As with the other semi final played the previous night this one was essentially decided in the first quarter of an hour. Only seven minutes after Chile goalkeeper Cristopher Toselli had set a new FIFA under-20 World Cup record for minutes without conceding a goal Argentina finally solved the puzzle that five other countries in over 480 minutes of play had failed to solve.
Banega drove forward from midfield and after winning a decisive tackle inside Chile’s half he floated a beautiful play into the path of Di Maria. In full stride Di Maria struck the ball from the left side of the penalty into the postage stamp corner of Toselli’s top right hand corner.
Three minutes later and Chile was a goal down and a man down. Argentina’s right back Mercado and Chile’s midfielder Medal clashed as the ball went out of play for a throw in around the half way line. Mercado was clearly the first player to kick out as he fell to ground while a fraction of a second later Medal also flailed out with his right boot.
It didn’t look as if Medal made contact but Mercado’s reaction indicated a boot to the face. Medal was sent off and Mercado escaped censure. Both should have been sent to the dressing room.
Despite being down a man Chile enjoyed more possession and Cortes came close with an outrageous shot from only a couple of yards from inside Argentina’s half. Caught off his line and furiously back-peddling keeper Romero was relieved to see the shot drift a foot or so wide.
The second half was more of the same. Yacob gave Argentina a two-goal lead after a neat cut back from Moralez. Then referee Wolfgang Stark sent off Currimilla after a second yellow card. The foul count continued to mount as the second half ebbed away and Argentina capped the night off with a third this time from Moralez.
The statistics at the end of the match showed a total of 53 fouls with nine yellow cards (two turning into a red) and two red cards to Chile. Argentina picked up two yellow cards to Cahias and Yacob and both will miss the final. Di Maria looked to have pulled a hamstring in the second half and he looks like he will struggle to make Sunday’s starting line-up.
I couldn't believe how many times argentina players flopped. The sad thing was that the ref was buying it. Chile had absolutely every right to be upset with the ref.
I for one am disgusted with the Argentinians and the referee... what awful fake dives and the ref ate it up. As a professional ref he's got to be able to atleast tell which dives are fake and which aren't...you'd hope that atleast he earned some experience in that. I completely lost respect for Argentina, with such talent they relied on faking injuries and dives than on talent. Shame!!!
This write-up, like the refereeing in the game leaves much to be desired. While the first red card to Medel was appropriate (as would have been the one for the Argentine who faked an injury), the second red required greater caution by the referee, who expulsed a player for two yellows for complaining. However, the red cards were not the bulk of the referee's mistakes. This came in the form of calling many Argentine dive/flop fouls against Chile, including several that resulted in yellow cards. Further, the refereeing was highly uneven, with the yellows being awarded with greater ease to the Chileans. More shockingly, the repeated professional fouls by the Argentine midfield did not result in a yellow until 20 minutes into the second half. It's a shame that in both Germany 2006 and Canada 2007 the protagonist has been the dreadful refereeing. For the first time in my life I am wondering whether red cards should be awarded post-match for CLEAR and UNQUESTIONABLE flopping (grabbing face when hit on knee). Perhaps players would merely flop more effectively, but more than flopping (a realtity of the game) the poor refereeing is proving a blight on the international game that is hard to reconcile with the level of play many teams provide.
I'm utterly disgusted with the ref for totally ruining what looked to be the marquee match-up of the tournament. I'm appalled.
No disrespect to the Czech team, but these were the two best squads of the tournament, shaping up to play a true classic and FIFA gives it to a ref with no sense of perspective. He essentially flushed it down the toilet before the first half was half over.
Nothing that I saw merited a red card. Had Mr. Stark taken some time to leisurely consult his linesmen in order to let the fourth-fifth-sixth official watching replays whisper into his radio ear piece about the true nature of the foul, the first red card would never have been awarded. Two yellows would have been perfect.
Instead, we get some posing, overwrought accountant for a ref, clearly out of his depth, who must have been getting paid by the call.
