| Medina Cantalejo upheld the reputation of Spanish referees
by causing a near riot in the game between Real Sociedad and Valencia. With a
reputation as a bit of a card waver (he is second in our table this season),
Medina sent off Real's Luiz Alberto five minutes before half time for a second
maybe very slightly bookable offence, and he followed it up with a direct red
for Fuentes who took out Aimar with a crunching tackle as he got free down the
right wing. The second expulsion was probably justified, but it left the home
side with nine men in a match they desperately had to win, and only two minutes
later he blew for half time. Having already upset the Anoeta fans waving away a
possible penalty when Aimar pushed López Rekarte you can imagine their
reaction at half time. Their team had struggled to climb out of the relegation
zone over several long weeks, and now this man had destroyed it all in five
minutes. A rain of plastic bottles, some full, and other objects came down as
the police shielded the referee and linesmen off the pitch, and something sharp
caught one of the linesmen on the head opening up a gash which required three
stitches. After the break Medina awarded a totally inexistent penalty to Real
Sociedad, (possibly to help him get out of the ground alive!), but Valencia
scored twice and Real lost, plunging them back in to the relegation zone. With
López Rekarte also being shown a fifth yellow of the season the San
Sebastian side will be missing three key players for their game next week, and
their ground could be closed for two or three vital matches (they apparently
can delay a few weeks though making appeals). There is no excuse for anyone to
throw objects on to the pitch, but Medina's performance didn't contribute much
to world peace. The issue of the number of cards came up in the game between
Celta and Real Madrid, where Fernández Marín sent off two players
for second bookable offences, Roberto Carlos and Giovanella, without either
having really done anything to merit a red card. He is by no means the worst
and in fact had only sent off one player all season before that game, but it
goes to demonstrate that the high card count can ruin what is after all a
physical game played between grown men. Maybe these pages wouldn't be as much
fun if there were fewer bookings and sendings off, but please referees a little
more dialogue and a little less officiousness could have the same result.
García-Aranda got it right this week, only one yellow card and a first
class performance, although even he can throw a wobbly at times, as our readers
would know. Maybe its just the hot Latin blood in this part of the world.
(07.05.01) |
