Jun
27th
2006
world cup red card explosion
somebody please explain what is going on:
this year alone, we’re on track to top 30 red cards. it took world cup teams a combined 11 tournaments to reach 30 for the first time.
world cup stats courtesy planet world cup:
3 Responses to “world cup red card explosion”
Leave a Reply
note: by commenting, you indicate that you have read and accept all-encompassingly's comment policy. please print it and keep a copy of the document in your wall safe along with your living will or advance directive.
the game is more physical now. fifa warned the teams that there would be yellow and red cards for certain things. still a shame though. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=372698&cc=5901 this article puts some of it in perspective: the players are as much to blame as the refs.
How about all the diving/acting going on? It really bugs me when a team wins a game based on a player diving on a play to get a foul call. About the yellow/red cards: some of them have been weak calls that should not have been carded. Maybe the refs need to go back to school and watch tape of the games.
Miguel’s right. It would be interesting to see the percentage break down of all cards awarded for their respective reasons, i.e., dives, dissent, hard fouls, etc. I’ve watch more than half the matches so far and haven’t seen any cards awarded for dives. This trend will significantly impact the game if the number of cards for dives doesn’t rise proportionally to the number of cards for hard fouls. It makes you wonder if FIFA’s directive to award more fouls was coupled with the necessary training for doing so. Incidentally, lest anyone perceive this as sore-loser, American bellyaching (in light of the Italy match and bogus dive penalty kick with Ghana) Australia and Holland, to name only a few, are standing on the same soapbox we are!