Conspiracy Theories in Euro Group B

By: Laurie | November 19th, 2007

It was the Group O’Death in the Euro qualifiers: The group which contained not just one but both World Cup finalists, Italy and France, and a World Cup quarterfinalist, Ukraine. And, of course, Scotland, Georgia, and the Faroe Islands, who would be there to allow the real teams to catch their breath occasionally, and possibly to claim for themselves the pride of scoring a goal or two against the big boys.

It didn’t work out that way.

Ukraine self-destructed early, and Scotland came in with an amazingly gutsy performance. They shocked World Cup runners-up France not once but twice, and landed themselves at the top of the group on more than one occasion. They went into their last game, with Italy, needing a win (or a draw combined with a France loss to Ukraine on Wednesday) to qualify. Difficult, but not impossible.

At the second minute of second-half stoppage time, the score was 1-1. Hope still lived. And then this:

It seems like a bit of an unjust result, no?

Irate comments started popping up almost immediately, expressing sentiments like, “Football is so corrupt I can’t stand it anymore. Why do the refs always cheat for Italy? When France loses in Ukraine they should wave Italian flags at the end of the match to celebrate the Italians carrying the french into euro 2008.”

An understandable thought, based just on the above video. What that video didn’t show, though, was Italy having a perfectly good goal called back as offside earlier in the game (goal is at the 1:39 mark), or the possibility that the Scotland goal was offside yet allowed.

The bad refs giveth, the bad refs taketh away. But in this case I don’t think it was a conspiracy. I think it was equal opportunity incompetence.

But Scotland fans? I’m looking forward to seeing your team in World Cup 2010.

Complete recap of weekend’s Euro qualifiers on World Cup Blog.
Postgame thoughts from an Italian fan perspective.
Postgame thoughts from a Scottish fan perspective.
And thanks to Marco for the video links.

Some Related Stories:

Category: Europe, World Football

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Laurie

I'm seeing a couple of unsourced articles that list the date for the draw as Nov. 25th. (I should be on top of this, but I've been focused on the Euros.) When I find something definitive, I'll post it.
Laurie

No draw as yet. (And this is me, leaving this comment to rush out and check my facts.) We'll keep you informed, though.
Ryan

Sorry if I wasnt specific before, I pretty much knew that part about the groups and the 13 qualifiers. When is the draw for those groups and when do the games start was what I really wanted to know?
Laurie

Oh, yeah, Ryan. Sorry, I forgot to respond to your question! Europe currently sends 13 teams to WC. In '06 it was 14 because the host country (germany)automatically qualifies. Eight qualifying groups of 6 or 7 teams. My memory is saying ten teams advance automatically and three more through a playoff system I've never paid much attention to so don't ask me for details. :-)

The Euro competition is every four years, two years before/after WC. Different competition altogether.
Ezio

Ryan, European teams qualify for the world cup through qualifying groups, much like the teams in the other continental federations.

I believe that the foul was called because of the Scot defender raised elbow, in what would have otherwise been a shoulder-to-shoulder challenge that should have gone in favor of the defender. If you look at the replay, the defender slows down and lifts his right elbow just as the Italian player is about to run into him. The foul was called by the linesman, who was just a few meters away, and who saw the action from the front, as opposed to the ref who saw it from further away and from behind. You can see the linesman pointing the flag straight to the right giving the foul to Italy. Now, was it a weak call? Yes. Had the referee and the linesmen been consistently bad all game long? Yes. Did Scotland deserve to be eliminated based on this game alone? No. Would I have preferred, together with 100% of Italian fans, to have Italy and Scotland qualify for the Euro and send the Frenchies crying home? Absofuckinglutely. But Scotland didn't lose their qualifying chances with this game, but rather with that loss against Ukraine, that forced the Italy game to be a do-or-die match. I very much respect the Scottish team and fans, who should be held as an example to the whole world for peaceful passion. It is possible to be a passionate supporter without having to resort to violence. I wish the fans in Italy would realize that, and the authorities would decide to actually do something, so that we wouldn't have to endure the shame and embarassment of having a World Champion team with the worst supporters (at club level at least) of all.
Andy

Italy didnt deserve the win in the second half scotland had them pinned to the wall after we scored true all be it a goal that was offside. That free kick decision was shocking and the referees should be punished. Thats why Ive started a wee poll to send to UEFA true they will probably turn a blind eye to it but at least they will at least see how the bingling ref screwed us out of our rightful place in the EURO 2008 Tournament.

http://www.gopetition.com/peti...
shehan

mejuto gonzalez is notorious for botching big games.

the most notable being the one in istanbul, milan v liverpool 2005.

italy deserved the result, but not all the fuss surrounding it.

mejuto gonzalez is a first class Cunt, with a capital C.
Ian

This was a terrible call, and if you listen hard, you can actually hear part of me dying when that goal goes in, but it really was a poorly officiated game from start to finish, on both sides. Both sides should have had an extra goal (bad offside call on Italy and bad penalty non-call for Scotland). It really does even out. I'd prefer to think about the campaign as a whole, and the upcoming WC draw, than dwell on one bad ref decision.
Bernd

Explain the foul differential: 29 to 20. Guess who was called for less fouls? And they weren't less physical by any means.

Plus if you took the time to analyze the work of Manuel Mejuto González, you'd see some alarming patterns and inconsistencies.
Ryan

Pardon my ignorance, but how do the European teams qualify for the world cup?
Laurie

Also, the French should bow to us.

Good luck with that one. :-)
mele419

"Italy having a perfectly good goal called back as offside earlier in the game (goal is at the 1:39 mark), or the possibility that the Scotland goal was offside yet allowed."

May have been a bit of a make-up call, but I think Italy deserved it either way. Scotland's goal looked offside by a good 6 inches, and our ruled out goal looked close, but I honestly can't call that one way or another.

Also, the French should bow to us.