Battle of Nuremberg (2006 FIFA World Cup)

The Battle of Nuremberg (Portuguese: Batalha de Nuremberga, Dutch: Slag van Neurenberg; also known as Massacre of Nuremberg) is the nickname of a football match played in the Round of 16 of the 2006 FIFA World Cup between Portugal and the Netherlands at the Frankenstadion in Nuremberg on 25 June 2006.[3] Russian referee Valentin Ivanov issued a FIFA World Cup record four red cards and 16 yellow cards, setting a new record for cards shown at any FIFA-administered international tournament.[4]

This article is about a football match. For other uses, see Battle of Nuremberg.

Battle of Nuremberg
The Frankenstadion held the match.
Event2006 FIFA World Cup
Portugal Netherlands
1 0
Date25 June 2006
VenueFrankenstadion, Nuremberg, Germany
Man of the MatchManiche[1]
RefereeValentin Ivanov (Russia)
Attendance41,000[1]
WeatherMostly cloudy
26 °C (79 °F)[2]

The match

Portugal and the Netherlands had met at the semi-final stage of the previous major tournament, UEFA Euro 2004 held in Portugal, which had finished 2–1 to the host nation,[5] but had not featured the same level of animosity between the players. A total of five Dutch and eleven Portuguese players who took some part in that fixture were also on the field in Nuremberg. The match ended 1–0 to Portugal, with Maniche scoring in the 23rd minute;[6] he had also scored the winning goal in 2004.

Mark van Bommel was booked in the second minute, and also before the goal Dutch defender Khalid Boulahrouz was booked for a foul, which injured Cristiano Ronaldo and would eventually force the substitution of Portugal's star winger before half time. Ronaldo left in tears, and proceeded to describe Boulahrouz's tackle as "clearly an intentional foul to get me injured."[7] In the meantime, Maniche had been booked for a foul on Van Bommel after 19 minutes.

Shortly after the goal, Portugal's defensive midfielder Costinha slid into Dutch veteran Philip Cocu, receiving a yellow card. He was then the first to be sent off just before half time after being shown a second yellow card for a handball. After Petit had been cautioned in the 50th minute, Giovanni van Bronckhorst and Luís Figo both received yellow cards, with Figo's coming as a result of a touchline melee with Mark Van Bommel during which Figo headbutted him.[8][9] Portugal manager Luiz Felipe Scolari controversially gave his approval to this headbutt by stating after the match, "Jesus Christ may be able to turn the other cheek but Luís Figo isn't Jesus Christ."[8]

Boulahrouz was sent off in the 63rd minute with a second caution after fouling Figo, which sparked a melee on the touch-line, involving Boulahrouz (who confronted Simão), André Ooijer and the Portuguese bench, necessitating the intervention of the fourth official Marco Rodríguez. Portugal's playmaker Deco roughly fouled Dutch defender John Heitinga and was booked; the Netherlands had not given the ball back after Portugal had cleared it into touch to allow a player to receive medical treatment, thus breaking one of football's unwritten rules. In the ensuing brawl, Wesley Sneijder pushed Petit to the ground and was also cautioned. The Netherlands' Rafael van der Vaart received a yellow card, apparently for dissent.

After that, Portugal's goalkeeper Ricardo (presumably for time wasting) and left-back Nuno Valente (for a rough foul) were punished. Deco received his second caution and was dismissed in the 78th minute for delaying the restart after a free-kick was awarded. Cocu escaped a caution for wrestling Deco to the ground in his attempt to retrieve the ball. In the 88th minute, Simão drew the ire of the Dutch goalie Edwin van der Sar after the Portuguese player's leg made contact with the custodian in his attempt to score a goal, but the referee decided against taking any disciplinary action. In injury time, Van Bronckhorst was sent off for a second yellow card for a foul on Tiago.[10]

A scene was shown on television footage during the match in which Boulahrouz, Deco, and Van Bronckhorst were sitting together on the sidelines after being sent off, the latter two having a discussion, both being teammates at FC Barcelona. Commentator Gary Bloom referred to the scene as the "Bad boys' corner".

