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More controversial PKs move Mexico past Panama in ugly Gold Cup semifinals contest

photo by Jason Getz/USA Today Sports

By FRANCO PANIZO

Mexico is off to the CONCACAF Gold Cup final, but not without another victory mired in controversy.

Three days after topping Costa Rica in extra time via a dubious penalty kick that drew the ire of fans and pundits everywhere, Mexico defeated 10-man Panama, 2-1, after 120 minutes in a scandalous and controversial semifinals match on Wednesday night.

Like in Sunday’s 1-0 victory over the Ticos, Andres Guardado came through for El Tri from the spot. He pulled Mexico level 10 minutes into second-half stoppage time in Atlanta’s Georgia Dome, which were given due to Panama’s protests and stoppage of play after the penalty was awarded by American referee Mark Geiger.

Guardado also netted on another attempt from 12 yards out a minute into stoppage time of the added first half, pushing the Mexicans to their first Gold Cup final since 2011. They will meet Jamaica on Sunday in the championship game.

The controversial calls started early in this one. Carlos Vela was aggressively jostling for position with Anibal Godoy on a set piece in the third minute before tempers flared and Vela elbowed the Panamanian in the stomach. Geiger saw the infraction, and issued Vela a yellow card.

Geiger was not so lenient in the 25th minute. Jumping for an aerial ball, Panama attacker Luis Tejada made contact with Francisco ‘Maza’ Rodriguez’s face with an open hand. Geiger immediately issued a red card to Tejada, who was livid with the call and refused to leave the field for a few minutes before doing so.

While the Panamanians had to regroup and be more compact defensively, they took the lead through a 57th-minute header at the near post from Roman Torres. Torres got on the end of a corner kick from Eric Davis, and nodded a bouncing effort past Mexico goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa.

As Panama celebrated the goal, debris thrown from the crowd, including a liquid of some sort, hit them.

El Tri threw numbers forward in search of an equalizer and was on the brink of elimination, but won its first controversial penalty kick in the 89th minute.

Geiger called a handball and pointed to the spot after Torres fell backwards on the ball while trying to fight off Mexican substitute Carlos Esquivel. Chaos ensued, as Panama’s furious players walked off the field momentarily while fans in the stands hurled more objects in the direction of the two teams’ benches.

Eventually, Panama opted to resume play and Guardado fired his penalty kick past Canaleros goalkeeper Jaime Penedo to force extra time.

Panama were undone by another shot from 12 yards out after Harold Cummings collided into Javier Orozco in the 103rd minute. Replays showed that Vela, who played Orozco in on goal on the play, was just offside before receiving the pass that started the sequence.

Guardado again came through in the clutch, beating Penedo for the second time to ensure Mexico reached Sunday’s championship game at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The Panamanians, many of which stormed the field after the final whistle to berate Geiger, will take on the U.S. Men’s National Team in the third-place match on Saturday after the Americans fell, 2-1, to Jamaica earlier on Wednesday. That game will be played at PPL Park in Chester, Pennsylvania.

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What did you think about Mexico’s 2-1 win over Panama? Are you incensed about the way things played out? How big of a black eye is this match for CONCACAF?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. That was a clear PK. He does not fall on the ball, he jumps to the ball touches the ball and blocks the play. That shows intention therefore it’s a clear PK.

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  2. Both penalties were valid.

    Reyes dove towards the ball and pinned it against the ground like a goalkeeper. He obviously didn’t mean to but that is irrelevant. The ref has no choice but to call it.

    The second penalty was a clear foul.

    Panama’s only valid beef is with Tejano’s red card. If he gets sent off for that, Vela should be sent of for his elbow.

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  3. I agree that some fans (not just Mexican, since I’ve seen other Concacaf nationals do throw stuff on the field) that go to these games aren’t behaving the way we’d all want them to. There should be a penalty for that behavior but what would it be? Have the team play in an empty stadium the next game? An empty Gold Cup final? It’s a little tough to enforce at these tournaments that are played across so many cities. And it’s not like the Mexico players weren’t trying to discourage the fans who were misbehaving. Why not just stop selling beer at stadiums for these matches and prohibit tailgating on stadium grounds to try and limit the potential of ennebriated fans entering the stadium?
    As for conspiracy charges, it was just bad referring and a guy who let the game get out of hand. Cause if the corruption charges and dirtiness leveled at Mexican fans/players/nationals by people on here is what people want to believe, then what are we to believe if the focus of corruption on the field last night was an American ref?

