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Referees take center stage in exciting weekend in Mexican soccer
There was plenty of controversy after an exciting round of games in the Mexican Clausura, most notably refereeing decisions that helped America and Tigres
Jan 16, 2012 8:57:00 PM
By Nick Rosano
Diego Reyes, Ivan Alonso, America vs. Toluca
Plenty of MLS fans have complained about the standard of refereeing in the league, and now they can find some solidarity with their counterparts in Mexico.
There were plenty of exciting moments throughout the second weekend of Mexico's Clausura, and while there were a few well-earned results, much of the excitement was steeped in controversy.
The most drama was to be found in the Estadio Azteca, where America scraped a draw against Toluca thanks to a controversial late penalty, though Queretaro was certainly vocal after falling 1-0 at Tigres in large part thanks to a seemingly blown call from referee Fernando Guerrero.
With Toluca holding a 1-0 lead thanks to Ivan Alonso in front of a largely hostile Estadio Azteca crowd and the minutes ticking down, Daniel Montenegro played a through ball from the edge of the area that struck Toluca defender Diego Novaretti, who had his arms at his sides, where the shoulder meets the chest, only for referee Erim Ramirez to signal for a penalty kick to the fury of nearly the entire Toluca team and reigniting plenty of conspiracy theories in the media about the referees favoring America.
Matias Vuoso calmly converted the spot kick to split the points between both sides.
Despite his side likely having lost two points because of the penalty, Toluca president Fernando Corona took a diplomatic, yet subtly critical tone following the game.
"For the referees I don't know (if they favor America), they will carry that in their conscience, there they will know it," he said. "The only thing I can say is that it is sad, bitter, to lose three points the way we did today and come away with only one, because we earned three legitimately, the boys improved in the half but we didn't achieve more."
On the other hand, America head coach Miguel Herrera took a rather unusual stance when questioned about the late penalty and the conspiracy theories suggesting that the officials favored America, one of Mexico's most popular teams.
"No, good that [the referees] keep helping us, the team goes out there to play and if they help us, good," he declared.
Regarding the penalty itself, Herrera was a little less brash.
"I have not seen it, I will look at it, from where I see the movement of the defense, some some say that it hit in the shoulder, others in the arm, but whether it wasn't a penalty or it was, we converted it," the former Atlante coach argued.
The Estadio Azteca was not the only stadium in Mexico to see a controversial decision affect the outcome of a game, though. Nearly 600 miles to the north in the Estadio Universitario in Nuevo Leon, defending champion Tigres UANL edged out last season's surprise team 1-0, sending the Gallos Blancos to a second straight defeat to open the season.
However, just prior to Juninho's 39th minute goal, a wayward header from Hector Mancilla looked to have rolled over the end line, only for Carlos Salcido to dive in and play it to Elias Hernandez, whose cross was poorly cleared, allowing Juninho to pounce and score the game's lone goal.
Television replays showed the ball was about a half a meter over the line, and it appeared as though even Salcido had thought the ball was out, as he walked slowly back onto the field until he realized the play was still alive.
Unlike the case of America-Toluca though, the reaction of Queretaro head coach Jose Cardozo might yield a good degree of scrutiny from the federation, calling the incident one of "total irresponsibility from the linesmen."
He went on to add, "We are playing well in many ways and when they beat you like that, it hurts a lot. I'm not saying the other team didn't play well; in the second half we also played well, in the final minutes we had two good chances at goal. We go home annoyed, hurt by the refereeing and by the defeat as well."
Elsewhere, Chivas' Jorge Henriquez was shown a red card for some seemingly innocuous contact with a Jaguares player while trying to leap over a challenge and reacted, but it had little effect on the game's outcome, with Chivas already down 3-1 and just a handful of minutes remaining.
The weekend's other scores were: Estudiantes Tecos 0-2 San Luis, Pachuca 3-1 Puebla, Tijuana 1-0 Monterrey, Atlas 0-2 Cruz Azul, Atlante 1-2 Santos Laguna and Pumas UNAM 3-0 Morelia.
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