WEBVTT - Seeing Red 0:00:02.520 --> 0:00:04.720 Today, I am going to convince you of two things 0:00:04.920 --> 0:00:09.760 you absolutely do not want to believe. The first, referees 0:00:09.800 --> 0:00:13.560 are good. Actually, but when I look at referees and 0:00:13.720 --> 0:00:15.880 the track record they have of getting things right, I 0:00:15.880 --> 0:00:18.799 think it's just phenomenal that a human being can, for 0:00:18.960 --> 0:00:25.360 ninety minutes, get that many things right of interfering with play. Okay, 0:00:26.680 --> 0:00:31.840 I have off side, Thank you, Tidy. Hey, what are 0:00:31.880 --> 0:00:34.199 you doing by If it's your free kicks the bowl? 0:00:34.280 --> 0:00:37.320 If it's not your free kick, move away, Tom, It's 0:00:37.320 --> 0:00:41.360 an easy yaw. And your second new belief, starting approximately 0:00:41.479 --> 0:00:43.919 half an hour from now, is that red cards are 0:00:44.000 --> 0:00:48.560 more exciting than goals. It's a yellow card. Wait a minute, 0:00:48.560 --> 0:00:50.560 he's taking another card out for bacam. It's a red card. 0:00:53.680 --> 0:00:58.760 It's pushing and shoving and arguing. A yellow card to chatty, 0:00:59.120 --> 0:01:06.440 admit the mela. To convince you, let's look at the 0:01:06.480 --> 0:01:09.399 game with the most red cards in World Cup history. 0:01:10.040 --> 0:01:18.360 It got a thank you dot coast. It is at 0:01:19.160 --> 0:01:23.399 Lastia Portugal versus the Netherlands in the two thousand and 0:01:23.440 --> 0:01:28.679 six World Cup, sixteen yellows, four reds to Melee's uncounted 0:01:28.680 --> 0:01:32.160 crates of Champagne a Guinness World Record, a PhD in petagogy, 0:01:32.319 --> 0:01:35.640 an almighty bruhaha, and a partridge in a pear tree. 0:01:37.560 --> 0:01:41.280 I'm Nando Vila and this is the best soccer podcast 0:01:41.640 --> 0:01:54.840 in the worlds were then, but it's still live, Christiano Ronaldo. 0:01:55.080 --> 0:02:25.400 Yes oh yea four A m April four people of 0:02:25.440 --> 0:02:28.240 the Free Imperial City of Nuremberg in the Holy Roman 0:02:28.240 --> 0:02:31.840 Empire awoke to a space battle playing out across the dawn. 0:02:33.120 --> 0:02:37.079 Two blood red semicircle arcs lights glimmered and shot across 0:02:37.120 --> 0:02:41.120 the sky. UFOs danced in front of the sun space orbs. 0:02:41.680 --> 0:02:43.720 They fell to the earth in a cloud of smoke. 0:02:44.320 --> 0:02:50.519 A large black triangle appeared. Sights and wonders. Ten days later, 0:02:51.040 --> 0:02:56.240 Hans Glazer recorded it in a woodcutting. These were like 0:02:56.320 --> 0:03:01.160 early broadsheets. They often recounted astrological mystery ease which primitive 0:03:01.200 --> 0:03:05.120 humans could not grasp. The whole event was most likely 0:03:05.240 --> 0:03:08.120 a SunDog or a part helia, which are halos of 0:03:08.200 --> 0:03:11.920 sunlight caused by refraction in ice crystals in the atmosphere, 0:03:12.040 --> 0:03:16.080 especially when the sun is near the horizon. It became 0:03:16.120 --> 0:03:27.520 known as the Battle of Nuremberg. Nine pm June and 0:03:27.600 --> 0:03:32.720 six Franken Stadion, Nuremberg. The World Cup slogan that year 0:03:32.880 --> 0:03:36.040 was a time to make friends. The match that day 0:03:36.080 --> 0:03:38.640 set records for total cards and for the most red 0:03:38.680 --> 0:03:41.480 cards in World Cup history. I think it's fair to 0:03:41.520 --> 0:03:45.240 say no one made any new pals. It became known 0:03:45.800 --> 0:03:51.720 as the Battle of Nuremberg. Sorry, very unusual and very emotional, 0:03:52.280 --> 0:03:58.080 and it's Tory stood out. This is Michael Yoakin, freelance 0:03:59.080 --> 0:04:02.600 for the little right cho That's what I do for leaving. 0:04:02.640 --> 0:04:07.160 I'm just right about. The World Cup that year was 0:04:07.200 --> 0:04:10.480 in Germany, the Holy Roman Empire having long since dissolved. 