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    • It seems that FIFA takes on the people who throw bananas on thefield and punished their teams or organizations, they have attempted to address hooliganism, why cant they at least make an attempt to stop people from throwing urine and batteries at players. We all agree that racism is unacceptable. But is tnrowing human waste on pa player not just as delorable. Stadium security is a nightmare, no doubt. But something has to be done. The reality is as bad as all of that reflects upon CONCACAF, this weeks results/referreeing makes it worse ten times as bad. Makes me less ans less interested when i see results that appear predetermined, and the lowest 5 % of the human race allowed to desecrate the civilized ones.

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  4. Why do CONCACAF refs have a need to be in the story lines..

    Seriously, dubious calls should never be made..especially in important matches..

    Just Let the players play and keep the wrestling to a minimum.

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  5. Just wanted to comment that the quality of this tournament overall has been poorer than usual. Not a good showcase for our region (though perhaps an accurate one). Hard to get excited about it the future.

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    • Copa America was not quite as bad, but there was obvious favoritism there for the home country of Chile. Maybe they should arrange it so that the regional bodies aren’t responsible for putting on their regional tournaments. For example, for South America, have another fed3eration run it and bring in refs from other regions. And them CONMEBOL could run the other federation’s tournament. Have all the money put into a trust; There needs to be much more transparency on how these federations are run.

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  6. Until last night, Geiger was considered the best ref USA ever produced. Last night, he committed the single biggest mistake any ref could make. Forget all the cards, a slew of them, and the bogus penalty kicks. He lost control of the game early and did absolutely nothing the rest of the way to regain control. That man should never ever ever ref even so much as a junior varsity high school game. The only question is why he so completely screwed up, or maybe it was always a matter of time. Last night, he made Toledo look like a world class ref. what a shame. what a sham.

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    • Sorry, this isn’t the first time post World Cup where Geiger’s sh!t the bed. The last time was in an MLS game? Most commenters here were saying that the USMNT wasn’t the only organization with a hangover after the WC.

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      • Judging by old news reports, Geiger calls DH very tightly. There’s a lot of news references to past MLS seasons where he called ball-to-hand plays as DH for PKs. So I suppose this is nothing new for him.

  7. when will mexico be punished for throwing crap on the field every game?

    what if american fans yelled joto everytime they take a goal kick? we could say it is a form of native dialect meaning anything we want it to mean just like hererra saying puto is some aztec dialect for dont do a good kick or something stupid like that

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    • agree… when Panama went up 1-0 they celebrated just outside of the field, everything was coming down full water bottles, full beer plastic cups and other crap.

      why is this allowed game in and game, and in every Gold Cup when mexico plays?

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      • And why is it allowed in World Cup qualifiers? CONCACAF should get some cojones and start forcing teams to play in empty stadiums when their fans carry on like this. They do that in Europe and elsewhere. But all CONCACAF cares about is selling a lot of tickets, making lots of money, and skimming off the top.

  8. I’ve always thought Geiger was a solid ref and good representative of the US in big international competitions. I don’t believe there is any pro-Mexico conspiracy, I just think there was alot of rough play, and tough 50-50 decisions that happened to be called Mexico’s way.

    Maybe it’s time for players to start taking responsibilities for their own actions. It’s one thing if you come in late on a tackle because the other guy is quicker. But all the elbows, hands on the face, pushing, the dives, these things are easy to correct. Just don’t do it. And the blatant disrespect given refs by players drives me nuts. All the crowding around and complaining at every call that goes against them. I mean, at this rate, we’re not going to have any refs. Then throw in the behavior of the Mexican fans, and it becomes a legit safety concern. You couldn’t pay me enough to ref a game like that.

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    • no refs on field?! sweet. only refs watching screen and via speaker calling out fouls/offsides etc. like fifa videogame almost perfect officiating

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  9. Ives and staff, trolls roaming your boards under various user names. There has to be a way to either ban them or make everyone only use one name. El comendante, ted tran, Jeff etc. all the same person

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  10. a Jamaica-Panama final wouldve drawn roughly 5,000 people… revenue has to be made for concacaf, so after the US fell on its face, mexico had to be in it…

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  11. The behavior of the fans was appaling. I just shudder to think of the soccerphobes like Coulter getting ahold of the footage this morning. It’s a setback for the game. Thanks fans.