A disgraceful way to settle this encounter. A joke. Attended the Argentina-Poland game and was amazed by the skill of the Albiceleste. This time, despite a wonderful goal by DiMaria, I feel cheated by their cowardly tactics.
I'll go to Sunday's game full of skepticism and anger, feeling ripped off that one entrant in the final hasn't been chosen in a suitable manner.
GET OUT OF MY STADIUM, FIFA! I WANT TORONTO FC BACK ON THE FIELD AT ONCE.
the ref didn't do too bad. He's also one of FIFA's primary european based prospects. I thought his decisions were mostly quick and generally correct.
Although, that red card could of been too harsh. the goal down and red card basically put chile into the same position Paraguay was in against Mexico in Copa. Most Chileans though showed good discipline and played a calm offensive game in general, except maybe 2 individuals. And they exploited that space between insua and fazio pretty well lol.
the U-20 team still need to find their place in 4-3-3. Playing that formation, you either play like barcelona, use your players' individual talents to maintain offensive pressure, or you play like chelsea, drop into 4-5-1 (4-1-4-1) and play defensive counter attack. This argentine team seemed to linger too much in between and wasn't very effective on either end. So they didn't really absorb the chilean attack that well, the backfield was chaotic at times which forced our players to foul chileans and got some cards.
the match left 2 undesired problems for argentina, (or one). we'll have both Cahais and Yacob suspended in the final. Yacob is already subbing in for injured Escudero, who the hell we gonna use now?!
moralez wasn't very active as expected. he's ran too much in previous matches and hopefully he won't be too fatigued for final.
Aguero didn't process some the chances right but he did ok. and those couple plays at the right wing shown how good a player he is.
Reports are coming out that the toronto police has arrested 8 to 10 of the chilean players and trainers for trying to greet their fans on the way to their bus. The chilean reporters were locked in and told not to come out. According to the reports the toronto police used "extreme force", pepper spraying a player, beating players and in one case using a taser gun on suarez. No one really knows what sparked it other than the players trying to greet their fans.
"After the match, a few Chilean players and officials raced at the officials, who needed help from others to keep the enraged Chileans away. The crowd booed the officials as they walked off with two police officers and the officiating crew - after some nervous glances at the crowd - eventually raced into the tunnel as a water bottle was thrown at them."
"The ugliness carried on after the game with witnesses saying a Chilean team member was subdued by taser after a scuffle with police at the team bus outside the stadium. The incident started with police looking to establish order and apparently escalated into a real ruckus when Chilean players tumbled out of the bus after seeing one of their own tangling with police."
"Security blocked off the area, keeping reporters away from the scene. Some half dozen Chilean team members, some handcuffed and a few bleeding from the face, were taken back to a dressing room with FIFA and tournament officials coming and going, according to a witness."
What can I say? It was a good game, I enjoyed it, all 14 minutes of it. I guess Fifa wanted to make sure early that Argentina made it to the final. Is there really any other explanation? Overall, I thought Argentina were actually the better team on the field, but would have loved to see the game played out with a decent referee, would have settled for an average one.
What nincom#### at Fifa decided to put a German referee in charge of this game? Particularly one with such lack of tolerance for theatrical displays of dissent. Theatrical displays after fouls being OK.
These are kids playing these games. Is Fifa really expecting to stamp out the emotion out of them? Isn’t it what makes the sport have such a wide appeal? Shouldn’t Fifa be looking to stamp out the over acting and poor refereeing? I think Argentina will win the final. They are a really good team. They don’t need the overacting or help from naïve referees to do that but they will always welcome it if it is available, which sort of makes them the Barry Bonds of Soccer. Everybody knows they go over the line, we just can’t prove it, or in the case of Fifa, there is no incentive for them to do anything about it, not yet anyway.
ref definitely missed the call on first red card, both players deserved to be sent off. after that, argentina fully deserved the win, 15 shots to 4, the ref had nothing to do with the absolute brilliant ball-winning tackle followed by perfect instant-pass by banega who has to be one of the tournament's most consistent and overall attractive players for my money. the finish by di maria was certainly classy as well.
