Doha. A new bronze for Europe, Morocco finished, a political decision from FIFA affecting the sport they are supposed to take care of.
We do as usual:
Blame the referee.
my mother, the modern national anthem of independent Croatia, rings from the loudspeakers as the final match of the Khalifa Stadium in the World Cup ends. The squares behind one goal are a small fading majority, but now everyone can hear them sing about their country, their home, and their bronze medal.
I don’t know what to say about the oddity that World Cup bronze has gone to European teams in the last 11 tournaments, and what to make of a third medal for amazingly skilful little Croatia in 24 years that is being resolved elsewhere. It was a thrilling finish, not so much for a football match. Walid El Rakragui has finally emptied his entire team, every player they can stand has had game time, but they can no longer afford it. They conceded a free-kick variation that looked more like a flying attack (reception, formation, smash by Gvardiol), seventeen-year-old Bilal Al-Khanoos handed the ball wide and saw Mislav Orsic deflect it wide. Another, but now it’s over.
2–1 to Croatia. All there was for Morocco were tens of thousands of Red and Green supporters, an exciting fourth place and a huge disappointment.
The judge had to accept it.
Will you protect the judges?
When the final whistle blew, five, six, seven, eight Moroccan players stormed into poor Abd al-Rahman al-Jassem. This was the third time in half an hour that they had surrounded him and charged at him. Finally, upset, Regragui also joins in.
But…that’s what we were supposed to avoid with the great var regimen? Surely that would protect the judges?
The World Cup has shown that it doesn’t lead to less discussion (here’s a deeper look at how it actually works), and we’ve recently heard players from Argentina, Morocco, the Netherlands, Brazil and Croatia claim that referees have ruled against them.
But now eight Moroccan players are standing around three referees and shouting, that’s another thing.
It’s entirely FIFA’s fault – those who don’t want to see politics influence this tournament, if you remember. Abdul Rahman Al Jassim is by no means an undeserved football referee, he is not undeserving enough to have any merit arguments for him to officiate a World Cup medal match. His only contribution to the World Cup so far has been the match of the week between Wales and the USA, however he had to officiate in the minor final. It’s customary to bring a gift to the host when you’re invited to a fancy party, but it’s usually a bottle of Beajolais Nouveau, and maybe a nine-level bottle of Ruinart Blanc de Blancs if it’s a really nice party.
FIFA? They gave a spot as the deciding factor in the bronze match.
Everyone knows why though
Of all the signs pointing to the Sport being put in second place, this was the clearest.
How is Abdul Rahman Al Jassim fare? A visual inspection from the stands told me he had a very good first half, but lost the game after the break. There were a couple of penalty cases that weren’t reviewed, basically where I felt like Morocco was aware of their low status and pressured them just because. And the body itself – it looks pretty intimate, don’t you agree? Nice smile and stuff? Maybe he knew too. Not having the requisite power or prestige, he let protests attack him and tried to deal with them calmly instead of the power he should already have as match manager.
He was dealt only two yellow cards, in a game players stormed him to undermine his authority.
It wasn’t his fault, he just did the best he could with what he had.
Croatia got their medals, the referees got theirs, Morocco got their cheers from their people, and where I sat there was a rush when a Moroccan fan took the opportunity to propose to his girlfriend (he was accepted).
Everyone was here for the sport, to see the best arena in the world in the best competition there is.
Abdul Rahman Al Jassim wasn’t there because he was the second best player, he fought and worked hard, but he shouldn’t have been here.
And everyone knows why it was anyway.