Gold Cup 2013 - Referee Appointments

CONCACAF has designated the refereeing teams for the first six matches of Gold Cup 2013. Among others, Mexican pre-selected trio headed by Marco Rodríguez will head a match at Harrison's Red Bull Arena.

Marco Rodríguez (MEX) (c) ZIMBIO

Group A

7 July 2013
Match 1 – Rose Bowl, Pasadena, California (United States) – 23:00 CET
CANADA		-:-		MARTINIQUE
Referee: Marcos Brea (Cuba) Assistant Referee 1: Juan Francisco Zumba (El Salvador) Assistant Referee 2: Christian Ramírez (Honduras) Fourth Official: Joel Aguilar (El Salvador) Referee Assessor: Donald Wilbur (United States)

Group A

8 July 2013
Match 2 – Rose Bowl, Pasadena, California (United States) – 02:00 CET
MEXICO		-:-		PANAMA
Referee: Walter Quesada (Costa Rica) Assistant Referee 1: Sean Mark Hurd (United States) Assistant Referee 2: Octavio Jara (Costa Rica) Fourth Official: Mark Geiger (United States) Referee Assessor: Stanley Darville (Bahamas)

Group B

9 July 2013
Match 3 – Red Bull Arena, Harrison, New Jersey (United States) – 01:00 CET
EL SALVADOR		-:-		TRINIDAD & TOBAGO
Referee: Marco Rodríguez (Mexico) Assistant Referee 1: Marcos Quintero (Mexico) Assistant Referee 2: Marvin Torrentera (Mexico) Fourth Official: Jair Marrufo (United States) Referee Assessor: Donald Campos (Nicaragua)

Group B

9 July 2013
Match 4 – Red Bull Arena, Harrison, New Jersey (United States) – 03:30 CET
HAITI		-:-		HONDURAS
Referee: Hugo Cruz Alvarado (Costa Rica) Assistant Referee 1: Philippe Brière (Canada) Assistant Referee 2: Ricardo Morgan (Jamaica) Fourth Official: Javier Santos (Puerto Rico) Referee Assessor: Luis Yero (Cuba)

Group C

10 July 2013
Match 5 – Jeld-Wen Field, Portland, Oregon (United States) – 02:30 CET
COSTA RICA		-:-		CUBA
Referee: Elmer Arturo Bonilla (El Salvador) Assistant Referee 1: Joe Fletcher (Canada) Assistant Referee 2: Graeme Browne (St. Kitts & Nevis) Fourth Official: David Gantar (Canada) Referee Assessor: Neftali Recinos (El Salvador)

Group C

10 July 2013
Match 6 – Jeld-Wen Field, Portland, Oregon (United States) – 05:00 CET
BELIZE		-:-		UNITED STATES
Referee: Héctor Rodriguez (Honduras) Assistant Referee 1: Hermenerito Leal (Guatemala) Assistant Referee 2: Ramon Ricardo Louisville (Suriname) Fourth Official: Courtney Campbell (Jamaica) Referee Assessor: José Francisco Ramírez (Mexico)

Group A

11 July 2013
Match 7 – Century Link Field, Seattle, Washington (United States) – 23:00 CET
PANAMA		-:-		MARTINIQUE
Referee: Armando Castro (Honduras) Assistant Referee 1: Christian Ramírez (Honduras) Assistant Referee 2: Octavio Jara (Costa Rica) Fourth Official: Mark Geiger (United States) Referee Assessor: Stanley Darville (Bahamas)

Group A

11 July 2013
Match 8 – Century Link Field, Seattle, Washington (United States) – 02:00 CET
MEXICO		-:-		CANADA
Referee: Joel Aguilar (El Salvador) Assistant Referee 1: William Torres Mejía (El Salvador) Assistant Referee 2: Juan Francisco Zumba (El Salvador) Fourth Official: Marcos Brea (Cuba) Referee Assessor: Donald Wilbur (United States)