the chileans got the short end of some harsh refereeing, but ultimately, other than cortes' brilliant lomg range effort where romero was caught toatlly asleep, had little to match the argentinians overall class and especially (i mention it again) their killer midfield, in my mind, by far the best in the tournament
How can anyone say Argentina was a better team when they were playing with 12 men on the field,one in yellow (not counting the linesmen).Obviously they got more shots on net,yet they had less possesion.The Chileans were shafted from the get go,they were given the red ,unjustly I might add,as the Argentinean player kicked out first then proceeded to give a first rate performance (reminiscent of Rivaldo's vs Turkey) and grab his face as if he'd been scalded by boiling water.Regardless of the red card and of the obvious leanings of the referee towards the Argi's the Chileans never gave up and continued mounting attack after attack.Both are great teams but this display certainly leaves me with a bitter taste in my mouth and feeling swindled.This could have and should have been the match of the tournament,instead it was a farce that ended with disillusioned players and fans as well as with another blight on FIFA's record.So please ,I understand you are Argi fans but be realistic and try to employ a modicum of objectivity,don't scream about the superiority of your team and spew match stats.The ref never allowed the chileans to play and for that he should be reprimanded....
I agree there could of been a yellow going togather with the red card. but you can't blame the ref for that. He saw Medel's retaliation, and that's what he based his decision on. how do you expect him to judge something he did not see. and that was a touch on Medel's leg during an attempt to grab the ball which already went out, if anyone thought argentina should of played man down because of that, he's simply a ####.
Last edited by riostrioff on July 19th at 11:09 PM.
not to mention. the ref let go plenty chilean fouls. and vidal never got send off. did anyone miss how the chilean pathetically trying to show friendly gestures after their fouls during second half?
not to mention we got 2 yellows that resulted in suspension for final match.
The ref was a fool obviously leaning towards Argentina,not to mention the fact the Argi's were certainly milking it.It was disgraceful the way they were purposefully trying to get Vidal redcarded...riostrioff you are obviously an Argi fan ,you must feel like the chilean team did during the game ,every call going against you,frustrating isn't it? By the way ,nice intellect, resorting to name calling,all you need now is a good dive and you're a true team member,by the way up to now most negative posts have been towards the ref but you brought it down to the lowest common denominator,way to go!!!, enjoy the victory chump!!!!
The Argies must have thought that the field turned into a pool after so much rain because they were diving all over the place.
The sad thing is that with the talent they have they shouldn't need to do these things.
It doesn't surprise me this behavior though.
There are four negatives things in South American football that have started in Argentina and I hate these things.
1 - cynical play (dives and fake injuries)
2 - barras bravas (criminals posed as fans who extort the clubs with hooligan behavior)
3 - calling the refs. for cards everytime there is a foul
4 - Not coming out of the locker on time either at the start of the game or after halftime so they make the other team on the field wait for them.
btw, did you guys hear Bielsa is going to coach chilean NT? need an argentine exile to take care the business?
if you knew Grondona's relation with Blatter, should be surprised the 2nd red card came so late for chile... AFA is a mafia, and mafia scares people for a reason haha.
How sad, you began your posting with a rather enlightened analysis of football formations and have finished posting infantile retorts and fanning the flames of an already rather ridiculous and tiresome Chile-Argentina rivalry. We all know Argentina won, but the issue being debated here is primarily the refereeing which left much to be desired and the play-acting of the Argentine team that was neither necessary nor befitting of team of that caliber. No one doubts the lack of maturity of some of the Chilean players, but no unbiased spectator can doubt that the refereeing was a one-sided affair, and that the Argentines took full advantage of this by stepping up their performances to Oscar-worthy levels. A sad and disappointing game on several levels. The off the field incidents with Chilean players gassed and tasered when trying to great their fans is the cherry on top of a pathetic display by FIFA officials and the Canadian police.
I love these blogs, a bunch of know it all professional soccer critics.
