Playoffs, days 4 and 5 of the Madrid Sur Cup

We have now settled into our routine and I have begun to appreciate the variety of personalities we have aboard with us here. The number of different cultures present is still nothing compared to what it will be at Iber Cup, but none the less, it is an interesting dynamic among referees here. The styles on the field are also very unique and different between referees. At the Madrid Sur Cup, we have 4 Croatian referees, while they are an intimidating bunch at first impression; they are in reality quite humorous and they love to sing their Croatian chants on the bus. Yesterday, while being an Assistant referee, one of the Croatians, Tomislav expelled a manager from the sidelines without ever using the referee. While this is pretty unorthodox, I am impressed. Apparently in his broken English, he said to the coach, "sit down, next time you out." Next time came around and the coach decided to whine some more, so Tomas said from the line,"Ok, now you go" and gestured to the stands. Here's a picture below of Tomas in his "tourista" get up which he shows up to games in. 

Wouldn't want to cross an Eastern European dressed like that. 

Match day 4 signifies the start of playoff fixtures, and my assignments came down from the top for 3 U15 boys round of 16 matches (AR/REF/AR). I was quite pleased with my team for a couple of reasons. First off, while I love the international experience, being able to speak in English with all 4 officials makes it so much easier. Secondly, the fellows I was reffing with have become some of my best mates (their British must be wearing off on me). The choice in team was reflected on the field, and I reckon the communication and team work between officials was phenomenal and led to well called games. With clear pre game instructions on all games, we were able to get through quite well including getting a non-call in the penalty area spot on. Since this was knockout fixtures, it was quite heated, as the losing team's tournament dreams were over. At the end of Scott's routine game (I was AR1) the players had seen Dan's (AR2) wrist watch read 2 minutes less than full time. This is because this particular referee watch reaches the prescribed time and then begins to count down to mark stoppage time. This led to a mass confrontation between the players and referees which was handled phenomenally. I believe Scott gave 4 cautions at the end of the match in this incident but sent them on their way, very calmly handled, and the three referees did well at remaining calm and sending the players on their way incident free. My middle referee went quite well, and it helped to have strong assistants, very routine, and I am getting used to this high speed, high control style of play, just in time for Lisbon. 

My team for day 4 was me, Scott Robertson (eng), Dan Patterson (eng) and not pictured, Matt Sell (eng). Took some convincing to get Scott to hold up the Canadian flag

Day 5 presents the quarterfinals and semifinals, and I received an assignment of a middle for the Under  19 quarter finals. Right away, in the tunnel, I could tell I was handed a lit match, and it was over a can of gasoline. It was up to me whether I extinguished it or I let it burn into an explosion. The two teams were from the same club, but it was apparent the animosity between the two of them, I was in for a treat... My team was me, Jack Hennessey (eng), Sergio Bannahas (Esp), and Raul Alonso (esp). The match was intense right from the get go, wraught with dissent, fouls, malcontent, and complaining, my arm was twisted into calling an aggressive game to try and keep control. I had to issue several cautions early on, and this would prove monumental later in the game. The game was 1-1 near the 55th minute, when I witnessed two players go at it in the corner, when the ball was played clear, I saw the frustrated defender throw  the other player down in a reckless manner. I issued a second caution and produced a red card, now this is where it gets interesting. I had the captain of the team opposite the player sent off plead his case and ask me to recall the card, and allow the player to play. I thought this was odd, but as a referee I knew I had made the correct call, so I told the captain to be on his way and continued play. I later realised this was because they were both from the same club and wanted to have whichever team made it to the semi finals play full strength. The game deteriorated and i did what I could to retain control of the match. It was slow and ugly, and the Spanish are very sore winners and losers. In the end, it went to sudden death PKs, and after the 7th shot, the team at full stregnth had won. 

Hindsight is always 20/20, and looking back, there are a few things I would have done differently. First off, I am too used to our nice Canadians, and am fine with chatting with players, as I can manage them fine in English. With the Spanish, if you talk to them, they take that as an invitation to argue. Next, I reckon I ought to have cracked down earlier and prevented anything from escalating, but ultimately, after speaking with my assistants, they agree that the match was set to burn as soon as it began. I was really excited to get the quarter final assignment as its a high level match, but that is not near as excited to get my appointments for tomorrow. All we can do with the challenging matches is learn from them, and get better and better. 

Tomorrow morning will come the finals for the Madrid sur Cup, very much the pinnacle and final goal of all referees here at the Madrid Sur Cup. While there are 35 referees here in Madrid, there are only 5 finals to be refereed, making a total of 20 spots (ref, Ar, Ar, fourth). The five referee spots are the most covetted spots in the tournament. Imagine how thrilled I was to be announced as the referee of the Under 13 boys final match. This will be a fantastic opportunity, an while there are 20 spots among 35 referees, I have also received a fourth official appointment for the under 17 boys. This is largely due to the fact that I can communicate (sort of) with the Spanish coaches, but nonetheless, it is fantastic to get to be a part of two final appointments, a real priviledge. 

I will write about the finals as well as giving my final remarks and comments on the tournament tomorrow at the Madrid airport on my way to Lisbon, and I already feel like I have come so far and made so many meaningful friends throuhgout this one week, I will hate to see them leave. As for those coming on to Lisbon, let's take the chance to be great and show the world what we're capable of.