Group B

12 July 2013
Match 9 – Sun Life Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida (United States) – 01:00 CET
TRINIDAD & TOBAGO		-:-		HAITI
Referee: Jeffrey Solis Calderón (Costa Rica) Assistant Referee 1: Marcos Quintero (Mexico) Assistant Referee 2: Philippe Brière (Canada) Fourth Official: Marco Rodríguez (Mexico) Referee Assessor: Donald Campos (Nicaragua)

Group B

12 July 2013
Match 10 – Sun Life Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida (United States) – 03:30 CET
HONDURAS		-:-		EL SALVADOR
Referee: Jair Marrufo (United States) Assistant Referee 1: Eric Boria (United States) Assistant Referee 2: Ricardo Morgan (Jamaica) Fourth Official: Javier Santos (Puerto Rico) Referee Assessor: Luis Yero (Cuba)

Group C

13 July 2013
Match 11 – Rio Tinto Stadium, Sandy, Utah (United States) – 21:30 CET
UNITED STATES		-:-		CUBA
Referee: David Gantar (Canada) Assistant Referee 1: Joe Fletcher (Canada) Assistant Referee 2: Garnet Page (Jamaica) Fourth Official: Elmer Arturo Bonilla (El Salvador) Referee Assessor: José Francisco Ramírez (Mexico)

Group C

14 July 2013
Match 12 – Rio Tinto Stadium, Sandy, Utah (United States) – 00:00 CET
COSTA RICA		-:-		BELIZE
Referee: Enrico Wijngaarde (Suriname) Assistant Referee 1: Ramon Ricardo Louisville (Suriname) Assistant Referee 2: Graeme Browne (St. Kitts & Nevis) Fourth Official: Héctor Rodríguez (Honduras) Referee Assessor: Neftali Recinos (El Salvador)

Group A

14 July 2013
Match 13 – Sports Authority Field, Denver, Colorado (United States) – 21:30 CET
PANAMA		-:-		CANADA
Referee: Walter Quesada (Costa Rica) Assistant Referee 1: Christian Ramírez (Honduras) Assistant Referee 2: Octavio Jara (Costa Rica) Fourth Official: Marcos Brea (Cuba) Referee Assessor: Donald Wilbur (United States)

Group A

15 July 2013
Match 14 – Sports Authority Field, Denver, Colorado (United States) – 00:00 CET
MARTINIQUE		-:-		MEXICO
Referee: Mark Geiger (United States) Assistant Referee 1: Sean Mark Hurd (United States) Assistant Referee 2: William Torres Mejia (El Salvador) Fourth Official: Joel Aguilar (El Salvador) Referee Assessor: Stanley Darville (Bahamas)

Group B

16 July 2013
Match 15 – BBVA Compass Stadium, Houston, Texas (United States) – 01:00 CET
EL SALVADOR		-:-		HAITI
Referee: Javier Santos (Puerto Rico) Assistant Referee 1: Ricardo Morgan (Jamaica) Assistant Referee 2: Philippe Brière (Canada) Fourth Official: Jair Marrufo (United States) Referee Assessor: Luis Yero (Cuba)

Group B

16 July 2013
Match 16 – BBVA Compass Stadium, Houston, Texas (United States) – 03:00 CET
HONDURAS		-:-		TRINIDAD & TOBAGO
Referee: Marco Rodríguez (Mexico) Assistant Referee 1: Eric Boria (United States) Assistant Referee 2: Marvin Torrentera (Mexico) Fourth Official: Hugo Cruz Alvarado (Costa Rica) Referee Assessor: Donald Campos (Nicaragua)

Vanishing spray partly meets with refusal

No - New Zealand referee Peter O'Leary, whom you can see in the photo below, does not draw new lines on the football pitch. He is one of 69 match officials who are being equipped with a vanishing spray by FIFA at the ongoing Under-20 World Cup in Turkey.

