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Japanese fans shamed by ref's World Cup performance

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46 Comments
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Every tournament has a monster ref. The only way is up from here - including for Croatia.

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

I think it's time to introduce multiple referees into soccer as they do in rugby league and let the video ref decide.

9 ( +12 / -3 )

That was some awful officiating this morning. If I were a Croat I'd probably be rioting by now...

2 ( +4 / -2 )

Without knowing any of this "news story", I have spent the entire day telling people I thought he made the correct call. The Brazilian player was in mid-wind up to take a shot towards the goal when the Croatian clearly grabbed his shoulder and clasped his hand. The amount of assistance the Brazilian player added to his fall on the play seems irrelevant. The Croatian most definitely impeded the play by grabbing the shoulder of the Brazilian. I applaud Nishimura for having the intestinal fortitude to make the call.

I would be happy to see him officiate the final game.

Really.

-12 ( +8 / -20 )

This ref would be well advised not to plan his holiday trip to Croatia.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

In 2010, Congolese fans incandescent at his performance in a Club World Cup game took rather misguided revenge by vandalising a Chinese restaurant in their country.

Lol....

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

My Japanese friends were saying he doesn't speak English, which I found surprising for a World Cup ref.

3 ( +6 / -3 )

"I never saw in my life that a referee don't speak English," said (Croatian) defender Vedran Corluka, though it is required of World Cup referees. "He was speaking something in Japanese but no one could understand him."

Ridiculous. FIFA is a joke.

7 ( +11 / -4 )

HowardStern

I've reviewed the penalty several times and there was minimal contact between the two players. Touching and even some grabbing/grappling is allowed and is a part of the game. Soccer IS a contact sport after all. Fred dived after an amount of contact from the defender that wouldn't warrant a penalty in any league, well maybe in Serie A... The call was wrong and effectively ruined an exciting and evenly matched game.

4 ( +7 / -3 )

Wow. I honestly thought it looked like a foul. At the risk of sounding facetious, I guess I really dont know football/soccer after all. I agree that the Croats looked deflated after the play.

-1 ( +4 / -5 )

My Japanese friends were saying he doesn't speak English, which I found surprising for a World Cup ref.

As I indicated in a different but similar news, from JapanTimes:

"I never saw in my life that a referee don’t speak English,” said defender Vedran Corluka, though it is required of World Cup referees. “He was speaking something in Japanese but no one could understand him."

Yes it's quite incredible that a referee who can't properly speak english ended up in the opening game of the world cup. I guess he was saying them "wakarimasen, wakarimasen, wakarimasen... ".

-1 ( +3 / -4 )

It was a foul. He dived. So what. It's football. You take the good with the bad. Don't blame the ref. He interpreted the rule correctly as he saw it. I can understand the Croatian fans being annoyed but there is always that grey area. It's like the Italian penalty against Australia in 06. It's tough but if you look at it objectively it's a penalty. Anyway, I'm really surprised by some of the posts which seem to be antiStatic. I always thought they were a popular team. I always love to watch them play.

0 ( +6 / -6 )

Why do newspaper take these news up and make them seem to be so big?

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Sorry, not antiStatic but anti Brazil. Spell check should red carded.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

The english thing cannot be true, they are required to know and it's not his first international tournament, maybe there is a problem with his accent if he has a very strong katakana accent it can be difficult to grasp and also consider that his assistants were both japanese and he probably speaks with them in japanese when they are discussing stuff and players can listen, nowadays they are in constant communication, players might get confused and think that he was addressing them.

That said what a horrible game, not just the referee but both sides played poorly.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

roosterman77, it's nice to be philosophical but this is the World Cup and most people take it pretty seriously. Referees have a thankless task however this is the highest level of sport and it requires referees who are competent. Nishimura was way over his head and should never have been appointed.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

"what a horrible game"

Well, it was a soccer game, ha ha!

1 ( +4 / -3 )

banz10 I agree with you but I think most of the posters having a go at the ref aren't Croatian therefore I can't understand their grief. I can only assume they only watch World Cup matches.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

Was talking to people this morning about the WC and how excited we all are to watch the Japan matches, and a few dared to mention this match. Once the name Nishimura popped up, however, they literally did hang their heads in shame and become quiet. I don't understand why -- they aren't Nishimura, nor are they even related to the guy. Don't try to defend him, but you don't have to feel like YOU were making the bad calls!

-4 ( +4 / -8 )

Should have been a free kick to croatia and a yellow card for fred for diving,although not his worst descision of the night that was the yellow to neymar instead of a red for elbowing his opponent in the throat. I mean he looked over to make sure where he was before doing it for gods sake .

0 ( +3 / -3 )

What's all the fuss about? It's only a game!

(ducks and runs for cover)

2 ( +3 / -1 )

@sourpuss - Soccer = fuss, ha ha

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Before hitting the SNS wires (twitter, FB, etc.), ask yourself if you would have made that "correct" call if it was live, in the stadium with 100,000 fans, with the pressure of the 1st game of the World Cup, WITHOUT the luxury of sitting on your arse and looking at a video slow motion with replays??

0 ( +4 / -4 )

!Before hitting the SNS wires (twitter, FB, etc.), ask yourself if you would have made that "correct" call if it was live, in the stadium with 100,000 fans, with the pressure of the 1st game of the World Cup, WITHOUT the luxury of sitting on your arse and looking at a video slow motion with replays??'

I think if you put 'mostly Brazilian' between 'with' and '100,000', we can get to the real question. Refs need strength of character. If you don't have it, and I'm not sure I have, don't be a top class referee.