0:04:10.480 --> 0:04:13.920 By two thousand and six. Hey remember two thousand and six, 0:04:16.480 --> 0:04:19.440 a little site called twitter dot com launched and rotted 0:04:19.480 --> 0:04:23.560 all our brains. Google bought YouTube, Disney bought Pixar. Pluto 0:04:23.680 --> 0:04:26.800 was demoted to a dwarf planet. Steve Irwin, the Crocodile 0:04:26.839 --> 0:04:29.080 Hunter was killed by a stingray. Dick Cheney shot a 0:04:29.080 --> 0:04:31.520 man in the face while quail hunting. You asked for 0:04:31.560 --> 0:04:34.480 a wee but got apples to apples on Christmas instead. 0:04:34.800 --> 0:04:37.320 Hannah Montana debut on the Disney Channel. George Cluney was 0:04:37.360 --> 0:04:40.960 correctly People's sexiest man alive. Shaquira's hips told the absolute 0:04:40.960 --> 0:04:44.400 truth while you listened on your Microsoft Zooon MP three player, 0:04:44.640 --> 0:04:49.040 Britney spears and kay Fed broke up, Saddam Hussein was hanged, 0:04:50.480 --> 0:04:53.080 and Italy won the World Cup. Disney den z Don 0:04:53.160 --> 0:04:55.520 closed his playing career by headbutting Marco Madazi in the 0:04:55.600 --> 0:04:58.080 chest and silently walking down the tunnel. And perhaps the 0:04:58.080 --> 0:05:04.240 most famous red card in soccer history, Marco Matarazi Ye, 0:05:04.320 --> 0:05:09.960 it's crushed Bisa Don. But that was two weeks later. 0:05:10.400 --> 0:05:12.760 We're still talking about the Round of sixteen here, which 0:05:13.040 --> 0:05:17.280 had other red cards, sloppy of red cards, sillier. But 0:05:17.400 --> 0:05:18.800 you know, as we know, it's not the size of 0:05:18.839 --> 0:05:21.200 the the dog in the fight. It's the fight in 0:05:21.240 --> 0:05:22.960 the dog. And there was a lot of fight in 0:05:23.320 --> 0:05:25.360 all the dogs as far as I can recall. In 0:05:25.400 --> 0:05:29.640 that game. It wasn't in football terms and edifying spectacle, 0:05:29.680 --> 0:05:31.960 but it was, my god, it was good to watch 0:05:31.960 --> 0:05:34.920 in many other ways because football is about passion, it's 0:05:34.920 --> 0:05:39.320 about rivalry, it's about drive and desire to win. And 0:05:39.360 --> 0:05:42.120 I think that every now and then this is probably 0:05:42.120 --> 0:05:43.760 why people want, you know, they love it. When they 0:05:43.839 --> 0:05:46.320 dropped the gloves in hockey and that every now and 0:05:46.320 --> 0:05:49.440 then it's nice when we see this is James Richardson, 0:05:49.560 --> 0:05:52.240 the host of the Totally Football Show. You know, football 0:05:52.240 --> 0:05:56.239 can be quite sanitized, sometimes can be quite professional. So 0:05:56.680 --> 0:06:01.040 when it's clear how much passion, how much how much 0:06:01.080 --> 0:06:04.480 humanity there is kind of smoldering away under those kind 0:06:04.480 --> 0:06:08.120 of polished pr exteriors, I for one, quite like that. 0:06:08.480 --> 0:06:11.760 I like a rule. A brawl is exactly what portugal 0:06:11.800 --> 0:06:15.360 defender for Anno made. I called it. This was the 0:06:15.440 --> 0:06:19.720 last chance for Portugal's Golden generation. A remarkable crop of 0:06:19.720 --> 0:06:22.520 incredible players came through the youth system at the same time. 0:06:23.160 --> 0:06:25.320 They won back to back Under twenty World Cups in 0:06:27.720 --> 0:06:30.600 but by now Luis Figo, their best player, was well 0:06:30.640 --> 0:06:39.039 into his mid thirties. Ruey Costa had retired already. Some 0:06:39.200 --> 0:06:42.320 new young talents had emerged, like this kid named Cristiano Ronaldo, 0:06:42.520 --> 0:06:46.000 then a one. He was a finicky talent, step over happy, 0:06:46.040 --> 0:06:49.960 but had something special. I wonder whatever happened to him, 0:06:50.160 --> 0:06:54.280 especially given the like's hair of twinkled toes. Ronaldo Portugal 0:06:54.360 --> 0:06:56.840 swatted aside the group stages, winning three in a row. 0:06:57.440 --> 0:07:07.200 Luis Figer Plezza it's newis Figo, It's Dicko Magniffson. Twenty 0:07:07.200 --> 0:07:11.720 one year old Cristiano Ronaldo waits for referee poolas whistle 0:07:12.240 --> 0:07:17.440 composes himself and scores. She now took the ball armed 0:07:17.560 --> 0:07:23.040 and almen On who was marking Maniche. Nobody are they dancing? 