Mind your feet! (c) RP Online

In an official press release, FIFA explained their decision to implement this equipment that is already deployed for years in South American football as follows:

"The spray is aimed at giving match officials the opportunity to mark a line on which the defending team must line up its defensive wall before a free kick is taken. Produced by the Argentinian company Fair Play 9.15 Limit, the spray marks a white line on the grass, which indicates clearly any attempted encroachment by players aimed at narrowing the angle or affecting the taking of the free-kick."

Furthermore, it was clarified that the spray vanished between 45 seconds and two minutes of being applied. It consists of a non-contaminating foam being procuded in an ecofriendly way.

The echo of the referees who are already using this spray is still to come. In the German Bundesliga and 2nd Bundesliga, 33 out of 45 have voted against the application of this technique though. A German Bundesliga referee, whose name is unknown, ironically stated: "That's just what we needed! In future we will carry a backpack and gauge the distance between the position of the ball and the wall of 9.15 with a yardstick." 

DFB Refereeing Officer Lutz-Michael Fröhlich admonished that they "must keep in mind that the officials are not fraught with technical aids". Additionally he said: "In the end they [technical aids] reduce the referees' concentration on the actual task of assessing match situations and handling matches with personality."

What's your view on this experiment?

Match Officials for 2013 Gold Cup released

CONCACAF has revealed the complete match official roster for this year's Gold Cup comprising 15 referees and 15 assistant referees that will be observed by six referee observers during the next three weeks in the United States.

A busy summer for Salvadorian Joel Aguilar (c) GETTY

Referees
Joel Aguilar - El Salvador - 02/07/1975 *
Elmer Arturo Bonilla - El Salvador - 22/10/1978
Marcos Brea - Cuba - 10/04/1975
Courtney Campbell - Jamaica - 16/11/1968
Armando Castro Oviedo - Honduras - 15/11/1983
Hugo Cruz Alvarado - Costa Rica - 22/07/1982
David Gantar - Canada - 27/06/1975
Mark Geiger - United States - 25/08/1974 *
Jair Marrufo - United States - 17/06/1977 *
Walter Quesada - Costa Rica - 09/05/1970
Marco Rodríguez - Mexico - 10/11/1973 *
Héctor Rodríguez - Honduras - 13/09/1982
Javier Santos - Puerto Rico - 10/12/1978
Jeffrey Solis Calderón - Costa Rica - 23/05/1974
Enrico Wijngaarde - Suriname - 11/01/1974

Assistant Referees
Eric Boria - United States - 28/10/1974 *
Philippe Brière - Canada - 06/11/1979
Graeme Browne - St. Kitts & Nevis - 28/04/1977
Joe Fletcher - Canada - 10/09/1976 *
Sean Mark Hurd - United States - 09/11/1971 *
Octavio Jara - Costa Rica - 03/09/1981
Hermenerito Leal - Guatemala - 09/02/1972
Ramon Ricardo Louisville - Suriname - 19/10/1970
Ricardo Morgan - Jamaica - 30/01/1972 *
Garnet Page - Jamaica - 19/01/1971
Marcos Quintero - Mexico - 21/04/1973 *
Christian Ramírez - Honduras - 23/01/1988
Marvin Torrentera - Mexico - 25/02/1971 *
William Torres Mejía - El Salvador - 22/02/1975 *
Juan Francisco Zumba - El Salvador - 19/09/1982 *

CONCACAF Referee Observers
Donald Campos - Nicaragua
Stanley Darville - Bahamas
José Francisco Ramírez - Mexico
Neftali Recinos - El Salvador
Donald Wilbur - United States
Luis Yero - Cuba

*pre-selected for 2014 FIFA World Cup

Referee Designations for U-20 World Cup Quarterfinals

These are the first provisional referee designations made by FIFA for the quarterfinals of 2013 Under-20 World Cup. Thanks to Árbitro Internacional as usual.