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  12. There seems to be some pretty heavy editorializing in this piece and among US fans. During the press conference the Mexican coach and players said that they agreed that the first call was not a pk. Andres Guardado even mentioned that he considered missing it and that if Mexico keeps playing so poorly the final is as good as lost.
    Why are people so inclined to acuse the Mexican players of being dirty if they agree 100% with folks who criticize the ref’s performance last night? Especially when, if the shoe were on the other foot, they would defend their own players for taking a spot kick off a dubious call. And more! I do remember a game played in the snow that should’ve been called off since it provided a completely unfair advantage to the US as they were able to play their long ball game and the Costa Ricans were clearly not able to play in any way that could cause concern to the US D and keeper. What was the response then from US fans? “Suck it up.” If US fans are so quick to demand that a Mexican player miss the pk, I ask that you provide a single example of when a US player intentionally missed a pk to make up for a dubious call in a tournament like this one. And then ask yourself, if a berth in something like the confederations cup is at stake, would you not question that player’s professionalism? You’d say “Well, it’s not his fault the ref blew the call. Why should he have to make up for it?” Unless there is a clear regulation that would have that player miss the next game or number of games, for example, then don’t ask another player to do what you wouldn’t expect of your own players. In fact, Guardado’s admonition that he did consider missing it should finally put to rest the misguided belief among US fans that Mexico players are dirty. Some of their fans in the stands lack all forms of civility, but the players are doing what all players out there do… including your own.

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    • You have a completely revisionist view of the Snow Classico game 2 years ago. First, the Ticos OUTPLAYED the US. Secondly, they declined to have the game stopped because, even though they were trailing, they were outplaying the US and thought they would get a result. Three, they complained after the fact, and too late to file an appeal. Other than that everything you said was accurate. SMH

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    • So, other than your moronic misconception of the “snow bowl,” What you are saying is that a Mexican player ACTUALLY KNEW in his heart that he had gotten an undeserved piece of luck for the second time… considered being a good person AND CHOSE to be a scumbag?

      Shit, would I have tried to score the penalty? Yeah sure… but would I act like I was having some emotional issues as I was walking up? F no. I might apologize to the other team that my federation bought and paid for the game… but within the bounds of the field? You take your penalties as and when they come.

      As for El Chapo’s continued purchasing of Gold Cup matches… I think the DOJ should be opening an investigation into the finances of one Mr. Geiger.

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    • So, other than your moronic misconception of the “snow bowl,” What you are saying is that a Mexican player ACTUALLY KNEW in his heart that he had gotten an undeserved piece of luck for the second time… considered being a good person AND CHOSE to be a scumbag?

      S*it, would I have tried to score the penalty? Yeah sure… but would I act like I was having some emotional issues as I was walking up? F no. I might apologize to the other team that my federation bought and paid for the game… but within the bounds of the field? You take your penalties as and when they come.

      As for El Chapo’s continued purchasing of Gold Cup matches… I think the DOJ should be opening an investigation into the finances of one Mr. Geiger.

      Reply
    • I don’t see posters here saying that Guardado should have missed on purpose. No rational fan expected that to happen or thought it should happen. Nor are people saying that Mexico is doing something wrong outside of playing poorly. The animosity here is aimed at CONCACAF which we know pretty surely on the basis of documented fact as a result of corruption investigations, has been riddled with corruption for at least a decade. Excuse us if we suspect that the corruption has extended to the results of this Gold Cup, in order to sell more tickets and make more money for CONCACAF, which for all we know, may still have people skimming off the top.

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  13. I hate to go against the group so drastically in the love affair with conspiracy putting Mexico in the finals, but these were just tough calls.

    Calls that could have gone either way.

    The guy landed on the ball with his arm. If my goalie had that much “control” of the ball and someone kicked it against my team, i would have been furious. It is a tough call.

    The red card and theother PK, similar tough calls.

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    • Agreed. As much as I hate Mexico and its fan base, it was just coincidence that these tough calls occurred when they did. Mexico is very good at baiting, forcing teams to retaliate, and their acting is top-notch. Unfortunately, these are traits of a successful soccer team. Not traits I would coach. But successful nonetheless.

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    • was it tough call on Vela for throwing an elbow? thats play gets you red card on any field around the world.

      The ref saw it, he just didnt want to “influential” at that time, but 5 minutes later he’s giving a red card to a Panamenian for hand to the face… it never was fist to the face.

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  14. If you watch the replay, you can see the ref earlier practicing pointing to the spot a few times when he thinks nobody’s looking, just so he would be ready for the 89th minute.

