Ref Review – Stephane Lannoy – Germany 1 v 0 Portugal (09/06/2012)

In our third Ref Review of the European Championships David Costelloe gave us his take on Stephane Lannoy’s performance in the Germany 1 – 0 Portugal game. You can follow David on Twitter, @NFBblog.

Stephane Lannoy of France was the man in the middle of this tense contest, and had a slightly more varied time then his Slovakian counterpart in the other Group B game. Lannoy was willing to let the more dubious claims go for much of the game, but erred towards whistle-happiness as time marched on, awarding many frees in the later parts of the 90, especially for 50/50 challenges in the air, that I would have preferred to have been let go.

First Half

Potential red card for Helder Postiga

Chasing down a ball heading towards German keeper Manuel Neuer, Portuguese forward Helder Postiga slid in, catching the Bayern Munich man with a badly mistimed tackle, barely attempting to play the ball. Calls for a red card were premature, as replays showed that while the tackle was badly off, Postiga had only just nicked Neuer’s leg with the bottom of his boot. A yellow card was enough for the unnecessary recklessness. A second later and he would have been off. Correct decision.

Potential German goal ruled out due to lack of advantage.

In the 24th minute, a forward running Samir Khedira won a free for Germany just outside the opposition penalty area after a cynical trip from Raul Meireles. But Khedira had already gotten the ball to Mario Gomez inside the Portuguese area in a promising position, from which he was able to strike a low shot into the net. The whistle went before he got the shot off, but not so late that everyone involved had “stopped playing”. I would argue that Germany would have benefitted from a correctly applied advantage of play, that would have seen them continue an attack resulting in a better goal-scoring chance then the free kick they were given (which was missed). Further, considering the cynical nature of the foul, a yellow card for Meireles would have been justified. Two incorrect decisions.

Goal line incident for Portugal

As the first half drew to a close, Portugal’s Pepe saw a rasping effort come off the underside of the bar, bounce straight down and then get cleared away. Predictable calls for a goal to be awarded followed. The replays were conclusive beyond any doubt: the ball did not cross the line. Correct decision.

Second half

Potential penalty for Portugal off Holger Badstuber

A few Portugal players had their hands up looking for a spot kick inside injury time, as a rasping Nani shot hit the upper body of Holger Badstuber before being deflected out for a corner. Unlike the similarly timed incident in the other Group B game though, there was nothing in this one, the ball striking the back of the turning German defender. Correct decision.

Conclusion

He blew the whistle a bit too much in the second half and a few of the cautions given out (or not given out as the case may be) displayed bad judgment in my opinion, especially the yellow Badstuber was given for an innocuous tangle with Nani. But overall, it was an acceptable performance from the Frenchman who exerted his authority over what could easily have been a far more bad-tempered game then it was. I’d also commend him for the brief stoppage of play when some German fans started throwing things at Portuguese players taking a corner in the opening minutes, allowing them to take a moment for the disgraceful behaviour to stop before they got on with the game.
Overall, the opening matches of Group B produced two rather decent officiating performances on paper, but this is unlikely to make Dutch fans feel any better about the worst call of the two games.
To make the table clearer, the types of decision on the left side include both actual and potential decisions.

Decisions Breakdown

Tags: Euro 2012, Germany, Portugal, Stephane Lannoy