Mexican Roberto García (c) mediotiempo

06 July 2013, 17:00 CET - Rize
France - Uzbekistan
Referee: Sandro Ricci (BRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Alessandro Rocha De Matos (BRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Emerson De Carvalho (BRA)
Fourth Official: Carlos Vera (ECU)
Reserve Assistant Referee: Christian Lescano (ECU)
Blog Observer: Chefren (ITA)

06 July 2013, 20:00 CET - Bursa
Uruguay - Spain
Referee: Roberto García (MEX)
Assistant Referee 1: José Luis Camargo (MEX)
Assistant Referee 2: Alberto Morín (MEX)
Fourth Official: Walter López Castellanos (GUA)
Reserve Assistant Referee: Leonel Leal (CRC)
Blog Observer: Niclas E. (GER)

07 July 2013, 17:00 CET - Kayseri
Iraq - Korea Republic
Referee: Benjamin Williams (AUS)
Assistant Referee 1: Matthew Cream (AUS)
Assistant Referee 2: Hakan Anaz (AUS)
Fourth Official: Bakary Papa Gassama (GAM)
Reserve Assistant Referee: Angesom Ogbamariam (ERI)
Blog Observer: Nur H. (ENG)

07 July 2013, 20:00 CET - Istanbul
Ghana - Chile
Referee: Nicola Rizzoli (ITA)
Assistant Referee 1: Renato Faverani (ITA)
Assistant Referee 2: Andrea Stefani (ITA)
Fourth Official: Viktor Kassai (HUN)
Reserve Assistant Referee: Gábor Erös (HUN)
Blog Observer: Philipp S. (GER)

UEFA has selected U-19 Euro Match Officials

UEFA has unveiled the complete match official list for 2013 Under-19 European Championship finals in Lithuania to be played from 20 July to 1 August.

Felix Zwayer of Berlin, Germany (c) siol.net

Group A: Spain, Portugal, Netherlands, Lithuania
Group B: Serbia, Turkey, Georgia, France

Referees
Emir Alečković (Bosnia & Herzegovina), 14/08/1979
Orel Grinfeeld (Israel), 21/08/1981
Aleksei Kulbakov (Belarus), 27/12/1979
Michael Oliver (England), 20/02/1985
Martin Strömbergsson (Sweden), 01/04/1977
Felix Zwayer (Germany), 19/05/1981

Assistant referees
Dermot Broughton (Ireland), 25/10/1985
Mubariz Hashimov (Azerbaijan), 19/02/1981
Michael Karsiotis (Greece), 10/03/1979
Stelios Nikita (Cyprus), 26/11/1975
Derya Oguz (Denmark), 02/03/1975
Leif Erik Opland (Norway), 17/05/1980
Nikola Razić (Montenegro), 16/12/1979
Mitchell Scerri (Malta), 16/06/1982

Fourth officials
Gediminas Mažeika (Lithuania), 24/03/1978
Sergejus Slyva (Lithuania), 01/10/1980

Special good morning quotes

For others you maybe ordinary, but for me you are special. You are like the sun which brings bright light. There is only one sun, it is special and no other can take its place...just like you.
~ Sherman Josh

Special good morning quotes

Make a resolve this morning to keep a good attitude and a sweet smile. As you move through the day make sure that you plant seeds of goodness in the hearts of those you meet.
~ Victor Tram

Don't compare yourself to the hundreds that you see
or have met. You are different and though even you may not be able to understand it, remember that you are not the same as anyone else but are special.
~ Tim York

Let go of the things that are holding you back. Your mind and your thoughts are priceless. Don't let space and time go to waste thinking about thoughts that are unimportant. Good Morning!
~ Senna Lopez

Good things come to those who think, speak and act on productive things. Aim higher, do something special and sure enough you will see good things happening to you.
~ Phil Motion

Play along to the rhythm of life and when you have a chance gather a choir of friends and create a beautiful melody of love. Life is precious and must be used to create happiness and joy.
~ Colin Tall

As the morning is passing away you may trip once or make a few mistakes but that means nothing. You just need to hold your head up and learn from new falls and mistakes. They are making you wiser. Good day!
~ Maple Samba

All through the day as you meditate on good things, challenge yourself to do something new. Follow your passion and let this day be a start to a happy life ahead. Good morning!
~ George Otis

Next page: Good morning quotes and sms

How to turn tough times into good mornings?
Every one goes through tough times and we all have to make it out alive and well in order to continue living. It is normal to have thoughts of sadness the first thing when you nwake up. But then you can also change it with sheer control. At the beginning it may be difficult but you can heal quickly if you wish to.
All you need to do is replace negative with positive thoughts. This is not a one off thing and you cannot expect everything to change in one shot.
You need to do this steadily and then you will find that you can come ut of pain faster than you expected.

