Mexico’s disallowed goals add to World Cup’s incompetent officiating
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Version 0 of 1. Such was the emotion of Niko Kovac after a defeat to Brazil spiked by refereeing controversy that Croatia’s coach pondered whether they might as well go home. That sentiment reverberated as Group A lurched from one set of botched decisions to another, with Mexico visibly aggrieved as two legitimate goals were annulled before half-time in their opening match against Cameroon. Judging from the refereeing stories so far, there is a danger of the World Cup descending into a contest of officiating incompetence rather than footballing flamboyance. Wilmar Roldán, and his Colombian cohorts, did not cover themselves in glory as the flag was raised erroneously to deny the effervescent Giovani dos Santos. Once was misfortune – an offside decision that was marginal enough to sometimes be called wrongly. The second was particularly careless, though, as a cross was flicked towards Dos Santos via a Cameroonian head, thus making offside an impossibility. Dos Santos cursed and shook his fists in frustration. Roldán explained his decision to Cameroon’s goalkeeper, Charles Itanjde, and thrust a double thumbs-up that was not wonderfully judged in the circumstances. Just to complete the excruciating imagery, Mexico’s manager, the charismatic Miguel Herrera, initially did not notice the flag and celebrated raucously for a few seconds until his euphoria was exposed as a mirage. He stood in his dugout, absolutely soaked in the teeming rain, arms folded, seething. It was a picture of misery. It is all well and good we now have goalline technology to determine whether the ball crosses the line (particularly helpful with goals such as Neymar’s which travel a metre past to the back of the net). And we have cans of vanishing spray which are really useful at free-kicks. But when it comes to the key decisions that may well define which teams progress from the group stage and which head solemnly for home, human error still leads the way. Considering how readily Fifa’s president, Sepp Blatter, shoots from his idiosyncratic lip, it was easy to shrug when he suddenly pronounced, on the eve of this tournament, that teams should be allowed two challenges per match. How differently this group might have opened up if Kovac had been able to challenge the penalty earned by Fred and the Ivan Perisic strike which was chalked off. Herrera would have been able to appeal for two goals to be reinstated. Cometh the hour, cometh Mexican joy that neither Cameroon, nor the officials, could stem. They finally had a real goal to celebrate as their superior passing and movement unpicked their cumbersome opponents again. Dos Santos was involved once more, as he enjoyed the space to take aim. Even though Itandje parried, Oribe Peralta, El Tri’s most consistent poacher, steered in for a well deserved lead. On the sidelines Herrera pogoed with delight. Mexico were rewarded for their patience and persistence. They were able to keep their heads, and their motivation, when nagged by injustice. It has not been the most straightforward era for Mexico, who endured an annus horribilis after they won gold at the London Olympics in 2012. Qualification for this tournament was tortuous. Herrera has given them a licence to attack, which served them well here as their pacy movement and passing caused Cameroon unease. But their defensive vulnerability, with set-pieces looking like an open invitation, suggests it will still be a tall order to emerge from this group with games against Brazil and Croatia to come. Cameroon’s limitations were obvious. A clumsy performance yielded little. Samuel Eto’o glimpsed only one chance. The referee could not save them, and they were not composed enough to save themselves. |