a field referee, who defined the classic for Racing against Independiente in the Argentine league.

While, . Mauro was in charge of the VAR in a controversial decision in the match between Olimpia and Flamengo for the Copa Libertadores. In the 52nd minute of the game, Rapallini got a second yellow card and sent off Filipe Luiz (Flamengo), but Vigliano called Rapallini to review the VAR for an earlier penalty play in favor of Flamengo, minutes before the expulsion.

Rapallini went to the monitor and determined to go back the entire play to collect a penalty in favor of Flamengo. He annulled the red to Filipe Luiz, since this play was after the penalty, and charged the foul for the Brazilians.

Wilton Sampaio (Venezuela vs Colombia)

The person in charge of directing the momentous match between Venezuela vs. Colombia is The 40-year-old Brazilian referee has extensive experience directing soccer in his native country. In addition, his history includes meetings of important tournaments such as the Copa Libertadores, Sudamericana, Copa América and the Club World Cup.

In the Qualifiers, Sampaio directed a total of 11 matchesin which he showed 46 yellow cards and four direct red cards.

As for his most striking controversies, the Brazilian is remembered for a questionable performance in the 2019 Copa Libertadores semifinal between Boca Juniors and River Plate, where he charged many non-existent fouls in favor of the ‘Xeneizes’. This triggered the annoyance of Marcelo Gallardo who described the referee’s action as “regrettable”.

Likewise, in Brazilian football he also has a controversial history, such as when he was in charge of the VAR in the final of the Copa do Brasil 2018 between Corinthians and Cruzeiro. Sampaio recommended that the main judge review a non-existent penalty, in addition to disallowing a goal due to a slight scratch. Criticism pointed to him after that vital meeting.

At the national team level, he has also had problems. In the Copa América 2019, after the one-goal tie between Paraguay and Argentina, the Paraguayan Football Association (APF) filed a formal complaint about the Brazilian’s arbitration. “We are going to make ourselves aware of the plays that we believe were not well charged and we are going to send it to Conmebol”declared Vice President Javier Díaz de Vivar.

Patricio Loustau (Chile vs. Uruguay)

He has a long history directing Argentine soccer matches, especially in the Superclásico between Boca and River. In fact, the ‘Millionaire’ has never been happy with his arbitration due to the constant arbitration rulings against him in games of this magnitude.

Now, Loustau has directed 44 games in Libertadores and 21 in Sudamericana. While in Copa América, he has been in charge of seven games.

He was in charge of five matches for Chile, who won three and lost two of them. It is necessary to remember that Arturo Vidal already exposed his discomfort previously with the Argentine referee after his performance in the quarterfinals of the Copa América 2021, where ‘La Roja’ was eliminated at the hands of Brazil.

“In a match like this you need a referee who wears pants, who is fair and doesn’t want to be the clown of the match. If there’s a referee who won’t let you play, who stops the game all the time, and thinks he’s the star of the show, then it’s very difficult.”expressed the Chilean midfielder at the time, which cost him a fine of 15 thousand dollars.

For its part, yes, one of the triumphs of the “Celeste” was highly questioned from the Peruvian environment.

The day that Peru traveled to fight to maintain its World Cup hopes at the Centenario Stadium in 2013 is still not forgotten. Patricio Loustau tilted the field in favor of the Uruguayans, who won 2-1: an elbow against Paolo Guerrero was not sanctioned with any card, Yoshimar Yotún was expelled for throwing the ball at a rival, charged a penalty invented by Luis Suárez and several arbitration decisions drove the ‘Blanquirroja’ crazy.

Eber Aquino (Bolivia vs Brazil)

Eber Aquinasin charge of imparting justice in Bolivia vs. Brazil, in addition to directing soccer in his country, is backed by his experience of 38 games between Copa Libertadores and Sudamericana.

Precisely, the selection that has witnessed his arbitration the most has been boliviawith three games in the current South American qualifier.

Eber Aquino is remembered for his controversial performance on the first date of the Qualifiers. Chile’s 2-1 loss to Uruguay in Montevideo caused ‘La Roja’ quite annoyance, as they were harmed by a penalty that the Paraguayan referee did not take. The ANFP was even going to request a formal punishment against Aquino, but it did not materialize.

Rafael Claus (Ecuador vs. Argentina)

Although already in a meeting of little importance, the Brazilian referee Raphael Claus, 43, will be in charge of directing Ecuador vs. Argentina.

Claus was in charge of two matches for Argentina in this qualifying round: the ‘Albiceleste’ drew 1-1 with Paraguay and won 1-0 against Colombia. For its part, Ecuador has never been under the direction of the Brazilian.

In that tie between Argentina and Paraguay there was quite a bit of controversy. Raphael Claus sanctioned a penalty in favor of Paraguay; he did not expel Ángel Romero, who kneed Exequiel Palacios; he also did not show the red to Gonzalo Montiel for a hard tackle from behind against Miguel Almirón; he omitted a penalty committed against Lionel Messi; he also disallowed a goal for the Argentine captain. The most dissatisfied with their refereeing decisions were the Argentines.