Aftermath

In the aftermath of the match, referee Ivanov was criticised by FIFA president Sepp Blatter, who suggested that Ivanov should have given himself a yellow card for his poor performance during the match.[11] Blatter later regretted these words and promised to apologise officially.[12]

When Portugal faced England in the subsequent quarter-final, they were without the suspended Deco and Costinha. Portugal managed to reach the semi-finals. However, they had two players suspended for that match due to accumulated yellow cards, including the ones against the Netherlands.

Match details
Portugal 1–0 Netherlands
 Report
Attendance: 41,000
Portugal
Netherlands
GK1Ricardo 76'
RB13Miguel
CB5Fernando Meira
CB16Ricardo Carvalho
LB14Nuno Valente 76'
CM6Costinha 31'  45+1'
CM18Maniche 20'
RW7Luís Figo (c) 60' 84'
AM20Deco 73'  78'
LW17Cristiano Ronaldo 33'
CF9Pauleta 46'
Substitutes:
GK12Quim
GK22Paulo Santos
DF2Paulo Ferreira
DF3Marco Caneira
DF4Ricardo Costa
MF8Petit 50' 46'
MF10Hugo Viana
MF11Simão 33'
FW15Luís Boa Morte
MF19Tiago 84'
FW21Nuno Gomes
FW23Hélder Postiga
Manager:
Luiz Felipe Scolari
GK1Edwin van der Sar (c)
RB3Khalid Boulahrouz 7'  63'
CB13André Ooijer
CB4Joris Mathijsen 56'
LB5Giovanni van Bronckhorst 59'  90+5'
RM18Mark van Bommel 2' 67'
CM20Wesley Sneijder 73'
LM8Phillip Cocu 84'
RW17Robin van Persie
LW11Arjen Robben
CF7Dirk Kuyt
Substitutes:
GK22Henk Timmer
GK23Maarten Stekelenburg
DF2Kew Jaliens
MF6Denny Landzaat
FW9Ruud van Nistelrooy
MF10Rafael van der Vaart 74' 56'
DF12Jan Kromkamp
DF14John Heitinga 67'
DF15Tim de Cler
MF16Hedwiges Maduro
FW19Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink 84'
FW21Ryan Babel
Manager:
Marco van Basten

Man of the Match:
Maniche

Assistant referees:
Nikolay Golublev (Russia)
Evgeni Volnin (Russia)
Fourth official:
Marco Rodríguez (Mexico)
Fifth official:
José Luis Camargo (Mexico)

Match rules:

  • 90 minutes
  • 30 minutes of extra time if scores level
  • Penalty shoot-out if scores still level
  • Of 12 substitutes named, three may be used

See also

References
General
  • "Portugal v Holland statistics". BBC Sport. 23 June 2006. Retrieved 26 April 2010.
Specific
  1. "Portugal 1–0 Holland". BBC Sport. 25 June 2006. Retrieved 19 June 2010.
  2. "History for Nurnberg, Germany". wunderground.com. 25 June 2006. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
  3. "Portugal Defeats Holland at the Battle of Nuremberg". Der Spiegel. 26 June 2006. Retrieved 1 July 2010.
  4. "Fair play takes a dive". ABC Sport. 8 July 2006. Retrieved 16 January 2008.
  5. "Maniche has final say against Oranje". UEFA. 1 July 2004. Archived from the original on 11 November 2017. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
  6. "Oranje see red as Portugal prevail". UEFA. 25 June 2006. Archived from the original on 13 May 2008. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
  7. "Ronaldo cries foul". breakingnews.ie. 26 June 2006. Retrieved 1 July 2010.
  8. Walker, Michael (26 June 2006). "Holland exit in acrimony as four see red". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 April 2010.
  9. Ziegler, Martyn. "Figo escapes ban". The Independent. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
  10. "Match Report". FIFA. 25 June 2006. Retrieved 16 January 2008.
  11. "Blatter criticises referee Ivanov". BBC Sport. 26 June 2006. Retrieved 26 June 2006.
  12. "Blatter regrets criticism of referee Ivanov". OneIndia News. 4 July 2006. Retrieved 26 December 2012.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.