50 SWEBRA Torres

 

Brazil defeated Sweden to reach the World Cup final for the first time in twenty-four years, by virtue of a close-range Romário header ten minutes from time. In their group stage encounter, Sweden played their South American opponents as equals, but in the semifinal they set back and were lucky to still be level after an hour, when they promised to start playing a bit more. 

The lack of discipline from their captain Jonas Thern who was sent off for a simply nasty tackle by referee José Torres Cadena (correctly so, whatever the Sweden players say) put payed to that after a few minutes, and Brazil found their goal. 

Preface

Colombian Torres' deserved fourth appointment (personally I would have had him in Pasadena on the Sunday rather than Wednesday) was the result of a political compromise. 

The game was planned for Argentine referee Francisco Lamolina, who had been saved especially for a semifinal after two of the top group matches (USASUI - ITAMEX), but he was rejected by Brazil. Sources vary as to whether that was by the Brazilian association, CBF, or all-powerful FIFA President João Havelange himself (though one can ponder whether there was a material difference between the two).

Someone obviously doubted whether Lamolina's rather passive style would be enough in this semifinal - the ironic thing is that it would have actually been perfect given how this game played out! Lamolina's rejection set in motion a snowball of political vetoes: Havelange and CBF rejected European referees, an emergency option of Emirati Ali Bujsaim was rejected by UEFA President Lennart Johansson as the UAE was a nation which had benefitted a lot from Havelange-funded projects, besides his huge inexperience.

In the end it was José Torres Cadena who was determined as the best man to satisfy both sides, a law-enforcer who had an excellent tournament thus far. The result was Torres had little over seventy-two hours interceding the two most important games of his life. 

Really convincing in that Bulgaria - Germany quarterfinal (and very good in his group matches (BELMAR - IRLNOR)), Torres had a decent game in the circumstances, especially given this semi did not necessarily play to his strengths. At any rate, he got the crucial decision spot on. Let's take a closer look at how he got on, starting with that red card.

Key Match Incident

63' - Red Card to Sweden no.9

Jonas Thern was slightly tripped by Márcio Santos, but it seems to be the accidental footballing contact with Dunga that winds him up. Visibly frustrated, he comes in purposefully late on Dunga, with the ball clearly not in his reach, targeted at hitting Dunga high and with studs. 

Torres held his nerve and correctly sent Thern off - Sweden should rue his needless loss of composure, and not the Colombian referee who was quite right to dismiss him.

Balance

A game that weirdly lacked tension save for a few minutes (60' to the red card) did not necessarily play into Torres' strongest hand. His opening card at 3' was spot on; 29' was a reckless tackle too, but given the reaction of both players involved, some might say it was not really needed. Thomas Brolin was correctly cautioned when his chat with linesman Sándor Márton was not as friendly as it first promised. 

Colombian referee appeared tactically well-prepared - any long ball into Martin Dahlin, who Sweden were using as (in football parlance) an outball, his alertness was heightened, and duels often resulted in a foul decision either for or against the Sweden striker. He did not punish a couple of impeding fouls at 80' and +92', the latter one an important call as Brazil were holding on at the end and a bit of a disappointing decision. 

Besides that, Torres was seldom required; Colombian should be proud for correctly dismissing Thern in a World Cup semifinal, and more widely for an excellent tournament in which he showed to have one of the best refereeing styles ever in my view!

Regarding the preface - another interesting nuance of this appointment. Both linesmen, Sándor Márton and Luc Matthys, were the men on duty in same position in Sweden - Brazil v1 in the group stage. As in that match, here they were pretty quiet and did a good job - Sweden got pissy with Márton for a reverse cross-over flag at 49', but to me it seemed he got it spot on. 

Francisco Lamolina was compensated for losing his appointment as referee, being assigned as fourth official here, as well as in a further match. I feel a lot for him - he did a good job in two hugely important matches in the group stages and was rewarded with... nothing. It's true that Lamolina did not have the best style amongst all the referees at the tournament, but I had the impression he tried to be a fair man in his games, and was certainly better than others who went further. 

José Torres - 8,4 Sándor Márton - 8,4 Luc Matthys - 8,4 Francisco Lamolina COL, HUN, BEL	Sweden 0-1 Brazil Semifinal
Ljung (29') - Tackle Brolin (86') - Dissent	Zinho (3') - Tackle
Thern (63') - Serious Foul Play