0:07:24.680 --> 0:07:30.600 Nice Figo penalty. As for the Netherlands, they invented total 0:07:30.600 --> 0:07:33.360 football in the seventies, of fluid system that went down 0:07:33.480 --> 0:07:38.720 smooth as orange crush. This was a different Netherlands. The 0:07:38.760 --> 0:07:41.480 coach was Michael van Baston, a legendary striker for a C. 0:07:41.640 --> 0:07:44.160 Milan and the Dutch national team, who won the Blunder 0:07:44.520 --> 0:07:51.000 three times. It's the cars the way to the black posts, 0:07:52.120 --> 0:08:01.560 always come for it. When he played for Milan, his 0:08:01.640 --> 0:08:05.720 coach was legendary Italian tactician Arrigo Saki. It took Saki 0:08:05.800 --> 0:08:08.320 many crates of Champagne to win over snobby Van Basten. 0:08:08.680 --> 0:08:11.560 Saki would better create the ten players of Van Baston's 0:08:11.640 --> 0:08:15.560 choice couldn't break down four well drilled defenders. If Saki 0:08:15.640 --> 0:08:18.680 had called in all his winnings, he'd still be drunk today. 0:08:19.000 --> 0:08:21.760 Von Boston, a legendary forward who liked to score goals 0:08:22.080 --> 0:08:26.280 absorbed the importance of an organized defense. He had yet 0:08:26.320 --> 0:08:29.120 to lose as Netherlands coach, going unbeaten in the group 0:08:29.160 --> 0:08:33.200 stages helps Alldix went to Roban, who's called the place 0:08:33.320 --> 0:08:39.400 here only the keeper to Bates. Robin opens the Doutcher 0:08:39.480 --> 0:08:45.640 cops Van Bessie, you don't score back to goals and 0:08:45.760 --> 0:08:50.240 I world up the art two three goalkeepers wouldn't have 0:08:50.320 --> 0:08:55.200 kept that one expat van mister Roy star Holland to golf. 0:08:56.200 --> 0:08:58.040 To give you an idea of what kind of coach 0:08:58.160 --> 0:09:02.079 Van Boston was against portrait goal he benched Rude van Nistelroy, 0:09:02.360 --> 0:09:04.959 the ruthless Manchester United striker who had signed for Real 0:09:05.000 --> 0:09:08.320 Madrid that summer. For Dirk Cout. Cout made up for 0:09:08.360 --> 0:09:12.000 a complete lack of imagination or flair with stamina and effort. 0:09:12.440 --> 0:09:15.960 He lived his life permanently panting with puffed red cheeks. 0:09:16.600 --> 0:09:18.920 The team was built around a curly haired midfielder named 0:09:18.960 --> 0:09:21.920 Mark Vambammel. A time to make friends, you say no 0:09:22.080 --> 0:09:25.000 thank you, Sir Van Baummel has never carved out time 0:09:25.000 --> 0:09:28.720 for that in his entire life. Two minutes into the game, 0:09:29.080 --> 0:09:32.360 Van Bommel set the tone. He hit Ronaldo hard with 0:09:32.440 --> 0:09:36.720 a late tackle along the touch line. Yellow card mark 0:09:36.760 --> 0:09:40.080 Peter Gertuda. Andreas van Bummel was coming off winning the 0:09:40.160 --> 0:09:42.640 La Liga and Champions League double with Barcelona in his 0:09:42.720 --> 0:09:46.200 only season there. He learned Spanish in a convent outside 0:09:46.200 --> 0:09:50.160 of Eindhoven. But this man was no saint. In its 0:09:50.160 --> 0:09:53.240 twenty one year career that spanned league titles in the Netherlands, Spain, 0:09:53.400 --> 0:09:57.480 Germany and Italy, Von Baummel picked up thirteen reds, including 0:09:57.480 --> 0:10:01.400 one in his final match. He was a dirty player. 0:10:01.880 --> 0:10:04.800 This was a dirty Dutch team and we're off to 0:10:04.880 --> 0:10:14.640 the races. Five minutes later, Khalid Boolooroo's stamped on Ronaldo's time. 0:10:15.360 --> 0:10:18.200 Christiano writhe on the floor and pointed to his leg 0:10:18.520 --> 0:10:21.839 so everyone could see where the auri was. Magic spray 0:10:21.880 --> 0:10:23.520 and lots of rubbing got him back on the field, 0:10:23.760 --> 0:10:27.800 but it was a clear red. Christiano Ronaldo was substituted 0:10:28.000 --> 0:10:32.599 after substaining a knee injury from multiple heavy tangles. He 0:10:32.800 --> 0:10:36.439 is fighting begnteers, let's help. His faith of world captain 0:10:36.520 --> 0:10:41.160 is not over. That was the game in which Khalid 0:10:41.240 --> 0:10:48.160 Bolo's was instructed to just injure Cristiano Ronaldo. It was 0:10:48.360 --> 0:10:52.600 his mission, and he succeeded in that mission. Medics taped 0:10:52.640 --> 0:10:55.040 up Ronaldo's tie a few minutes later. He was clearly 0:10:55.040 --> 0:11:02.280 in pain. He was very limited defriender, very physical, tactically 0:11:02.360 --> 0:11:06.199 very sound, but well, he couldn't really play football. He 0:11:06.320 --> 0:11:11.040 just could all renew its to tackling. His name was 0:11:11.160 --> 0:11:16.400 Khalid der Kannibali or Khalid the Cannibal. Once he told 0:11:16.440 --> 0:11:19.280 a friend he was sharpening his studs for the upcoming match, quote, 0:11:19.800 --> 0:11:23.000 I only want one thing to eat a striker. The 0:11:23.120 --> 0:11:27.000 nickname stuck. Boolooroo's preferred to call himself his mother's son. 0:11:27.400 --> 0:11:29.720 He grew up in a Moroccan family with eight siblings. 