Hope you have a good morning!

Next Page: Have a good morning my friend

Kuipers and the "DOGSOs"

Apart from the fact that Brazil taught the world a lesson concerning how to beat the unbeatable World Cup champions Spain, this Confederations Cup final furthermore featured an impressive amount of tight and demanding situations for the match officials and specially for referee Björn Kuipers of the Netherlands.

Piqué was dismissed by Kuipers (c) kurier.at

A detailed review of the officiating team's performance will ensue in form of a report written by one of our observers, but three key incidents can be already analyzed now.
They all refer to Law 12 (Fouls and Misconducts) - Denying an obvious goal-scoring opportunity (DOGSO).

Therefore, it might be useful to expose the exact definition of DOGSO in the Laws of the Game first.

"Referees should consider the following circumstances when deciding whether to send off a player for denying a goal or an obvious goal-scoring opportunity:
- the distance between the offense and the goal
- the likelihood of keeping or gaining control of the ball
- the direction of the play
- the location and number of defenders
- the offense which denies an opponent an obvious goal-scoring opportunity may be an offense that incurs a direct free kick or an indirect free kick"

It must be clarified that, similar to handball offenses, all these criteria have to weighn up mostly within very few parts of a second by the referee. Even one criteria can be enough to support the referee's decision and back him. It is however also clear that some of those criteria can be considered as more relevant than others, which depends on each single situation.

Incident 1, minute 15.

Spanish defender Arbeloa clearly pulled and held Neymar's kit for a while having been the "last man". Björn Kuipers only issued a yellow card. Splendid onside call by assistant referee Zeinstra.

No other defender could have intervened. The deep forward pass made by a Brazilian midfielder went towards the goal. The infringement occurred 45 metres away from the goal and the likelihood of gaining and then keeping control of the ball was very, very low - despite Neymar's admirable football abilities. He would not have reached this ball probably. For this reason, at least two of the four criteria that come into question for this specific scene unequivocally support the referee's decision. In this particular case, specially the criteria regarding the likelihood of controlling the ball seems to be the most striking and relevant one.

Incident 2, minute 28.

Sergio Ramos of Spain clearly fouled Brazilian Oscar in a quite clumsy but of course tactical way. Oscar was running towards the goal and had a good chance to reach the ball. On the other hand, the angle and position of the incident do not support the term "obvious goal-scoring opportunity" in my opinion. Furthermore Spanish defender Piqué could have intervened as he was quite close. This call really was borderline and "more red" than in the previous incident. However, in dubio pro ref, meaning that one may support Kuipers also in this decision.

Incident 3, minute 68.

Somehow, it was clear that there would be a red card in this game as Kuipers had twice resisted the very severe protests by the home team and crowd (point of criticism here: he really should have punished the Brazilians for those protests). Spanish defender Piqué stopped Neymar on his way into the penalty area potentially facing goalkeeper Casillas in a 1vs1 situation. It is quite clear Kuipers sent him off for DOGSO and not for serious foul play. The distance between the offense and the goal was quite small, Neymar surely would have stayed in possession of the ball as no other defender could have immediately intervened. Thus the only doubt might arouse regarding the fact that Neymar slightly moved away from the goal. However, again the decision made by the referee can be totally supported and understood.

In a sum, Björn Kuipers faced three challenging DOGSO situations and, from my point of view, should be praised for his assessment of them. Specially the first incident exposes a storybook example of how to deal with such situations.