28 BOLESP Badilla

 

Bolivia's chances of going through were fairly low, needing to beat a Spain team who were quite impressive in drawing with Germany, but the referee of their final group match was certainly under pressure. South American debutants complained very loudly about the officiating of Arturo Brizio Carter (maybe the should look at Marco Etcheverry instead) and Leslie Mottram (quite justifiably) in their first two games. 

The man in charge of this Hispanic duel was Rodrigo Badilla Sequeira from Costa Rica, who had a good start to the tournament in the easy-going Nigeria - Bulgaria game. Badilla's is a style of contrasts - a strong leader and not lacking courage, but a very lenient disciplinary control and he really ran the risk of losing control here. In any case, Badilla got to the end here without irritating anybody too much - if only just - and a big prize would await him.

Analysis

=> After a totally quiet first quarter-hour or so, Badilla awarded Spain a penalty at 18'. This did nothing to quell Bolivia's self-appointed victimhood, it absolutely was not the clearest penalty of the fifty-two matches. 

Badilla's positioning I don't think was optimal here. Rather than stick to his otherwise strict diagonal which he followed in the match, the referee decides to run into a more neutral position on the edge of the penalty area, being central. But maybe he got the perfect insight angle (not the one we had on television).

Quite honestly - it is impossible to tell what happens here. The flight of the ball is very important in my view: if the ball flies beyond the forehead of the Spain attacker I would err towards a penalty, if it is behind him then play on then it would be better to assess the situation as a simple collision. 

(The penalty should actually have been retaken - there was a clear encroachment). 

=> From that point on, Badilla really ran the risk of unnecessarily antagonising the Bolivia players and it very nearly cost him. 

At first, how he very demonstratively places the ball on the penalty spot given the decision was not crystal clear and still in the first half was not smart.   

Then, he bore both some heavy (though not clearly reckless) fouls by Spain players and the ensuing dissent by Bolivia without so much as a reaction. South Americans were also a bit fortunate not to pick up a booking in the first half themselves. The only time he even varied his whistle tone was for one of the more careless offences! 

Having kept his cards close to his chest for almost all of the first half, he was rewarded with an ultra-clear tactical foul at the end of the first half (45'). However, Badilla stayed true to his lenient approach to the point of total impracticality and did not produce a caution.

=> Just before halftime, the Costa Rican referee more-or-less lost the plot. A terrible missed advantage, an extremely clear foul not given and a very good goal chance denied all in a few minutes before Badilla ended the first half. 

He showed deficiencies in managing the game and the players in that first half which shouldn't rule him out of a further match, but certainly should count against a nomination for the final itself. 

=> Badilla continued the second half in the same way. Two correct cards (he should have given another card at 85' for a tactical reckless kick from behind), some very risky tactical choices (that restart at 86'...) but in the end, keeping a hand on everything. The players even mostly gave up protesting!


=> Costa Rican referee had two competencies which played heavily in his favour: physical condition and manner. Quickly on the scene and not to be messed with, Badilla actually won here, that in spite of not because of his tactical approach to decisions. Things like how he placed the ball on the penalty spot being about as far from the World Cup refereeing textbook as could be, it didn't matter - it worked! As a leader, without doubt he was one of the best. 

Balance

Rodrigo Badilla was not perfect, but despite his sub-optimal tactical approach, his strengths were considerable and should not be underestimated. Such a referee, especially from a non-European or South American nation was an extremely valuable resource for FIFA, as Badilla would find out with his next appointment. 

Linesman Raimundo Calix García made a very clear and important mistake at 33', though he decided correctly at 72'. Yousif Al-Ghattan who was controlling the other line played a nice onside at 78'. 

Rodrigo Badilla - 8,2                                Raimundo Calix - 8,2 Yousif Al-Ghattan - 8,4 Ali Bujsaim CRC, HON, BHR	Bolivia 1-3 Spain Group Stage
	Ferrer (46') - Tackle Caminero (+91') - Tackle