0:11:30.280 --> 0:11:32.839 At sixteen, his dad died and he became responsible for 0:11:32.880 --> 0:11:36.360 the family financially. In his early playing days, he drove 0:11:36.360 --> 0:11:39.000 a VW golf but couldn't afford the gas to keep 0:11:39.000 --> 0:11:42.439 it running. Dutch goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar, who made 0:11:42.440 --> 0:11:46.120 a record on thirteenth appearance in this game, called Boolooroo's 0:11:46.240 --> 0:11:48.280 the type of teammate you want around on the long 0:11:48.400 --> 0:11:51.560 nights at training camps. What I'm trying to say is 0:11:51.559 --> 0:11:53.920 that he was a complete human being with needs and 0:11:53.960 --> 0:11:57.920 desires and terrors and sorrows, but we know him only 0:11:57.960 --> 0:12:01.040 as a butcher with a scar down his face, a 0:12:01.120 --> 0:12:06.599 knife between his teeth, an insatiable urge to Maime. Boolooroo's 0:12:06.640 --> 0:12:08.680 snuck in one more thigh kick and Ronaldo had to 0:12:08.679 --> 0:12:13.800 be subbed out sobbing as Seawards replaced him. A year 0:12:13.840 --> 0:12:17.920 and a half later, Ronaldo still had the scar. Once 0:12:18.120 --> 0:12:20.880 Van Basten asked Boolooroo's if the tactical instructions were clear, 0:12:21.160 --> 0:12:25.800 Boolooroo's nodded quote, no mouse gets through boss. There was 0:12:25.880 --> 0:12:28.600 no way Ronaldo was going to escape this one unscathed. 0:12:30.520 --> 0:12:35.680 They shouldn't do that, and they shouldn't just hunt Cristiano 0:12:35.760 --> 0:12:39.760 Ronaldo down until he's injured and substituted. In the first half, 0:12:40.280 --> 0:12:45.120 it was just I didn't like it. Portugal hit back, 0:12:45.600 --> 0:12:47.760 Moniche got a yellow card for coming through the back 0:12:47.800 --> 0:12:49.920 of Van Bommel, who clearly made the most of it. 0:12:51.400 --> 0:13:01.480 Then Moniche scored one nail. A proper match was threatening 0:13:01.520 --> 0:13:05.920 to break out, but fret not friend. That never happened. 0:13:06.800 --> 0:13:09.720 After half an hour, Costna committed to a long sliding 0:13:09.800 --> 0:13:12.120 lunge that really he was never going to get the ball. 0:13:13.120 --> 0:13:15.160 It looked like slow motion as he slid across the 0:13:15.200 --> 0:13:19.600 field and into the referees notebook. A few minutes before 0:13:19.640 --> 0:13:22.080 the half, Nuno vain to hit Ry and Robin in 0:13:22.080 --> 0:13:26.720 the chest with his studs in the box. The referee 0:13:26.760 --> 0:13:30.160 decided to whistle offside rather than deal with all of that. 0:13:31.360 --> 0:13:34.240 And then in first half stoppage time, Costna tried to 0:13:34.280 --> 0:13:36.400 head the ball, but it's about two ft from his 0:13:36.480 --> 0:13:40.280 bald scalp. His hand slaps it instead. He's on the 0:13:40.320 --> 0:13:43.920 halfway line. There's really no point, but it's his second yellow, 0:13:44.200 --> 0:13:48.960 so we have our first read. Portugal coach we Fiscotatti 0:13:49.080 --> 0:13:51.760 draped his hand over the dugout, looking back over his 0:13:51.800 --> 0:13:55.840 shoulder and shaking his head. This was Scotti's eleventh World 0:13:55.920 --> 0:13:59.440 Cup game. He'd won the previous ten, including the whole 0:13:59.520 --> 0:14:02.640 dang turn in two thousand and two with Brazil. His 0:14:02.760 --> 0:14:07.080 Portugal team was let's call it less refined. You expect 0:14:07.200 --> 0:14:10.400 Portugal to play that way if they loved to play 0:14:10.480 --> 0:14:16.640 dirty historically. Halftime, we're at six yellows and one red. 0:14:17.600 --> 0:14:19.720 