IN FOCUS: The Final
Argentina defeated West Germany by three goals to two to capture the World Cup trophy, in a highly dramatic denouement to Mexico 1986. But what of the match officials team, led by the Brazilian referee Romualdo Arppi Filho, whose lines were run by Erik Fredriksson (SWE) and Berny Ulloa Morera (CRC), with the quartet completed by José Luis Martínez from Uruguay, who acted as fourth official.
This short report looks at their performances in the big game.
Match Video
Referee
I liked Romualdo Arppi Filho's performance! He delivered a good technical showing, and a very good handling of the unique challenges that refereeing a World Cup final brings. Broadly speaking, Arppi Filho faced two key match incidents (potential penalty area incidents) - let's start with them:
17' - Should West Germany have been awarded a penalty, instead of a freekick outside?
Two questions to answer here, the easier one to address is the location of the contact - it was definitely outside the penalty area, so no missed penalty here.
17' - Should West Germany have been awarded a penalty, instead of a freekick outside?
Two questions to answer here, the easier one to address is the location of the contact - it was definitely outside the penalty area, so no missed penalty here.
Trickier to determine is whether Briegel was actually fouled by Guisti at all, on the one hand perhaps the Argentina defender impeded his opponent's progress with his leg, giving him Briegel no choice but to go over; contrarily, perhaps Guisti did pull out, and Briegel deliberately intitiated the contact to try and win a (penalty) decision).
I'd err more towards the latter, but given that the freekick sequence finished without note, this decision didn't arouse any kind of wider attention in the bigger picture, besides probably that it indirectly led to a Maradona booking.
89' - Was Diego Maradona denied a clear penalty at the end of the game?
Especially looking back, it would seem the obvious answer is - yes.
89' - Was Diego Maradona denied a clear penalty at the end of the game?
Especially looking back, it would seem the obvious answer is - yes.
Having done well to stay on his feet, the Argentina star was then finally felled by a combination of goalkeeper Schumacher and defender Förster. As previously discussed, delayed whistle was not Arppi Filho's strongest suit, but I would actually defend the Brazilian referee here.
In a weird way (and it seems the player reaction backs this up), he actually used 'wait-and-see' quite optimally here. He waits until it is genuinely impossible for Maradona to score from the play, before whistling down the initial trip(s) - all the attacker can do is knock the ball past the on-rushing keeper and be taken out.
The heaviness of Maradona's touch suggests he was trying to do exactly that; be taken out to win a penalty. Interestingly. Maradona seems to accept all of this, as Arppi Filho comes back for the first freekick. So, at least in my opinion (for 1986), Arppi Filho did okay here.
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In terms of managing the game, I thought the Brazilian ref delivered a very accomplished performance. In two imperative areas, Arrpi Filho completely succeeded: 1) keeping a clear head and assessing incidents very clearly, and, 2) presenting a strong, even formidable, leadership figure on the pitch whom the players could follow. This resulted in him always being able to keep a very tight grip on the playing of the match. His quite rigorous foul recognition was simply very good, and when he had a small handful of technically questionable moments, his solutions were actually to the benefit of the game, always in control.
Being able to pull off his dissent management, cautions to Maradona and Briegel included, without problems, is a serious testament to his strength of personality on the pitch. He saw through simulations, brilliantly distinguished between 1986 careless and reckless (only one incident, Matthäus' deliberate foul on Maradona - instant booking; brilliant!) acted excellently against any potential DtR moments (the excellence of this in the 1986-epoch / FIFA's visions needs underlining), and understood that as the game's end drew nearer, he could afford to be more liberal with bookings.
That being said, compensation for lost time management was a bit disappointing, I'd have liked between two and three minutes, and while he blew just after +92:00, the first minute of additional time was completely lost due to faux confusion (-> time-wasting). Still, for a World Cup that was quite absurd in that regard (the technical report lets the secret slip - writing "football matches perfectly fit into the two-hour television slot"), it would be naive to expect more from Arppi Filho.
The best, or rather most successful, World Cup final performances are the ones which completely 'dominate' the players, in a non-demonstrative way, and/or to the benefit of the game. In that regard, this was quite a textbook piece refereeing in football's quadrennial showpiece. Romualdo Arppi Filho can look back on three great performances at this tournament, not least in the final itself.
Well done, Mr Arppi Filho!