0 ( +3 / -3 )

If the ref was required to speak english ,how many of the 22 players on the pitch actually speak that language themselves?

0 ( +2 / -2 )

I've got a suspicion Nishimura isn't gonna get anywhere near the business-end of this tournament!

1 ( +2 / -1 )

He does speak English quite well. He was just being a referee.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

I think these Japanese 'soccer' fans need to learn the rules of the game. Perhaps they are just part-time followers. The rules are simple - you cannot impede a player in the act of shooting. The Croatian defender had his hands on Fred. Yes, Fred made the most of it but the ruling was correct. Now all we need is consistency and ensure this ruling is applied everywhere.

-1 ( +3 / -4 )

"invigilation"? LOL Somebody's been hitting the thesaurus a bit too hard lately.

Regarding the official's actions (and inactions): As a high school (American) football official, I don't care what people think who've never been on the field doing the job. This includes players on the field and ESPECIALLY talking heads up in the broadcast booth. Players have a completely different focus on the field than the officials do and they are incapable of relating. Talking heads are there to entertain and will think nothing of injecting controversy if they think it will help ratings. Comments from people who've actually officiated, however, I DO care about. It's very easy to armchair officiate from your elevated position in the stands or in your home with your wide field of vision and multiple camera angles able to provide JUST the right view of what happened after the fact, it's quite another thing to be on the field with a much narrowed field of vision, players blocking-off a lot of your view of the field, and little-to-no ability to review a call or non-call on the field. Officials aren't perfect - even the professional ones. It's one of the curses of the job that even though YOU know you can't be 100% right all the time, the fans, coaches, and players demand that you be perfect. How about we turn that demand for perfection around... A team loses one game in the season? Fire the General Manager, the coach, and the players.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

@OzKen I've played football since I was a kid in England. That's not a pen. I can only assume you've never played at centre-half or never played the game. I'd have given away a pen every time I'd got close to a forward trying to turn me. If you've played centre-half well without putting your hands on a player, you must be telepathic or as I suspect, never played centre-half.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

JimizoJun. 14, 2014 - 12:05AM JST@OzKen I've played football since I was a kid in England. That's not a pen. I can only assume you've never played at centre-half or never played the game. I'd have given away a pen every time I'd got close to a forward trying to turn me. If you've played centre-half well without putting your hands on a player, you must be telepathic or as I suspect, never played centre-half.

By the letter of the law it was a correct ruling. You cannot interfere in the process of a player taking a shot. Simple. Read the rules. You can argue that it may have been a soft pen but that is all you could argue. And no, never played centre-half. I used to play as a number 10 hence why I am in favour of this ruling being exercised more strictly. Physicality in the game doesn't interest me. If I want to watch a really physical game (which I do from time to time) I watch rugby league. I watch football for a display of skills, and because this rule isn't applied particularly in England I think it makes it worse for spectators who favour skill over physicality.

-4 ( +0 / -4 )

OzKen: You fail to take into account the other bad calls he made, like dismissing the elbow... I mean, since you are so against physicality and all that.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

I think Japanese referee is scare or afraid of home fans. I think in his mind if host nation team was lost and then Brazilian fans will target him. Also I found Japanese referees do not have encouraging and confidence in themselves in international game.

I don't know what they afraid of, may be problem with language.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

OzKen, there's no such thing as the "letter of the law", a meaningless phrase spouted as the last line of defence. If the law states a player can't be impeded in the act of shooting, what actually constitutes impediment will be interpreted on an individual basis by each referee in each and every game that's played. You don't need to be a referee to believe that Fred was not impeded by the defender at all in this instance, let alone to the extent that he was fouled.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Why do newspaper take these news up and make them seem to be so big?

Because a match like that stopped a nation of 200 million people, like Brazil? Everything stopped working yesterday, streets were empty, smell of barbecue everywhere, supermarkets closed doors during the game to allow employees to watch it, banks worked half the working time. Because there are billions of dollars involved. And national pride are at stake too.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

My Japanese friends were saying he doesn't speak English, which I found surprising for a World Cup ref.

I'm surprised you're surprised by that.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

I don't see why the Japanese fans needs to feel shame by how Yuichi Nishimura performed. Yuichi's actions/decisions are his alone and the fans have nothing to do with them.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

In soccer not all plays are created equal. That’s why soccer needs to have a replay system. If soccer expands its replay system, it will improve its product, and defuse criticism that it’s stuck in the past and to avoid infamous mistakes. A team is guaranteed a challenge, and If you get that challenge correct, then you get a second challenge. While expanded replay will get more calls correct and make soccer seem up to date, its biggest value may be that the strategy around using the guaranteed challenge will be a major new element in a game. My guess is that many of the plays in a typical game aren’t worth challenging unless you are virtually certain of winning.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Maybe they should start playing more like hockey and floor the ref next time by accident of course.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

It is not fair for him to be judged because of a controversial call. All referees make mistakes in every sport. No one is perfect.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

You cannot interfere in the process of a player taking a shot. Simple.

So Fred with his back to the net was in the process of taking a shot? Give me a break. Putting your hands on a player is not a foul. Simple.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

smithinjapanJun. 14, 2014 - 12:45AM JST OzKen: You fail to take into account the other bad calls he made, like dismissing the elbow... I mean, since you are so against physicality and all that.

Neymar received a yellow card for the elbowing incident. Sufficient for me. I've seen worse let go.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

yuichi nishimura should reveal his findings after the match he get time enough after quick wheestling the referee has always time to consult the line referee and think over what he seemed to see i like brasil winning but not with referee assistance good luck to japanese fans

0 ( +0 / -0 )

And now they are also shamed by national team poor performance :(

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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