In the second half, Cout had to break away, he 0:14:19.760 --> 0:14:23.040 flubbed and Filip Coku hit the post. But the actual 0:14:23.080 --> 0:14:25.160 business of trying to get the ball in the net 0:14:25.440 --> 0:14:28.200 was the b plot here. The real game was seeing 0:14:28.200 --> 0:14:34.600 who could collect the most cards. Minute fifty substitute Pity 0:14:34.840 --> 0:14:37.240 touched Van Baumo, who spun wildly to the ground and 0:14:37.320 --> 0:14:41.360 sold it yellow. Minute fifty nine, a late Giovanni von 0:14:41.360 --> 0:14:45.800 broncors tacle on Deco yellow. In the aftermath, Luis Figo 0:14:45.840 --> 0:14:48.800 headbutted Van Baumo behind the referees back. You can see 0:14:48.800 --> 0:14:51.160 the pause. Then Van Baumo puts his hand over his 0:14:51.240 --> 0:14:55.600 face and collapses to the ground. Yellow. After the game, 0:14:55.680 --> 0:14:59.000 Scolatti said, quote, Jesus Christ said he would turn the 0:14:59.040 --> 0:15:03.320 other cheek, but Figo is not Jesus Christ. There you 0:15:03.320 --> 0:15:07.200 have it. Minute sixty three, Boolooroo's got back at not 0:15:07.400 --> 0:15:10.720 Jesus Christ by elbowing Figo on his big honking nose. 0:15:11.120 --> 0:15:15.880 Second yellow red. Both benches cleared for the melee, which 0:15:15.920 --> 0:15:18.640 is always fun. Andre Oyer had to be held back. 0:15:20.280 --> 0:15:24.280 Minute sixty seven, Johnny Hitinga comes on for von Baumbo. Somehow, 0:15:24.440 --> 0:15:27.960 against all the odds, von Baumo survived this game without 0:15:27.960 --> 0:15:31.560 getting sent off. He finished his international career with seventy 0:15:31.640 --> 0:15:35.880 nine appearances, ten goals, tennis sists, thirteen yellows, and because 0:15:35.880 --> 0:15:38.280 there is no justice in this dark and cruel world, 0:15:39.080 --> 0:15:43.560 zero red cards. Minute seventy three, the Netherlands break an 0:15:43.600 --> 0:15:46.480 unwritten rule by refusing to give the ball back. Portugal 0:15:46.520 --> 0:15:47.720 had had to put it out a bounce so a 0:15:47.760 --> 0:15:52.040 player could receive medical treatment. Deako comes streaming in foot 0:15:52.200 --> 0:15:55.680 at knee height and smacks Johnny Hitinga's trailing foot. He 0:15:55.840 --> 0:15:58.000 ting A sores through the air in a gorgeous ark. 0:15:58.680 --> 0:16:02.560 Yellow Petite was leaning over hy Tinga, who was crumped 0:16:02.560 --> 0:16:04.520 on the floor, to scream at him for not giving 0:16:04.520 --> 0:16:08.120 the ball back, so Wesley Schneider bundled him over. Yellow 0:16:09.080 --> 0:16:12.400 Raphael Vandervart got booked in the aftermath as players crowded around. 0:16:12.800 --> 0:16:16.040 I have no idea what exactly for one match report 0:16:16.120 --> 0:16:21.800 called it, apparently for descent yellow. Minutes seventy six, Portuguese 0:16:21.840 --> 0:16:25.160 goalkeeper Gottao got booked for well, let's just say the 0:16:25.200 --> 0:16:28.600 ref was trigger happy at this point. Match report quote 0:16:28.960 --> 0:16:33.440 presumably for time wasting. That same minute, valent is stuck 0:16:33.440 --> 0:16:35.720 in a nice slack on the back of Van Percy's ankles. 0:16:36.560 --> 0:16:38.560 Minute seventy eight that Goes scooped up the ball and 0:16:38.560 --> 0:16:40.320 refused to give it back for the Netherlands to take 0:16:40.320 --> 0:16:43.440 their free kick. Cuckoo spun him around to the ground. 0:16:43.880 --> 0:16:48.720 That goes second yellow red. For some reason, Goku wasn't booked. 0:16:48.760 --> 0:16:52.240 I mean, I'm unclear why Scotti is gesturing and screaming 0:16:52.240 --> 0:16:55.160 at the ref. Von Boston looks like his brain has 0:16:55.200 --> 0:16:58.920 shorted out. He's just standing still, eyes darting around while 0:16:58.960 --> 0:17:03.800 he keeps rubbing his nose with two fingers. Minute Van 0:17:03.840 --> 0:17:06.399 Bronkhorst is trying to start a counter attack when Manita 0:17:06.480 --> 0:17:09.960 scoops the ball away. Von Bonkhorse then clatters into him, 0:17:10.280 --> 0:17:14.520 second yellow red. Von Boston is still holding his face, 0:17:14.920 --> 0:17:17.760 just staring and not moving. He said there was no 0:17:17.800 --> 0:17:21.000 soccer played in the second half. When Von Boston went 0:17:21.000 --> 0:17:23.320 to shakes scare at his hand, the Brazilian was too 0:17:23.320 --> 0:17:25.720 busy dancing and waving the Portuguese flag in the middle 0:17:25.760 --> 0:17:34.919 of the field. The lasting image of this game is 0:17:34.960 --> 0:17:37.320 of the ejected Van Bronkhors and Deco sitting on the 0:17:37.359 --> 0:17:40.679 steps next to each other, gesturing and bitching about the referee. Together, 0:17:41.320 --> 0:17:46.080 Barcelona teammates international rivals united in their hatred of the referee. 