“Strict fine”, “sediment”: Arbitral awards Argentina-France carefully studied

“You have to evaluate the whole performance. Joel Quiniu repeated this to us several times. The former international referee does not want to throw a stone at Szymon Marchiniak, who was in the lead in the 2022 World Cup final between Argentina and France. “This is a game with a lot of responsibility. It cannot be said that the referee influenced the match from one side or another, ”says the referee, who has refereed 8 World Cup matches in his career.

In short, in his words: “There are no big disputes, but some game facts are 50-50. Finally, no one can hide behind the referee to say that he lost. In order to fully understand, we have reviewed some decisive actions of the meeting.

Pushing Romero towards Lloris

In the 9th minute in an aerial duel, Christian Romero violently collided with Hugo Lloris, his Tottenham teammate and opponent of the evening. In slow motion, the Tottenham defender has a movement with his left elbow, which seems arbitrary, into the stomach of the Blues doorman. Noticeably out of breath, the most productive player in the history of the French national team will need almost a few tens of seconds before he gets up after the intervention of the coaches. Szymon Marchiniak won’t even show a yellow card.

Joel Quiniu’s opinion: “We cannot view this as characteristic aggression. It is an excess of selflessness, guilty of a free kick. It is also necessary to think about the evaluation of the arbitrator. He considered that Lloris had finally risen and that a simple call to order would suffice. »

Vina Dembele on Di Maria

In the 21st minute, Angel Di Maria knocks Ousmane Dembele out from the left flank before entering the box. After that, the Argentine winger falls on his back, apparently off balance, due to the Barcelona striker. Referee Szymon Marchiniak did not hesitate for a second and pointed to the penalty mark. A priori there is no VAR interference. Lionel Messi can take a penalty and open the score (1:0).

Joel Quiniu’s opinion: “The important thing is that Di Maria voluntarily slows down his race in front of Dembele. He is slightly off-balance in the back and the Argentine striker inevitably falls. The punishment is a bit harsh. The game is played on details, especially since VAR did not call the referee to inform him of a potential obvious error, but the referee did not ask VAR either. In such matches, he could watch the video to be 100% sure of himself. In any case, there is no scandal, but this is a topic for discussion. »

No yellow cards in the first half

Only in the 7th minute of stoppage time in the first half did Enzo Fernández become the first Argentine to be booked in this final. However, Albicelesta made 13 mistakes in the first period, and not least. In the viewfinder, Rodrigo De Paul and Cristiano Romero, both very aggressive, even ended the meeting without taking the yellow card.

Joel Quiniu’s opinion: “There were gross interventions by the Argentines. Some would deserve a yellow card, but we must not forget some very borderline French mistakes. The judge wanted to show pedagogy. Is that in such a meeting a yellow card could be useful. We had to control the game and the players. We also cannot say that there were fouls or a series of fouls that deserved more than a yellow. »

Wines Otamendi on Colo Muani

In the 78th minute, Randal Colo Muani beat the Argentine defender in a duel with Nicolas Otamendi. Hand on the shoulder, contact at leg level, the Benfica Lisbon player makes no doubt a mistake to the Blue striker, the author of a wonderful entry. But should Otamendi, by depriving him of the opportunity to score a goal, receive a red card? The Argentine defender didn’t even get a yellow card from Szymon Marchiniak.

Joel Quiniu’s opinion: “We need to check out Law 12, which echoes the red card and this notion of a double penalty: if a player makes a mistake against an opponent to deny the opponent a clear goal-scoring opportunity and the referee awards a penalty, the offending player is cautioned if he tried to play the ball; in all other circumstances (e.g. holding, throwing or pushing, not being able to play the ball, etc.) the offending player must be sent off. In short, if he did not rule out Otamendi, it was because the referee considered that either he was playing ball or that Colo Muani, slightly off-center on the left flank, was clearly not going in the direction of the goal, completely alone. »

Surface modeling by Markus Thuram

In the 87th minute, with the Blues fresh from a 2-2 lead, Marcus Thuram traded a one-two in the away zone with Adrien Rabiot before collapsing in contact with Enzo Fernandes. At real speed, the Argentine number 24 seems to hang on the Borussia Münchengladbach forward, but the match referee whistles a simulation against Thuram, who receives a yellow card for this. In slow motion, the contact seems light and the Frenchman punctuates his fall.

Joel Quiniu’s opinion: “We are always in his situations that are the subject of discussion, it is almost 50 to 50. This time, in my opinion, this decision cannot be criticized, because it is clear that Markus Thuram is clearly highlighting his fall. This is what prompted the referee not to whistle, but to give the card for the simulation. On the other hand, the contact was very light, but still existed if we look at the slow motion. »

The advantage is not left for Coman

We play the last minute of added time before extra time. Taking a corner for Argentina, Kingsley Coman returns the ball in the last 20 meters of the Blues and goes against it before Marcos Acuna mows it down. The referee whistled for a foul and gave a yellow card to Albiceleste’s left-back, instead of giving Bayern striker Kylian Mbappe and Randal Colo Muani a two-on-two serve in front of him.

Joel Quiniu’s opinion: “The referee whistled too fast. This move could have been dangerous given the position of Coman and his two other teammates in front of him. This action could have been a goal-scoring opportunity. We must allow the team affected by the error, if circumstances permit, to continue playing. We can always wait for the development of events, then to give a yellow card. At this point, the judge showed haste. »