Is there a conspiracy against the Socceroos?
Columnist By Mike Tuckerman, 20 Jun 2010 Mike Tuckerman is a Roar Expert
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- 2010 World Cup, Brett Emerton, Brett Holman, football, Ghana, Harry Kewell, Harry Kewell red card, Luke Wilkshire, Mark Bresciano, Pim Verbeek, Roberto Rosetti, Serbia, Socceroos, socceroos vs ghana, Socceroos vs Serbia, Tim Cahill, World Cup
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Referee Roberto Rosetti, pushes away Australia's Harry Kewell after showing him a red card during the World Cup Group D soccer match between Ghana and Australia at Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenburg, South Africa, on Saturday, June 19, 2010. (AP Photo/Rob Griffith)
Pride restored, but is there a conspiracy against the Socceroos? First Tim Cahill’s red card, then Harry Kewell’s – and neither foul has been anywhere near as bad as others we’ve seen elsewhere in this World Cup.
Four years ago I was inside the Allianz Arena and watched bemused as referee Dr. Markus Merk awarded every single equally contested challenge in Brazil’s favour, with the Socceroos succumbing to a more fancied opponent despite a typically gutsy performance in Munich.
Now the nation witnesses another lopsided display from Italian referee Roberto Rosetti, as Harry Kewell is harshly red-carded for his inadvertent handball on the line, yet Ghana defender Lee Addy stays on the pitch for an horrendous tackle from behind on Mark Bresciano.
I’m generally the last person to point the finger at refereeing as a deciding factor in a match, but perhaps I’ve reached my threshold regarding the sheer number of decisions that go against the Socceroos.
Living in Japan for a number of years, all I ever heard from Japanese fans was how physical the Australian team was, and how Samurai Blue supporters expected the Socceroos to out-muscle them on the pitch.
It’s the same story from many of my German friends – yet there’s rarely a mention of Mark Bresciano’s dead-ball abilities, nor of Brett Holman’s perpetual box-to-box motion – and I just wonder if referees haven’t fallen into the trap of basing key decisions on unfortunate national stereotypes.
Maybe that’s just the several glasses of Scotch talking – it was, after all, another nerve-shredding display – and had Luke Wilkshire held his nerve in front of goal, the result in Rustenburg could have been so very different.
There’s always a danger dealing in hypotheticals, but it’s tough not to be bitter when one considers the potential outcome had either Wilkshire or Brett Emerton blocked Andre Ayew’s cross, or had Addy indeed seen red for his tackle from behind.
Still, that’s not to take away from a tremendous performance from the Socceroos, and the players deserve full credit for turning a disastrous display against Germany into the kind of performance that we’ve come to know and appreciate from our battle-hardened team.
Craig Moore was inspirational as he turned back the clock with a vintage display in defence, while Brett Holman turned in one of his best ever performances in a national team jersey with a typically tireless display of hard running and the odd touch of finesse.
It’s just a pity that Australia didn’t approach their clash with Germany in the same vein, since the Socceroos looked to have the measure of Ghana for the full ninety minutes – even after Kewell had been harshly sent from the field.
One wonders what might have happened had Verbeek adopted more positive tactics against a German side which proved in their loss to Serbia that they’re anything but invincible.
The Socceroos will now need an avalanche of goals against the Serbians to have any hope of progressing, but that may be a tough ask for a side that isn’t exactly the most clinical in front of goal.
Indeed, with a game plan heavily reliant on grinding out narrow victories, one could argue that Australia perhaps don’t deserve to go through to the Round of 16 compared to some of the World Cup’s more adventurous outfits.
But by the same token, they hardly deserve to be knocked out on the basis of some overly pedantic and conspicuously inconsistent refereeing – especially when it always seems to be the Socceroos who get the short end of the stick in international competitions.
There’s still the match against Serbia in Nelspruit to play for, and with any luck the Socceroos will take out their frustrations against a Serbia side which has twice conceded penalties for handball in each of their games so far.