0:17:46.560 --> 0:17:51.200 It's what binds us all together, really, common enemies. Many 0:17:51.240 --> 0:17:54.399 across the globe picked the same villain. The l A 0:17:54.480 --> 0:17:58.200 Times called the refereeing atrocious, pitiful. It called the two 0:17:58.240 --> 0:18:02.600 thousand and six World Cup irrevocably tainted. Van Vasten said 0:18:02.680 --> 0:18:05.640 quote the referee made a mess of it. He called 0:18:05.680 --> 0:18:09.879 the game chaos. After the final whistle, Marcel and the 0:18:09.960 --> 0:18:13.480 teammates Diko and Van Bronk post was vaunted Ravelina did 0:18:13.640 --> 0:18:16.680 next to each other on the sidelines, wondering wont had 0:18:16.800 --> 0:18:22.720 Jude happens. FIFA president step Bladder said the ref wasn't 0:18:22.760 --> 0:18:25.200 at the same level as the players and suggested he 0:18:25.240 --> 0:18:28.919 should give himself a yellow card. Van Instilroy said the 0:18:28.920 --> 0:18:31.560 referee was permanently holding up a card and seemed determined 0:18:31.600 --> 0:18:34.960 to book everybody. The New York Times called him petty. 0:18:35.320 --> 0:18:37.440 Ronaldo said the referee shouldn't get any more games in 0:18:37.480 --> 0:18:41.719 the World Cup, and well he didn't, So who was 0:18:41.760 --> 0:18:46.520 this referee that everyone hated? Valentine Ivanov was a forty 0:18:46.560 --> 0:18:49.640 four year old music teacher from Moscow. His parents had 0:18:49.640 --> 0:18:52.440 met as teenagers at the nineteen fifty six Olympics, where 0:18:52.440 --> 0:18:56.920 they each won gold. His father, Valentine cosmics Ivanov, went 0:18:56.920 --> 0:18:58.800 out to finish as a joint top score of the 0:18:58.880 --> 0:19:10.359 nineteen sixty two World Cup and won the eurosy He 0:19:10.440 --> 0:19:13.120 later coached Torpedo Moscow to a league title. Yes, that's 0:19:13.160 --> 0:19:17.560 a real team name son Valentine Valentinovich Ivanov was also 0:19:17.640 --> 0:19:20.000 a striker for Torpedo Moscow and reached the final of 0:19:20.040 --> 0:19:24.760 the Soviet Cup. Then Junior went into refereeing. This was 0:19:24.800 --> 0:19:27.320 his last World Cup before aging out at forty five. 0:19:28.240 --> 0:19:30.600 He said this game, the Battle of Nuremberg, was the 0:19:30.600 --> 0:19:35.640 toughest of his career in terms of rudeness. Actually, Ivanov 0:19:35.680 --> 0:19:40.159 was criticized for his performance, but I thought that he 0:19:40.280 --> 0:19:42.840 was handed an absolutely impossible tasking that game at he 0:19:43.359 --> 0:19:46.600 and he actually had a good game. All the players 0:19:46.600 --> 0:19:49.639 who were sent off dissolved to be set. Twitter hadn't 0:19:49.680 --> 0:19:51.920 taken off yet, so people on the internet started websites 0:19:52.040 --> 0:19:55.400 arguing the pros and cons of Junior's continued existence. Debating 0:19:55.400 --> 0:19:58.320 the merits, Ivanov joked that he would go into politics. 0:19:59.040 --> 0:20:01.240 His father stood up for him, pointing out that FIFA 0:20:01.280 --> 0:20:04.119 had asked referees to be stricter. The two thousand and 0:20:04.119 --> 0:20:06.800 sixth tournament finished with a record high of three and 0:20:06.800 --> 0:20:11.040 forty five yellow cards and twenty eight reds. Ivanov's mother 0:20:11.160 --> 0:20:14.680 had the more emotional defense. Her son speaks perfect English, 0:20:14.840 --> 0:20:18.240 he has a PhD in pedagogy. Quote, but his father 0:20:18.359 --> 0:20:21.879 dragged him into football. With that, my life came to 0:20:21.920 --> 0:20:25.679 an end, pic dramatic. What I'm trying to say is 0:20:25.680 --> 0:20:27.840 that he was a complete human being with needs and 0:20:27.880 --> 0:20:31.359 desires and terrors and sorrows. Even if he's not the 0:20:31.359 --> 0:20:35.639 best referee in history. He's not, But you know, I 0:20:35.680 --> 0:20:40.760 think even the best referee ever wouldn't have been able 0:20:40.800 --> 0:20:45.240 to handle that game properly because some of the players 0:20:45.560 --> 0:20:50.840 took that filled in order to kick and injure other players. 