Perisic got nailed because his forearm was at a 90-degree angle from his upper arm and directly impeded the flight of the ball. If his arm was along his side or even slightly off his hip, no penalty. But the arm was outstretched like an outrigger on a catamaran.RobVarak wrote:Now, now, boys. Let's not start denigrating each other's intoxicants of choice.
France were somewhat fortunate in the match, but it's an overstatement to say they don't deserve to be champions. The proper call on the Griezmann dive and a better break on the PK call and the it is easy to see Croatia rewarded with a result that fit their quality. Croatia's only real break was self-made, with Meathead Mandukic forcing the Lloris error.
But breaks seldom even out over 90' and like I said, France had the talent to win while being outplayed for long stretches. That's not a skill per se, but it's attributable to them being really, really good.
I couldn't be more biased. I've seen every major tournament game played by Croatia since 1998 and almost all of the qualifiers. They're the team that made me fall in love with the game and my fondest childhood memories include old Croatian men slipping me sips of slivovic as they tended to roasting whole lambs on a spit. Yet, I don't begrudge France their victory.
As for the PK, and PK's position regarding said PK:
Paul says "intent doesn't matter," but the law says differently. It's "deliberately handles", not "deliberately moves his arms."A handball occurs if any player, other than the team's goalkeeper within his own penalty area, deliberately handles the ball when in play. A ball can be handled with any part of the arm, from the tips of a player's fingers right up to the shoulder.
I believe it is unreasonable to expect that a defender who leaps in a natural manner is going to be able to keep his hands behind his back. I believe that if his hands are away from this body, even intentionally, it is only a handball if he arrays those hands in a manner so as to deliberately touch the ball. Did. Not. Happen. Here.
Players tuck their arms defending set pieces all the time -- mainly to cover their nuts. But they're trained to do that. I saw a sh*t ton of defenders during this tournament hold their arms to their sides while jumping in the box. Perisic did not, and he and Croatia correctly paid for it.
You simply can't judge intent with any objectivity. How do we know Perisic didn't knowingly extend his arm just the slightest bit, almost like a subtle shirt tug or Vida gently shoving a charging Mbappe in the box today without tugging his shirt or wrapping him up?
I'd rather have strict enforcement of plays like hand balls in the box and diving then a looser interpretation of intent. But that's just me.