| Referees were in a good mood this weekend, what with
Easter holidays coming up and the end of the season only nine games away, and
once again a low number of cards were shown, only 51 yellows and three reds. No
real outstanding performances, with one leading sports papers failing to give
any referee 0 points in their weekend rankings, which must be an all time
first. Not so in the second division, where Pérez Izquierdo upset both
managers with some strange decisions. The most controversial were the harsh
sending off of Tenerife's Mexican midfielder Torrado in the 14th minute for a
tackle from behind and a non-existent penalty against Atlético after
Mista and Hugo Leal collided. On one occasion he pulled up a Tenerife attack
and then apologised saying he thought the ball had gone out of play, and
Tenerife's manager said afterwards it was like trying to climb Everest just
with your hands. Add to that twelve yellows plus the red, and he didn't even
book Luque and Mena for kissing on the pitch after the former scored the first
goal! The winner of the week, no doubt. In the first division Ansuategui upset
some Las Palmas fans when he didn't award them a penalty against Real Madrid,
earning himself a police escort off the ground, and Pérez Lasa also
provoked cricism from Irureta after he waved play on as Esnaider bundled
Scaloni off the ball before scoring. The referee also sent off Djalminha with a
direct red card, but that is no surprise given that seven of the eight players
he sent for an early bath were given direct reds. Pérez Burrull clearly
didn't get on with Bilbao's Txetxu Rojo or his team delegate, giving both of
them yellow cards asmongst the eight he dished out, the highest total for the
day in the top flight. On the international front, a word of thanks from all
Spanish supporters, and particularly those with their names engraved on the
Alavés pink shirts, to the Norwegian referee who officiated their UEFA
cup semi-final first leg. (What-a-P)Rune Pedersen awarded no less than four
penalties in their match with Kaiserslauten, and the German fans can feel hard
done by for at least some of those decisions. As Víctor Fernández
said, Spanish referees are not always the worst in the world.
(09.04.01) |