We’ll need luck on our side to progress, and that includes a referee who doesn’t feel the need to issue red at the sight of every player in yellow!
Re-live the Socceroos vs Ghana clash as it happened with Tony Tannous’ analysis HERE.
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June 20th 2010 @ 7:06am
sheek said | June 20th 2010 @ 7:06am | Report comment
Well, I’m immensely proud of the Socceroos, all the same.
I’m hurting bad, & the result is not what we wanted. But the guys absolutely busted themselves. I don’t think there’s much controversy as far as preferential treatment goes.
Go back to Italy in 2006, & many of us are still livid with the last minute penalty against Neill. But the Spanish ref also overreacted in sending off the Italian player earlier in that game. And speaking of Italy, they were absolutely cruelled by officials at the 2002 tournament, especially the QF against South Korea.
The problem with the Socceroos I think, is their naivity. When our overall technical skill improve, we’ll just smash ‘em all….. !
I just think too often the refs are either inconsistent, or incompetent, or both. There’s so much acting & cynical activity going on the field, it must do their heads in. The refs’ heads, that is. Also, they must be under enormous pressure from FIFA fifedom, which is like a neurotic, nagging wife that never shuts up….. !
Remember this – as an evolving football nation – that which doesn’t kill us, strengthens us. All these setbacks will only make Australian soccer so much stronger in the future.
A final word on Harry Kewell. Whenever healthy & fit, he has played his guts out for Australia. Perhaps earlier in his career he was more selective about availability, but that’s also understandable, as he sought to establish himself.
He’s a proud Aussie, & I salute him.
June 20th 2010 @ 8:15am
punter said | June 20th 2010 @ 8:15am | Report comment
I’m totally gutted, but also very proud.
June 20th 2010 @ 10:29am
Anand Antony said | June 20th 2010 @ 10:29am | Report comment
Good points. I still vividly remember the 2002 moment when Italian officials were pleading desperately to FIFA guys and they were just gesturing suggesting (from the look of which) they could not get it either! There should be Video referee like in NRL or challenge system as in NFL. Face it – referee is not the ‘boss’, he is just an employee to correctly adjudicate the game. The game belongs to the players and the fans. It is a farce if 4 years of preparation are allowed to go into drain due to a human error or bias whichever way you look at it.
June 20th 2010 @ 7:08am
The Special One said | June 20th 2010 @ 7:08am | Report comment
Im really getting sick and tired with Australians “blame everyone else” mentality.
Luke Wilkshire missed an absolute sitter to win the game. Complain all you want about the red card, which was correct, but had he put that in Australia would be on 3 points.
Grow up FFS.
June 20th 2010 @ 8:14am
punter said | June 20th 2010 @ 8:14am | Report comment
Abit harsh don’t you think.
You don’t think the likes of Brazil, Germany wouldn’t complain about the red card, when other more obvious hand balls only got yellow. Also that tackle from behind was to the letter of the law a straight sent off.
Yes Wilshire should’ve scored, but to think that other countries wouldn’t be complaining shows you are no Mourinho.
June 20th 2010 @ 8:31am
jupiter53 said | June 20th 2010 @ 8:31am | Report comment
Agreed.
The ref sees Kewell’s arm [as defined by the laws of the game] stop the ball going into the goal. He adjudges that it was deliberate. As logical consequences also by the laws of the game he has to give a penalty and a red card. I don’t see any grounds for complaint about that decision.
The only question is whether it was deliberate which is a matter for the ref’s judgment. Put it this way – if the ball had been hit next to Kewell;s thigh I would have expected him to block the shot which implies that it was close enough to have the chance to move his thigh. I suppose the ref has figured the same way in regard to his arm.
So, was I devastated by the decision? Yes, but I don’t think the ref was wrong let alone that it is part of a conspiracy.
I do agree that Addy’s challenge on Bresciano looked a straight red and that Rosato got that wrong.
The key issues is that refs are human, they make human judgments, and sometimes they are wrong. I’m amazed at how often they and the linesmen have been right in this tournament.
