You've probably seen the above gif at some point today, if you haven't, the above is what got Sporting KC defender, Matt Besler his yellow card on Friday night in Costa Rica. The yellow, Besler's second of the qualifying cycle, will force him to miss tomorrow's qualifier in Columbus against Mexico.
Joel Campbell, the Arsenal player on loan to Olympiacos, is the Costa Rican player who took the dive that got the booking and has been taking plenty deserved abuse for it today. For the US though, there is no recourse to get Besler's yellow card rescinded. The only way a yellow can be rescinded is in the case of mistaken identity.
Many questions have been asked about the assistant referee in this case. Center referee, Marco Antonio Rodriguez I thought had a good game as a whole, but here had to rely on his assistant as the ball was at the opposite end of the field when the "foul" occurred. According to reports, the referee didn't even raise his flag, but when Rodriguez confirmed with his assistant via his headset, the AR confirmed that it was Besler. My guess is that the AR didn't actually see the incident (or else Campbell would have gotten the yellow). But what I think happened is that he probably caught just enough out of the corner of his eye that when Rodriguez conversed with him the AR fingered Besler as the one that was next to him.
Besler broke his silence regarding the cards today on Twitter, and his response was pretty much what I expected, but said exactly what most people were thinking.
It's difficult putting into words the feeling, but watching the video confirms what I already knew
— Matt Besler (@mbesler) September 9, 2013
I'm extremely disappointed this is the reason I won't get a chance to represent my country in another Mexico match, with a chance to qualify
— Matt Besler (@mbesler) September 9, 2013
Having said that, I'm excited to support my teammates, and am fully confident we will get the job done tomm night
— Matt Besler (@mbesler) September 9, 2013
With Besler suspended along with Jozy Altidore and Geoff Cameron, and Michael Bradley injured, the US will have to step up tomorrow, but with a huge crowd the US can still clinch a World Cup spot tomorrow.
5 comments:
WOW. That is a special kind of flop. Thanks for showing this, BeIn said it was off camera and didn't show anything.
He does seem to step on his foot, and when you step on someones foot (even if accidentally) you notice and turn around...
Tough break.
From the players brought in, I'd guess that F. Johnson moves to right back with Orozco as a CB.
E. Johnson up top.
A long way of saying that now we're in agreement, Donovan likely starts on a wing.
To Anonymous: You need to go on youtube.com and look at the video. There is no way that Besler even touched the guy. There is no way he stepped on his foot. It was a complete dive. And proves once again that not only are the region's refs a joke, but the region's organization is a joke.
business as usual in our region, and will continue as it is tolerated.
the whole week prior, questionable behavior by their Federation was dismissed as "gamesmanship" (poor usage), it shouldn't be a surprise that then their player does this. But we will all continue to shrug, press passes included, and dismiss this as "what happens"
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