Linesmen
For anyone who watched their games with detailed focus so far in the role at this World Cup, how Erik Fredriksson and Berny Ulloa Morera performed as linesmen in the final was probably on par for expectations given their previous showings in the tournament.
Swede Fredriksson was good as a team member (though I'm certain that Arppi Filho actually took the initiative in the freekick for the opening goal); so long as at 3' he was flagging for the central player who was probably just off, rather than the far-side crossing-over attacker, then his performance was good. A wrong flag at 65' is balanced out by what could have been a really crucial, correct onside at 90'.
The same praise cannot be said for Berny Ulloa Morera unfortunately. Contemporaries would have thought nothing of his 39' flag - to be fair, a tight crossover - but he really fails in this scene. He is well off-position and his call is a 100% guess; he automatically expects his ref to signal for him to be a goal judge (a guideline for 86 and 98), while the ref is then to control the offside.
But, because the ball is obviously going to be centred and not shot at goal, Arppi Filho rightly never signals; Ulloa Morera realises this way too late, and can't scamper back in time. So he guesses, and while everyone would have thought "clear offside" without a second thought back then, he was actually wrong. His crucial flag at 69' is completely unacceptable for a World Cup final; many, many yards onside (clip).
When you add that he was completely absent in two quite basic team member scenes too (45', 90'), then we can definitely conclude that Ulloa Morera should not have been appointed for the final. With respect, his clear mistake in Paraguay vs. Iraq (clip) had to rule him out of any further appointments as a linesman. Actually, FIFA were lucky that the final went as well as it did; a real scandal was all too plausible here.
When you add that he was completely absent in two quite basic team member scenes too (45', 90'), then we can definitely conclude that Ulloa Morera should not have been appointed for the final. With respect, his clear mistake in Paraguay vs. Iraq (clip) had to rule him out of any further appointments as a linesman. Actually, FIFA were lucky that the final went as well as it did; a real scandal was all too plausible here.
Finally, some words about reserve linesman (fourth official) José Luis Martínez. The role was very different to nowadays, with Martínez mostly executing his duties sat on a chair. That being said, he was proactive in goal celebration scenes (modern refereeing rightly says to give the players their moment, but for 1986 Martínez did the right thing).
While he is not publicly listed as a team member, I'm glad that Martínez joined his three fellow final officials in collecting a medal for their role in the World Cup 1986 final - clip of the refs receiving their medals can be found here.
Balance
Overall, the match officials team definitely had a wholly positive impact on the Mexico 1986 finale. The most negative point was the performance of second linesman Berny Ulloa Morera - the lessons which FIFA should have learnt from this tournament they did not. Especially the Costa Rican's flag at 69' is hard to accept; many more competent officials could have gotten that right in Ulloa Morera's stead.
But, first linesman Erik Fredriksson and referee Romualdo Arppi Filho showed that they merited their showpiece appointments, especially the Brazilian referee - he was great. I guess, in the three respective officials performances in the big final, is actually quite a fair microcosm of the tournament as a whole. In Arppi Filho, FIFA had a genuine star, who responded very well to his World Cup final appointment.
Thank to everyone who interacted with the blog (usaref, thegreatwar!) and were silent readers - I hope you enjoyed a look back at the officiating of this classic tournament!
But, first linesman Erik Fredriksson and referee Romualdo Arppi Filho showed that they merited their showpiece appointments, especially the Brazilian referee - he was great. I guess, in the three respective officials performances in the big final, is actually quite a fair microcosm of the tournament as a whole. In Arppi Filho, FIFA had a genuine star, who responded very well to his World Cup final appointment.
Thank to everyone who interacted with the blog (usaref, thegreatwar!) and were silent readers - I hope you enjoyed a look back at the officiating of this classic tournament!
| Romualdo Arppi Filho (BRA) Erik Fredriksson (SWE) Berny Ulloa Morera (CRC) José Luis Martínez (URU) Officials | Argentina 3-2 West Germany Final Sun 29 June (1200local) at Azteca MC |
 Maradona (18') - Dissent Olarticoechea (78') - Delaying the Restart Enrique (82') - Not Respecting 9.15m Pumpido (86') - Dissent | Matthäus (22') - Tackle Briegel (63') - Dissent |
| FIFA World Cup 1986 Winners - Argentina | |