June 20th 2010 @ 1:41pm
AGO74 said | June 20th 2010 @ 1:41pm | Report comment
Special one – do you think that the Ghanaian bloke should have stayed on the field in light of a) the studs up from behind challenge it was and b) the comparitive softness of Tim Cahill’s red card in Durban.
June 20th 2010 @ 7:14am
mds1970 said | June 20th 2010 @ 7:14am | Report comment
Something stinks to high heaven about this refereeing.
Harry Kewell had .08 seconds reaction time – impossible. And then Marco Bresciano almost has his leg ripped off, but no red for that, even though in the last game Tim Cahill had been marched for a love tap. All this from a referee who was controlling Serie A games during the 2006 match-fixing scandal.
Makes you wonder……
June 20th 2010 @ 8:01am
Rabbitz said | June 20th 2010 @ 8:01am | Report comment
Geez,
How about you all go to a hardware store and swallow a spoonful of cement and HTFU.
He committed the offence, in the goal mouth (whether it was deliberate or not is a moot point as in real time the ref believed it was) so was penalised and carded. Get some wood, build a bridge, and get over it.
“We wuz robbed”, “the ref was their 12th man”, “it’s a conspiracy” what a carry on.
How about this one “They tried but just weren’t good enough” or this one “beaten by a better team”.
Crickey and you reckon the Poms like to have a whinge
June 20th 2010 @ 8:21am
MVDave said | June 20th 2010 @ 8:21am | Report comment
Rabbitz…Spoken by someone who has no knowledge of football. This is a football blog where fans can give their opinion…as you would no doubt be if the same thing happened in your sport.
The Refereeing was a disgrace…little doubt about it. Ghana should have been down to 10 men for that dangerous tackle in the 1st half…absolutely no doubt. Kewell was on the line and the ball hit his upper arm…penalty but there was no intent to move his arm to the ball…similar to the situation in the last game against the Germans when Cahills goalbound header was stopped by the 2 hands of the German defender (no penalty and no cards for the defender??)…no consistency here.
Having said that the Socceroos were brilliant and deserved the win…Chippers (who did well when he came on) and Wilkshire (who had a great game) will have nightmares over there 2 misses.
So now we need to win vs Serbia and hope Ghana beat Germany or Germany destroy Ghana by 3-4 goals.
Socceroos played heroically… of that there is little doubt…well done boys. Lets hope we get a big slice of luck in the 3rd round to make up for the complete absence of any in the first 2 rounds.
June 20th 2010 @ 8:30am
Rabbitz said | June 20th 2010 @ 8:30am | Report comment
Oh the irony, bashing my ‘opinion’ by defending whinging as an opinion.
Go back and review the last weeks worth of opinion and tell me if you can see a thread forming.
By the way I never said the players didn’t play well, I merely commented on the responses, and clearly I am an inferior as I don’t live and breathe soccer, but that’s OK as I freely admit I only played for a decade – as a junior, so I couldn’t possibly understand the modern game.
June 20th 2010 @ 8:37am
MVDave said | June 20th 2010 @ 8:37am | Report comment
Rabbitz…never said you couldn’t have your whinge…just making the point that you obviously have no knowledge and (l’ll now add) little care for the game…therefore your post should be seen in that light.
June 21st 2010 @ 2:37pm
Gob Bluth said | June 21st 2010 @ 2:37pm | Report comment
MVDave,
How stomach churningly patronising of you. I’m not sure its up to you to decide you knows what about football. For the record, your posts rarely give any evidence that you have a huge amount of knowledge about the game.
Owning a membership isn’t a honourary degree.
Rabbitz is right, the amount of moaning about the cheating referees and grand conspiracy’s is embarassing. Losing graciously is an important skill. And for fans we need to learn to not swing so wildly from screaming for blood with every defeat, to claiming we are worthy world champions witha victory or wetting ourselves with pride with a draw.
