03 USASUI Lamolina

 

The other opening game, that of the host nation who faced Switzerland, was taken by Francisco Lamolina from Argentina. Lamolina found himself in the middle of an amiable football match, characterised by the excitability of not only the home crowd, but also the home team. A game which was played without malice meant that Lamolina was not tested on a tactical approach level, and overall the game was delivered fine.

Whereas both Brizio Carter and Mikkelsen on day one gave a strong candidature for the final matches of the tournament, Lamolina did not. His presence on the pitch lacked charisma, and was rather dour. It did not matter in this fair-spirited tie, but his aggressive manner in conflict situations did little to calm the players down, including in mimics and gestures. 58' was the most revealing scene. Lamolina presented a good level of base fitness, but his running was a trifle lazy. Both freekick decisions which led to the goals were correct. 

No offside situations were actually replayed so it is impossible to actually assess the performance of the two linesmen - my feeling is that Ernesto Taibi had a stronger performance than Venancio Zárate, but that is indeed just a feeing!

Francisco Lamolina - 8,3 Ernesto Taibi - 8,4 Venancio Zárate - 8,4 Ernesto Filippi ARG, ARG, PAR	United States 1-1 Switzerland Group Stage
Harkes (89') - Tackle	Herr (27') - SPA (Impeding) Subiat (87') - Delaying the Restart