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  15. Jamaica has to be relishing this chance though because Mexico has now played two 120 min long games while Jamaica is going to be faster and fresher. Is it enough though to keep the soulless industrial sports machine that is CONCOCAF from churning out another Mexican championship. Anyone who isn’t Mexican is going to be behind the Reggae Boyz.

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    • The Rose bowl is already booked for the playoff. Concacaf will make sure it’s US- Mexico. Jamaica might as well not even show up

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      • Is it really at the Rose Bowl? We might as well play at Azteca with the 95-5 pro-Mexican crowd that is going to show up.

  16. I missed tonights concocaf telenovela but let me see if I can get this straight from only reading SBI.

    We have an unseen plot twist to keep people on their tows (The US lose fair and square). And then there’s that serial theme of shady dealings and broken hearted tears (Mexico wins with phantom calls while the opposition curse, crowd, almost quit and cry to no avail.)

    I missed some good ones then.

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  17. Are those really not legit calls? When does a guy fall on the ball and control it with his arm in any league and it’s not a pk. By the way, MX’s pk in the last game was absolute complete and utter ridiculous nonsense. You jump up fall to the ground and collapse for no reason. Terrible call. I didn’t witness the red so i can’t opine on that. 2d pk was also legit when I saw it on replay.

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    • Well the Mexican player actually pulls down and fouls the Panama player first. So its a bad call before you even get to if it was a hand ball or not.

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    • Yeah I think it is time for them to host it somewhere else if this is the way Mexican fans are going to behave and also if it is going to be corrupt. USA lost fair and square. The US defense was atrocious. But Mexico should not be in the final either. They got one in their favor against Costa Rica and another against Panama now.

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      • You say that the US defense was atrocious. If you look at things analytically, that doesn’t seem so. The first goal was pretty much a goal that a player maybe scores a few times in a life time. Mattocks plays for, I think the Whitecaps. Any Whitecaps fans see him make a similar goal in the last couple of seasons? The second goal came off a free kick that was awarded on an infraction called on the GK that I have never seen called before. The defense had absolutely nothing to do with giving up the free kick or giving up the goal. Well, look at the stats. The US had 21 shots vs. Jamaica’s 10. Shots on goal? US 10 vs. 3. What it boils down to is Jamaica was both good and lucky. The US outplayed them in most every way except the score and was unlucky.

      • I didn’t see Mattock’s goal, but he’s had a more than a few for the Whitecaps that have been stellar. He’s got some skill and sometimes nails that “wonder goal”.

      • Panama player falls to the ground and makes himself bigger and handles the ball. He gains an advantage because his keeper is then able to come scoop up the ball instead of it squirting around the PA.

        Did the Panama player know anything about it? No. But that doesn’t matter.

        And I am a card carrying Mexican soccer team hater.

      • You’re a card carrying imbecile. You really don’t understand the nature of “correct” penalty kicks in big games .

      • What makes a penalty in a big game vs a penalty not in a big game? Your statement makes no sense and shows you lack of understanding of the game.

        Get off your couch and make some sort of attempt to learn the game better.

      • i’m not sure what sr’s getting at with the “big games” thing, but it absolutely does matter that the panama player doesn’t know anything about it.

        if the ball had actually hit his second arm, then i could see *maybe* considering it hand-to-ball. it was clear from cameras close to geiger’s pov that the ball only hit the arm that was already on the ground.

      • “Gaining an advantage” doesn’t matter if the player doesn’t deliberately play the ball with his arm. That player didn’t. It’s not a foul.

      • Look over the laws of the game my friend.

        Not every handball has to be intentional.

        This is essentially the same thing as the Frings handball in US vs Germany that was not called.

        Not intentional, but still made himself bigger by handling the ball.

      • I’ve probably looked over the laws a heck of a lot more than you. And yes: handling does have to be deliberate to be a foul. That’s the way the law is written.

      • Remember that Frings was ruled to not have deliberately handled because his arm was in a natural position at his side and didn’t move towards the ball. That’s why it wasn’t a foul.

      • Probably not my friend. In a previous life I was a high level official. So I look over the laws quite a bit.

        Playing on the ground is never a natural playing position in soccer.

        It is a handball and the ref made a brave decision.

