Frisky Business
‘REFEREES are poor, sickly creatures…
|
| Seeing red |
No-one who saw it can forget Paul Alcocks theatrical stagger and fall after being shoved by Paolo Di Canio nor the months of therapy that he needed as a result.
Now, Swedens Anders Frisk has shown that the men in black (or yellow, in his case) are made of no sterner stuff abroad.
Frisk refused to go out and officiate the second half of last nights Roma v Dynamo Kiev match after being hit on the head by a cigarette lighter as he left the pitch at half-time.
True, as the Guardian notes, he had blood streaming from a wound in the middle of his forehead, but players have continued with much greater wounds than that.
And, if Frisk was not up to the task, then surely Uefa could have sent on a substitute, as they would have done had Fisk pulled a muscle or suffered a split end.
As it was, the match was abandoned with the Ukrainians leading 1-0 and the Guardian thinks the Italian side will be kicked out of the competition as a result.
Although the culprit was almost certainly a Roma fan angry that Frisk had had sent off French defender Philippe Mexes moments before, expulsion seems a heavy penalty.
Not least for the other clubs in the group, who will miss out on two money-spinning matches.
One thing is sure, Mexes is unlikely to take the case of his sending off for kicking out at Maris Verpakovskis to the European Court.
Unlike Robbie Savage. The Birmingham midfielder is, in the words of the Guardian, contemplating freeing modern footballers from the tedious inconvenience of accepting referees decisions.
He is angry at his sending-off and subsequent ban in last weeks draw between Wales and Northern Ireland.
And he says that if Fifa fails to overturn referee Domenico Messinas decision, then he will consider taking legal action of his own.
It is highly debatable whether the horrible Savage actually possesses any human rights and so to matters on the pitch.
Ruud Van Nistelrooys two second half goals last night helped his Manchester United team come back from 2-0 down to get a draw in Lyon and, in the process, he became the clubs highest scorer in European competitions.
The Sun says the Dutchman was congratulated on his achievement by Denis Law, the man whose record he beat.
Im delighted for Ruud, Law said. It could not happen to a nicer guy. He deserves this. And to do it in the way he did is fantastic.
While Liverpool won 2-0, Michael Owens new club Real Madrid slipped to a sensational 3-0 defeat at Bayer Leverkusen.
Owen was left on the bench for the third game in a row and admitted that he was frustrated.
Im always confident I can do things if I get a chance, he told the Sun, but the game wasnt there for me tonight so I will wait for the next game.
And the one after that…and after that…’
Posted: 16th, September 2004 | In: Back pages Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