June 20th 2010 @ 8:22am
katzilla said | June 20th 2010 @ 8:22am | Report comment
I don’t think there is any conspiracy, but I do think the referees have an easier time of it carding players from lesser nations.
That being said where Kewell was standing when the ball hit him gave the ref no choice, but he was also unlucky and full credit to the Socceroos for scraping out the draw (and almost winning with 10 men)
June 20th 2010 @ 8:23am
Shahsan said | June 20th 2010 @ 8:23am | Report comment
Far better if the ball had hit his arm and still gone in. It would still have been 1-1, but he wouldnt have been sent off as he didn’t prevent a goal being scored, even if he was the last man.
And with 11 men and a fired up Kewell, who knows ….
But as long as he prevented the “goal-scoring opportunity’, deliberately or not, he had to go.
As for a conspiracy, I doubt it. If African teams were favoiured, there was no way the Bafana keeper would have been sent off against Uruguay.
June 20th 2010 @ 8:34am
bruski said | June 20th 2010 @ 8:34am | Report comment
It was a yellow card and penalty – Simple.
What a terrible decision! I was really impressed with how they went though, Moore had a great game after I have bagged him in recent times (not that he cares I bagged him but thought it was important to mention).
Looking forward to the next game, will Harry automatically get one game or could the Red Card be enough penalty?
June 20th 2010 @ 9:00am
johnny-boy said | June 20th 2010 @ 9:00am | Report comment
The trouble is the Socceroos have gained themselves a reputation for brutal, cynical, illegal tackling. Verbeet warned them after the NZ game but the players obviously thought they were too smart, too clever to listen.
Ye shall reap what ye shall sow. Yes FIFIA has probably told the referees to be extra strict on the Socceroos for their ‘dirty’ negative defensive strategy towards the game rather than any enterprising attack – in which they seem completely bereft of. No wonder they can’t get it in to the goal when they get near it, they dont have any familiarity with that part of the game.
June 20th 2010 @ 9:32am
M-Rod said | June 20th 2010 @ 9:32am | Report comment
the problem also is that Aussie opponents work our physical game to their advantage, playing-up to the referee the effects of challenges/ tackles and other indescretions.
I think the Aussies in general are vastly improved, but still carry on with niggling tactics (eg pulling shirts in the Ghana match) that won’t help this perception.
June 20th 2010 @ 9:10am
MVDave said | June 20th 2010 @ 9:10am | Report comment
“The trouble is the Socceroos have gained themselves a reputation for brutal, cynical, illegal tackling” Was that in a memo sent out by FIFA to its referees? Perhaps if you had watched this game you would have seen the ‘brutality’ was by the Ghanain player Addy who should have seen Red for his dangerous ‘come from behind tackle’ on Bresc…hate to put facts ahead of a good story.
As for the rest of your rant would be fair to say l consider it to be absolute ‘shite’. If you are going to be critical of lower ranked teams who play defensively against higher ranked oppposition then a big tip…dont watch the WC.
June 21st 2010 @ 6:39pm
Campbell Watts said | June 21st 2010 @ 6:39pm | Report comment
Dave – get over yourself!
Should we all stop posting our opinions and just take yours for the god-honest truth?
You are sooo… quick to bag someone and tell them they know nothing or must not follow the sport/game cause their opinion differs from yours.
Ease up tiger and let everyone feel free to post their own thoughts eh?
June 20th 2010 @ 9:19am
Rich_daddy said | June 20th 2010 @ 9:19am | Report comment
This is the second instance in this world cup that a referee has been trigger happy in dishing out a red card in the penalty box. The South African goalkeeper conceded a penalty and was red carded very unfairly judging by TV replays. Referees need a take a long deep breath before handing out red cards. In the instances I’ve seen where they have awarded straight reds, they couldn’t get them out of their pockets fast enough.
Gallant performance by the Socceroos the irony is the best case scenario for us in the final games would be for Ghana to beat Germany then a 1 goal victory over Serbia would be sufficient.