      • He wasn’t playing on the ground. He was falling on the ground. Falling on the ground is a perfectly natural action in a soccer match – especially after you’ve been fouled (which he was and MG missed), and very rarely deliberate. Once he was “playing on the ground” he wasn’t touching the ball with his arm. Go check the tape if you don’t believe me. If you want to sanction that, sanction it as PIADM, maybe, but not DH.

        I agree that it was rrave, yes, but that doesn’t make it correct. There was nothing deliberate about the handling.

        Thought experiment: A CB accepts a pass from a RB inside his PA. As he turns to pass to the other CB, he steps on the ball (or a bottle, gopher hole, sprinkler hole, whatever) and collapses in a heap. As he’s going down, he reflexively flails his arm and smacks the ball which ends up rolling to his GK, who picks it up.

        Whistle? Restart? Does it matter the level you’re calling?

    • The 2nd pk was correct, the first is debatable. Also, please explain the Vela’s yellow for the blatant elbow? Why was Panama playing 10v11 in the first place?

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      • Exactly the second penalty I think it was not. See in the video that the Mexican kicks the ground before falling through the two Panamanians.

  18. I liked Alexi Lalas defending Mark Geiger (the ref) against Eric Wynalda’s complaints after regulation time.

    “He reffed in the World Cup.” – Alexi Lalas. As if that is some sort of defense of his abilities as a ref. You know who else reffed in the World Cup? Koman Coulibaly. Go on, Alexi. You were saying?

    Geiger was atrocious. As an American, I’m embarrassed.

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  19. When you see stuff like this and the corruption is so apparent, it makes it hard to still be a passionate fan of the beautiful game. I hope the Mexican players are ashamed of themselves because they certainly don’t deserve to be in the final.

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    • They are not ashamed of themselves per Andres Guardado and Ochoa interviews. Ochoa basically said it happened to us against Holland in the world cup but today we had last luck on our side. It doesn’t matter how we win as long as we do win.

      Guardado pretty much said the same thing and said it wasn’t their fault. The coach said the same thing. Seems like they were all told to say the same things.

      The point that it happened to them against Holland is irrelevant and its apparent they are not in favor of fair play. Although to be fair the majority of Mexican commentators are genuinely ashamed of guardado scoring the penalty and actually wanted him to miss it for fair play.

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      • Then why didn’t he miss it? They are just being patronizing. The penalty against Holland was a clear one photos show Rafa stepping on Robbens foot.

        After watching the Mexican fans Donald Trump will have some good footage for his next campaign video. I hear he is sending his own Camera crew in October to the Rose Bowl

      • I can confirm that commentator comment. I was watching the match on Channel 12 Tijuana/San Diego here in SoCal last night and the Spanish language commentators were DESTROYING the officiating, the fans and El Tri. It was crazy. They kept saying “What penalty? Nothing happened!” Even suggesting that the penalty kick should be missed on purpose because the entire Mexican team KNEW that nothing happened.

  20. If Panama had actually walked off the field and not come back, nobody could blame them. The defender fell on the ball with no intent. He had his jersey pulled, as the replays show. Such a shame.

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      • What exactly is your point with that video? It doesn’t show the pull on the defender’s jersey that preceded the fall on the ball, and doesn’t show intent.

      • To me it looks like a player trying to get up as quick as possible and slipping on what was clearly a poor field.

      • Only watched the USA game, so this was my first opportunity to see (part of) that controversial PK call. In the vine, it does not show a tug on the jersey, but since that was uncalled, it looks to me as if the Panamanian is deliberately making a play to get back to the ball and he falls on it with both arms, stopping the ball. That’s a PK.

      • that’s a misleading angle, making it look like he hits the ball with his second arm.

        you can see from other cameras that the ball just glances off his first elbow (the arm that’s already on the ground) and then his chest.

      • Is that not still handling in the box and a PK?

        In the vine, when the Panamanian player goes down, you can see his head turns back and his eyes are tracking where the ball is, and he uses his right hand and both feet to push off the ground towards the ball, indicating a deliberate attempt to make a play (intent) and handled the ball when he fell on it.

        The referee did not see fit to call a foul on the Mexican player, therefore it was the Panamanian’s attempt that led to handling. The actual falling on the ball and handling part may not have been deliberate, but when a player is attempting to make a play, the rule should be handling.

        When a defender in the box is trying to make an athletic play and ends up with their arms outside their body for balance and the ball strikes an arm, that’s handling and a PK call, regardless if the defender purposefully put his arm in the way. The arm outside the body area creates an advantage that stops the ball.