"Trying doesn't win you games. Scoring goals do"!
So please stop the hate towards Argentineans. Everytime they put themselves among sports best, they're neglegted to page 2.
They played intelligently. They made Chile chase, chase and chase the ball, tiring them out for the last 45 min, which, if you were there (I WAS) you can see Chile's frustration, chasing and chasing without being able to handle the ball, which justifies the 53 fouls.
I agree that some were dives, however, name 1 fuskin soccer game that doesn't have some dives or made up fouls.
That is why South-American soccer will always be more enjoyable and superior to European football, souly for their creativity, ball handle, imagination and making it "A BEAUTIFUL GAME".
So cry all you want, that game was by far the best of this Tourni PERIOD!
Argentina clearly has a better team then Chile...Chile are a bunch of babies, they got owned...They can't keep their cool so the police had to round them up like a bunch of animals...so funny...Argentina should have scored 6 goals...I'm happy Argentina is in the final!
If Argentina's skillful play was that good, their ball movement so superior, surely they wouldn't have needed to resort to repeated diving and playacting.
The fact is, they are a vastly superior team in talent. Play up to that level and a world full of fans will cheer you on. Play to the lowest level and you'll get scorned.
I would expect that some consideration is being given to cancelling the third-place game. Not much point in playing it now, after nine Chileans were detained by Toronto police after the game.
Tasers, pepper spray and heavy manners all used to round up the players, who trashed their bus, smashing the front window.
Can't imagine any of those players would want to play another game in Toronto, especially a game that has always looked meaningless except for minor seeding placements, which matter little at this level.
Chilean and Argentine fans were generally well behaved, mixed in with each other. However, having seen both teams play against Canada in the same stadium, I'll take the overall conduct of Argentina's supporters. The Chilean fans got a little nasty on Canadian fans earlier, including booing our anthem.
No wonder I'm finding myself fancying Argentine red wines over Chilean reds these days. Malbec from Mendoza over Merlot from Maipo.
Thank you for supporting the anti-argentinean rants!
Best behaved fans. Fans that bring passion and enjoyments to every game with their drums and chants. Fans that sell out every venue they played in. Good music, good food, good wine, good times!
Chilean fans, boo'ed the canadian anthem, tried to climb the fence to get in for free, clashed with police and not to mention chilean players destroying the bus, breaking windows, tearing out seats and being detained by OPP officials, good example EH?!
Again, yes they dived. But again those are just tactics to get under the rivals skin, seeing the ref was giving them the benifit of the doubt, why not?!
We have the best #1 Under 20 team and the 2nd best National team, why look for excuses for these anti-argentinean rants!
Toronto got a taste of true soccer passion yesterday unfortunately Toronto Police misinterpreted it as aggression and created a huge dilemma out of something that could have been handled with understanding and diplomacy.
What was expected to be the greatest game at the U20 tournament was marred by poor officiating which resulted in the violent scenes that took place at the national soccer stadium.
FIFA needs to examine the actions of both the referee and Toronto Police.
Clearly the victims here are the young Chilean soccer players who were robbed of their dream by the referee and then brutally assaulted by Toronto police officers who clearly do not understand that passion means more than pinning a Toronto Maple leafs flag to your vehicle.
Bobby, you're the man, but this following quote of yours is terrible:
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"Three minutes later and Chile was a goal down and a man down. Argentina’s right back Mercado and Chile’s midfielder Medal clashed as the ball went out of play for a throw in around the half way line. Mercado was clearly the first player to kick out as he fell to ground while a fraction of a second later Medal also flailed out with his right boot.
It didn’t look as if Medal made contact but Mercado’s reaction indicated a boot to the face. Medal was sent off and Mercado escaped censure. Both should have been sent to the dressing room."