0:20:50.880 --> 0:20:53.000 So who was that fault for how the game turned out? 0:20:53.640 --> 0:20:56.480 Ivanov himself said it's hard to determine why a game 0:20:56.560 --> 0:21:01.720 suddenly becomes so rough quote, but happens. He added that 0:21:01.760 --> 0:21:06.240 the Portuguese game plan was expected. The Dutch surprised him, 0:21:06.320 --> 0:21:10.160 but the Dutch, the Dutch, I not like that. And 0:21:10.320 --> 0:21:14.359 the very fact that Marco van Boston, of all people, 0:21:14.720 --> 0:21:19.160 he was the coach and he was such an elegant striker. 0:21:19.840 --> 0:21:23.399 Van Boston accomplished everything in his short playing career besides 0:21:23.440 --> 0:21:26.800 winning the Ballondor thrice. He won the Euros, two European 0:21:26.840 --> 0:21:30.679 Cups and three Syria titles. He retired at twenty eight 0:21:30.800 --> 0:21:36.280 from injuries. The fact that Marco van Boston decided to 0:21:36.440 --> 0:21:42.080 send out his prayers in order to injure opponents, it's 0:21:42.160 --> 0:21:45.120 just disgusting. It's the fact that Marco van Boston became 0:21:45.160 --> 0:21:50.480 such a cynical and negative coach. It was very, very 0:21:50.720 --> 0:21:55.440 very disappointed, because really really disappointed. After the game, both 0:21:55.440 --> 0:21:57.680 Mark van Bamble and Rude Venus to Roy refused to 0:21:57.680 --> 0:22:01.720 play for Van Boston. Ever again, Ronaldo said of the 0:22:01.720 --> 0:22:04.520 fouls had clearly been intended to injure him. FIFA talks 0:22:04.520 --> 0:22:07.560 about fair play that he said there was no fair play. 0:22:08.480 --> 0:22:11.879 The game finished with sixteen yellows and four reds, a 0:22:11.960 --> 0:22:14.800 World Cup record, and just think how many more there 0:22:14.840 --> 0:22:17.399 would have been if Pippe had earned his Portuguese citizenship 0:22:17.520 --> 0:22:22.080 a year earlier. In the same World Cup, English referee 0:22:22.119 --> 0:22:25.320 Graham Paul gave a Croatian player three yellow cards before 0:22:25.320 --> 0:22:30.600 sending him off. Joseph Simnich referee mistakes stand out. We 0:22:30.640 --> 0:22:32.880 tend to talk about any other aspect of the game 0:22:33.080 --> 0:22:35.959 if it's well refed. Firstly, I take a positive view 0:22:35.960 --> 0:22:38.239 of the referees. I cannot conceive. I mean I think 0:22:38.280 --> 0:22:41.440 I can. I think I can conceive of how difficult 0:22:41.440 --> 0:22:44.159 it is to be a referee, or particularly alignsman. But 0:22:44.359 --> 0:22:46.080 I know that I can't because what I think of 0:22:46.119 --> 0:22:48.119 the difficulty is if I was ever placed in that 0:22:48.200 --> 0:22:52.000 situation for really, even for five minutes, given a linesman's job, 0:22:52.359 --> 0:22:55.880 and told to try and make important decisions which other 0:22:55.920 --> 0:22:58.840 people are going to be relying on. The ignomint is 0:22:58.880 --> 0:23:01.720 going to follow swiftly on my heels if I dare 0:23:02.119 --> 0:23:05.960 to make a mistake, I cannot conceive of how difficult 0:23:06.000 --> 0:23:09.040 that is. And I know they get things wrong. Ivanov's 0:23:09.040 --> 0:23:13.399 mother agrees, But when I look at referees and the 0:23:13.480 --> 0:23:15.639 track record they have of getting things right, I think 0:23:15.720 --> 0:23:18.919 it's just phenomenal that a human being can, for ninety 0:23:18.960 --> 0:23:21.480 minutes get that many things right. They get some stuff wrong, 0:23:21.520 --> 0:23:24.359 but go back years and watch some of the decisions then, 0:23:24.400 --> 0:23:28.119 and oh my word, I want to talk about something else. 0:23:28.640 --> 0:23:32.320 Everyone complained about Ivanov's performance, but this game freaking rocked. 