      • “When a defender in the box is trying to make an athletic play and ends up with their arms outside their body for balance and the ball strikes an arm, that’s handling and a PK call, regardless if the defender purposefully put his arm in the way.”

        no, i’m pretty sure that’s a textbook definition of ball-to-hand, which should *not* be called. the purpose of the “handball” rule isn’t to make some sort of operation-game-buzzer zone on the body, but to keep players from using their hands/arms to play the ball.

      • Nope, you’re wrong. Any time someone has his hands away from his body, it’s considered “making yourself bigger” which is considered deliberate, especially when you’re in the box.

      • It’s not really that black and white. Making yourself bigger is part of it, but it’s making yourself bigger by putting your arms in an unnatural position. Arms can be slightly or somewhat separated from the torso and still be considered to be in a natural position. Thus, the arms can be apart from the body, be struck by the ball, and it can not be a foul.

        But…. the further apart from the body they are, the more likely it is that the position is unnatural and an attempt to take up more space.

      • no, i’m not. mason has it right: it all depends on if the player’s arms are “in a natural position”.

        i’ve seen the ball hit a player’s arm way up in the air, but it was (correctly) not called, because the way he was sliding in, it was a completely natural position for his arm to be in.

      • To me it clearly looks like a handball. The defender knows where he is in relation to the ball. It looks like he deliberately falls right on top of the ball and then stops the ball from moving with his one arm. That is a handball and as much as I hate to say it: Geiger made the right call there. His earlier call pulling out the red card was ridiculous. Yellow card maybe, but not a red for that action.

      • “When a defender in the box is trying to make an athletic play and ends up with their arms outside their body for balance and the ball strikes an arm, that’s handling and a PK call, regardless if the defender purposefully put his arm in the way. The arm outside the body area creates an advantage that stops the ball.”
        ===
        You said “ball strikes an arm,” and to a referee that means it’s probably not a foul.

    • I thought he turned looking to fall on the ball. It wasn’t until he was going down that he realized he was in the box and attempted to move his arms. He fell on the ball, hitting it with his arm. I agree with the penalty call. 100% penalty in my mind. No question.

      The only disgrace I saw was the disgraceful display by Panama. Personally, I think they should be banned from qualifying for the next World Cup.

      BTW, I wanted Panama to beat Mexico because Mexico was GIVEN the last game against Los Ticos. This game was given to Mexico, but by the idiotic actions of the captain of Panama.

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    • The other day after the Mexico-CR game, there was a debate here about whether instant replays should be used. Some people argued against it saying it would slow the game down. Well, after player protests “slowed down” the game for 5 minutes in this game, I have this question. How many more important games have to be decided by dubious penalty/red card calls before something is done when there is technology available that can help significantly?

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  21. If there was any doubt about the corruption and blatant favoritism toward Mexico it just slapped everyone in the face.
    A Panamanian player spoke on espn deportes and he basically said what was on everyone’s mind. Paraphrasing, he said the big wigs got what they wanted which was Mexico in the final so they can fill the stadium and fill their pockets. Then when they help Mexico win they will fill their pockets again with a packed stadium in a playoff with the United States… let the corruption in concacaf continue.

    Panama was robbed in broad daylight… sad day indeed and Mexico continues to benefit. Also their fans should be ashamed of how they treated the Panamanian players.

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  22. What’s there to say?

    Geiger was bad with his cards, bad with his foul detection, and the match went all pear-shaped because of it.

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    • Just goes to show you how one bad decision usually compounds itself, given enough time.

      Mark Geiger is lucky one of those Panama players/coaches didn’t rearrange his face last night.

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  23. A) that was a ridiculous PK call (debatably both).

    B) I could see Panama being a tough opponent in the 3rd place game.

    C) Let’s go Jamaica … :-/ (then we’d get to redeem ourselves in the Confed Cup vs Jamaica)

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      • A) If any USA player fell on the ball and it touched his hand, any where in CONCACAF, it would be called a PK and a red card. It’s was still a bad call though as he was pushed on top the ball by a Mexican player in the first place.

        B)Yes, if they play.

        C) As long as We don’t revert to the “dump the ball into a Galaxy Player” tactics that we did in the final 30 ,minutes of yesterday’s match against Jamaica.

  24. I wouldn’t blame Panama if they want to pull out of the 3rd place match. We should just forfeit it to them. I hope Geiger never refs another match. CONCACAF has always been a train wreck, but this isn’t even funny anymore.

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