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If you watch the replay, you clearly see intent from Medal, trying to stomp on Mercado's face. He does not necessarily need to stomp on him in order to be sent off. We;ve seen many instances over the years, were players take a swing at another and get sent off. Therefore, sorry Bobby, you the man, but here, you are wrong!
i can see the majority still have the need to make sense.
it was tough but proper officiating, and the referee did a good job controlling the tempo of the game and protected players from both sides from getting injured.
after the recent incidents that resulted in 20 game? suspensions, I can't believe how idiotically the chilean U-20 team behaved. turning to furstration in second half, trying to cover up their horrid fouls with fake friendly gestures, attacking the referee???? wow, what sportsmentship, what a showing for the NT.
and now there are people actually saying the toronto police was wrong to intervene?
haha, how far are chilean fans willing to go?
It seems to me that the entire world press has been reporting that it was questionable officiating @ best,only an Argi fan wearing blue and white blinders ,the same ones they wore when they justified Maradona's hand of God goal,could see that as firm fair officiating,once again ,CHUMP!!!!
Cahias and Yacob are already out. And Zarate isn't nearly as productive as Di Maria!
One thing I will agree with is that the Checs have been playing better and better every game. I don't see this being a snozzer as the first game they played in Round Robin!
RINGO, you need a day job and off these forums!
and Ellexia, are you still a old devasted Brit trying to reverse the most magnficant World Cup goal of all time?!
Boy, do i ever wish 1/2 the ppl that post on the forums actually attend these games and not go by what un-intrested CBC braodcasters have to say during the play by play commentary!
Last edited by Palacio14 on July 20th at 10:00 AM.
It was a hack-fest, a dive-fest, and a horrible refereeing-fest all in one.
Earth to FIFA….when the referee shows more anger than any of the players on the field, that’s a bad sign. Where do you find these people?
I have not respect for the Argentina side. They were a group of diving pansies. Teams and players like these are ruining the game.
Please don't cry. The chileans were diving also when they played Nigeria. The same way the ref was favoring chile against Nigeria so was this ref favoring the argentines. All I could say is what goes around comes around. Chile got what they deserve
palacio how can anyone take your comments seriously when you have the ever popular blue white blinders on,just admit that the officiating was poor,take your victory and go forth ,but don't preach Argentina's superiority because that certainly wasn't on display in last night's game.The Chileans never gave up and the Argi's never gave up diving....but I guess a win is a win right?The difference btween the Nigeria game and the last night's game is that no one was redcarded after only 15 mins
What I think is many of you fail to realize that the true aspiration for these youngsters are a call up for the mens full national squad, and these games are a show case for their skills in order to get the call. Thus, is it any wonder the argie youngsters are giving it their best greg louganis out there? best dive gets the call up so they can get thrashed by brasil in the wc qualifiers!
Im with ringo throw the lot of them out for this and next wc under 20s. the argies for diving and the chileans for no class.
Just so you know Vidal and Sanchez as well as Vindangossy have all already gotten the call to the Senior team but chose to play on the team they had battled so valiantly with to get to this tourney...
Ellexia, Blue and white blinders? Whatever that means, just for the blue and white part, I'll take that as a compliment.
You must have not read all my posts, because nor do I favor the diving, or the chilean's constant swearing and behavior (during and after the game), nor the ref's excesive yellows. If that makes me bias on last night's game, then I suggest you start from the 1st palacio post > this one!
Why?
Simple, I've attended almost all games played here in Toronto, not to mention cheering on my country, through good and bad times. From Ottawa to Toronto. So, if supporting the blue and white makes me look one sided, then I suggest you post you hatred elsewhere.
P.s. Get over yourself, 1986 was a looooooooooooong time ago. Have a drink and watch the 1990 finals to better your spirits and continue your anti-argentinean hatred.
Last edited by Palacio14 on July 20th at 11:11 AM.
I'm bored reading about the diving stuff. Everybody who has played football professionally or not, makes a dive or flop, don't you? Come on! It's part of the game. If you dont like to dive play Rugby instead.
Zidane dives, Materazzi dives, Henry dives, Ronaldo dives, Ronaldinho dives, Beckham dives, Totti dives.
I didnt like the Ref. The ref should had been a south american ref, someone who knew about all the south american folklore.
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