Video Response: Was it worth a Red?

I am deeply saddened to return to the Greece Blog on the heels of a bitter (to say the least) 2-0 loss to Switzerland on Saturday night in Basel. My big return was supposed to be capped with a huge celebration of a big win in Basel, but somebody (I’ll deal with him in a sec) really ruined…everything (this is not a conspiracy theory, or me saying England is going to win the World Cup again, ever).

Anyway, first off, I am deeply sorry for abandoning you, my readers, I think there is like two, oh wait one of them is I think my colleague Chris, so yah that other guy that’s reading, this one’s for you…

Okay. In a match featuring the top two teams in Group 2 of the UEFA zone of qualifiers for next summer’s FIFA World Cup in South Africa, Greece travelled to St. Jakob Park for a highly-anticipated meeting with Switzerland.

With such high stakes on the line, a late first-half red card for Loukas Vyntra, was the ultimate, and solitary catalyst, for a late, very late, Greek meltdown.

Despite give it their all for just about eighty-minutes, about forty-one of those shorthanded, Greece conceded on eighty-three minutes to trigger a cave-in late in the second half.

A free-kick from Hakan Yakin was headed home by Stephane Grichting, while Marco Padalino confirmed the win for the Swiss with a tally of his own five minutes after Ottmar Hitzfeld’s side grabbed the lead.

Despite the shortage in men, Greece had previously come close to scoring a goal of their own just after the hour mark. A team-mate of Vyntra’s at Panathinaikos FC, Nikos Spyropoulos nearly netted his first goal for the Greek National team when he fired a shot on-goal, only to have Diego Benaglio save the effort, but not well enough to avoid Greek fans slipping to the edge of their seats.

In fact, it must have been the most tormenting play of this qualifying campaign thus far, the saved effort eluding the Swiss goal before brushing against the post, only to have an offside-call on Giorgos Samaras end Greece’s best chance in disappointing fashion.

So the Swiss beat us again Belgian referee Frank De Bleeckere (I’ve found multiple names for him since Vyntra’s dismissal) handed Switzerland another win; he was the same referee who was in charge of that decisive second-leg play-off tie the Swiss had with Turkey in qualification for World Cup 2006. Guess who won that? ‘Nuff said.

And a recent posting on the very popular Greek site, www.sport24.gr, further backs notions that he is a poor referee – still UEFA chose him to officiate the recent UEFA Super Cup title between FC Barcelona and FC Shakhtar Donetsk. If you don’t believe me about how much of a screw-up he really is, check the videos on that sport24.gr link labeled as “posting”.

Now I have embedded a video to support my argument, sadly it’s German so I don’t really understand what the commentator is saying, but it shows enough of a replay to support my arguments.

While Vyntra and Magnin were both warned by De Bleeckere about the pair testing his patience, there seemed to be an added grudge towards Vyntra. And with one of the Swiss players pulling a pick-and-roll type maneuver found commonly in basketball, Vyntra easily lost his balance as he tried to keep up with Magnin.

But apparently placing one hand on a player, is not okay anymore, or wait, let me phrase: placing a hand on an opposing player is not allowed any more if a Greek does it.

Well, for now that is enough of a rant. You guys watch the video and decide if De Bleeckere made the right choice by leaving a comment below. Don’t worry, I don’t bite.

Match Report