0:23:33.040 --> 0:23:35.280 I mean, everyone likes goals, the whoosh of the ball 0:23:35.320 --> 0:23:36.919 in the net, the eruption of a yell in our 0:23:36.960 --> 0:23:40.479 throat before you fully register what's actually happened, the surge 0:23:40.480 --> 0:23:42.920 in the crowd, the moment the players drop their guard 0:23:43.080 --> 0:23:53.159 and hug each other like tizzy little children. But you 0:23:53.160 --> 0:23:56.560 know what's more rare than goals, red cards. More than 0:23:56.600 --> 0:23:59.960 even a goal, a red drastically alters the match. You've 0:24:00.040 --> 0:24:02.960 got to play. With one fewer human on your team, 0:24:03.000 --> 0:24:06.640 you will almost certainly lose. We should hold the beloved 0:24:06.680 --> 0:24:10.600 red card in a place of honor, cherish them. Listen. 0:24:10.640 --> 0:24:13.360 I get it. If you're Dutcher Portuguese, this game was bullshit. 0:24:13.760 --> 0:24:16.720 But if you're from one of two other national confederations 0:24:16.720 --> 0:24:21.080 that FIFA recognizes, holy held this game was fun. Our 0:24:21.119 --> 0:24:25.720 primitive brains could barely grasp it. Sits and wonders. But 0:24:26.119 --> 0:24:28.320 I think on the occasions that it's touched my own 0:24:28.400 --> 0:24:30.960 kind of that I've had skin in the game. I mean, 0:24:31.040 --> 0:24:33.280 you just move on, because the other thing about football 0:24:33.440 --> 0:24:37.040 is that next week there'll be a fresh story. Next week. 0:24:37.160 --> 0:24:39.720 You might win next week. I don't know, It's just 0:24:39.760 --> 0:24:45.560 a sport that continually renews. The Netherlands went on to 0:24:45.560 --> 0:24:48.160 make the final in the following World Cup, two ten. 0:24:48.800 --> 0:24:53.080 They're famously Nigel de Gng pleaded cha in the chest. 0:24:53.800 --> 0:24:56.040 He's looking could have been a red card, probably should 0:24:56.040 --> 0:24:58.400 have been. No attempt to play the ball at all, 0:24:58.960 --> 0:25:02.000 that's mu to the chest. Portugal went on to win 0:25:02.040 --> 0:25:07.439 the Euros because here's the man, there's one of the 0:25:07.520 --> 0:25:13.600 Unitade Chaptian ship. So the referee isn't something that I 0:25:13.640 --> 0:25:16.760 fixate on. Yeah, and I salute them because, as I say, 0:25:16.960 --> 0:25:19.720 I cannot conceive of how difficult it is what they do. 0:25:19.960 --> 0:25:22.760 And I think of all the incredible people, the incredible performance, 0:25:22.760 --> 0:25:27.800 the incredible talents that we see in football. Possibly referees 0:25:28.560 --> 0:25:33.680 are among the best. In the Guinness Book of World Records. 0:25:34.040 --> 0:25:36.000 The game with the most red cards came in the 0:25:36.119 --> 0:25:39.840 Argentine Fifth Division, a two thousand eleven match deteriorated into 0:25:39.880 --> 0:25:43.480 a full fledged bench clearing brawl. Fans even joined in 0:25:43.480 --> 0:25:47.359 the fighting. The referee sent off all two players, plus 0:25:47.400 --> 0:25:51.040 fourteen subs and coaches, thirty six red cards in total. 0:25:51.600 --> 0:25:56.560 Sites and wonders, no one cares how many goals were scored. 0:25:59.080 --> 0:26:01.399 The Best Soccer Podcasts in the World is a production 0:26:01.440 --> 0:26:04.480 of Exiled Content Studios in partnership with I Hearts Michael 0:26:04.880 --> 0:26:09.000 podcast Network and is hosted by Men Devila, produced by 0:26:09.040 --> 0:26:13.520 Anna and Zach Lee Rigg, Written by Zach Lee Rigg. 0:26:14.400 --> 0:26:18.080 Production assistants by Stella Emmett. Our executive producers are Isaac 0:26:18.160 --> 0:26:21.560 Lee Rose Reed and myself Named Avila. Our executive producers 0:26:21.600 --> 0:26:24.879 that I Heart are Gisel Bances and Arlene Santana. Sound 0:26:24.880 --> 0:26:28.960 designed by Are Awesome. Theme song is by lu j 0:26:30.200 --> 0:26:33.119 Special thanks to all the voices who participated in this episode, 0:26:33.160 --> 0:26:37.280 Michael Yelkin and James Richardson. For more podcasts, listen to 0:26:37.320 --> 0:26:40.119 the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you 0:26:40.200 --> 0:26:41.399 listen to your favorite shows.