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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
City soccer ref sympathetic
Vergara has felt the heat from fans over controversial calls
John Woods / Winnipeg Free Press Hector Vergara feels Canada's pain while watching the women's team go down to defeat vs. the U.S. on Monday. (WINNIPEG FREE PRESS) Photo Store
HECTOR Vergara knows all too well about the stress that comes with refereeing -- let alone refereeing a game as dramatic as the Canada-U.S. Olympic soccer semifinal on Monday.
"Every sport is going to have controversy and, unfortunately for this official, there was controversy in the game," the executive director of the Manitoba Soccer Association and ex-FIFA assistant referee said Tuesday.
The 4-3 game cost the Canadian women's team a shot at gold, in large part due to a controversial call by Norwegian referee Christiana Pedersen.
As a FIFA referee for 19 years, Vergara has had to make some tough calls of his own in many a difficult game. "At the end of the day it also becomes a game of angles. You could be 10 metres away from a call, but if you've got the wrong angle, you're going to make the wrong call," said Vergara.
Vergara didn't want to comment specifically on Monday's game, but said he understands the backlash and stress that comes from controversial calls.
In 2005, he was reffing the FIFA Club World Championship Final between Liverpool and Sao Paulo.
There were two offside goals that he disallowed and one goal he disallowed because the ball had left the field of play. Liverpool lost 1-0.
"I knew in my mind that I had made the right calls," he said. "You still have to move on no matter what the outcome is after that."
The backlash came on his blog. Many an angry Liverpool fan spouted comments about his reffing.
"It was all these nasty comments from English fans," he said.
There were other comments, he adds, from fans apologizing for some of the choice words from Liverpudlians.
"It's not an easy job, and having lived through it, I can understand what (Pedersen) is going through," he said.
A call by Pedersen in Monday's game led to the third American goal. American Abby Wambach scored on a penalty that came after the Americans were awarded a free kick outside the Canadian box by Pedersen when she penalized Canadian goalkeeper Erin McLeod for holding the ball for more than six seconds. Canadian Marie-Eve Nault was then charged with a handball in the penalty area on the ensuing kick.
Regardless of the upsetting outcome, Vergara said it hopefully has stirred passion among Canadians for soccer.
"It's sport and sport brings passion and that's what we want," he said. "Who expected the Canadian team to give the Americans a run for their money? We have to think positively about that."
-- with files from the Canadian Press
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition August 8, 2012 A4
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