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Battle of Nuremberg (2006 FIFA World Cup)

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Battle of Nuremberg
Event2006 FIFA World Cup
Round of 16
Portugal Netherlands
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 Battle of Nuremberg (German: Schlacht von Nürnberg, Portuguese: Batalha de Nuremberga, Dutch: Slag van Neurenberg; also known as the 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]

Background

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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

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First half

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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."[6] In the meantime, Maniche had been booked for a foul on Van Bommel after 19 minutes.

Shortly after Maniche’s 23rd minute 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.

Second half

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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.[7][8] 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."[7]

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 gentlemen's agreements. 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 goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar, after the Portuguese player's leg made contact with Dutchman's 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.[9]

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 Spanish club Barcelona. Commentator Gary Bloom referred to the scene as the "Bad boys' corner".

Aftermath

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Wikinews has related news:
External videos
video icon Battle of Nuremberg, YouTube video by FIFA

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.[10][11] Blatter later regretted these words and promised to apologise officially.[12] FIFA announced that Ivanov would referee no further matches in the tournament.[13] Ivanov's father Valentin Ivanov defended his son, saying it had been FIFA's demand for referees to be tough on the players.[14]

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.

The record for yellow cards in a World Cup game was surpassed in 2022, when Antonio Mateu Lahoz issued a total of 18 yellows (16 for players, one sent off for two yellow cards and 2 more to coaching staff) during the quarter-final match between the Netherlands and Argentina.

Match details

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Portugal 1–0 Netherlands
Maniche 23' Report
Attendance: 41,000
Portugal
Netherlands
GK 1 Ricardo Yellow card 76'
RB 13 Miguel
CB 5 Fernando Meira
CB 16 Ricardo Carvalho
LB 14 Nuno Valente Yellow card 76'
CM 6 Costinha Yellow card 31' Yellow-red card 45+1'
CM 18 Maniche Yellow card 20'
RW 7 Luís Figo (c) Yellow card 60' downward-facing red arrow 84'
AM 20 Deco Yellow card 73' Yellow-red card 78'
LW 17 Cristiano Ronaldo downward-facing red arrow 33'
CF 9 Pauleta downward-facing red arrow 46'
Substitutes:
GK 12 Quim
GK 22 Paulo Santos
DF 2 Paulo Ferreira
DF 3 Marco Caneira
DF 4 Ricardo Costa
MF 8 Petit Yellow card 50' upward-facing green arrow 46'
MF 10 Hugo Viana
MF 11 Simão upward-facing green arrow 33'
FW 15 Luís Boa Morte
MF 19 Tiago upward-facing green arrow 84'
FW 21 Nuno Gomes
FW 23 Hélder Postiga
Manager:
Brazil Luiz Felipe Scolari
GK 1 Edwin van der Sar (c)
RB 3 Khalid Boulahrouz Yellow card 7' Yellow-red card 63'
CB 13 André Ooijer
CB 4 Joris Mathijsen downward-facing red arrow 56'
LB 5 Giovanni van Bronckhorst Yellow card 59' Yellow-red card 90+5'
CM 18 Mark van Bommel Yellow card 2' downward-facing red arrow 67'
CM 20 Wesley Sneijder Yellow card 73'
CM 8 Phillip Cocu downward-facing red arrow 84'
RW 17 Robin van Persie
CF 7 Dirk Kuyt
LW 11 Arjen Robben
Substitutes:
GK 22 Henk Timmer
GK 23 Maarten Stekelenburg
DF 2 Kew Jaliens
MF 6 Denny Landzaat
FW 9 Ruud van Nistelrooy
MF 10 Rafael van der Vaart Yellow card 74' upward-facing green arrow 56'
DF 12 Jan Kromkamp
DF 14 John Heitinga upward-facing green arrow 67'
DF 15 Tim de Cler
MF 16 Hedwiges Maduro
FW 19 Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink upward-facing green arrow 84'
FW 21 Ryan Babel
Manager:
Marco van Basten

Man of the Match:
Maniche (Portugal)

Assistant referees:
Nikolay Golubev (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

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References

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General
  • "Portugal v Holland statistics". BBC Sport. 23 June 2006. Retrieved 26 April 2010.
Specific
  1. ^ a b "Portugal 1–0 Holland". BBC Sport. 25 June 2006. Archived from the original on 27 June 2006. Retrieved 19 June 2010.
  2. ^ "History for Nurnberg, Germany". wunderground.com. 25 June 2006. Archived from the original on 21 December 2016. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
  3. ^ "Portugal Defeats Holland at the Battle of Nuremberg". Der Spiegel. 26 June 2006. Archived from the original on 14 January 2008. Retrieved 1 July 2010.
  4. ^ "Fair play takes a dive". ABC Sport. 8 July 2006. Archived from the original on 25 January 2010. 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. ^ "Ronaldo cries foul". breakingnews.ie. 26 June 2006. Retrieved 1 July 2010.
  7. ^ a b Walker, Michael (26 June 2006). "Holland exit in acrimony as four see red". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 April 2010.
  8. ^ Ziegler, Martyn. "Figo escapes ban". The Independent. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
  9. ^ "Match Report". FIFA. 25 June 2006. Archived from the original on 5 September 2007. Retrieved 16 January 2008.
  10. ^ "Blatter criticises referee Ivanov". BBC Sport. 26 June 2006. Retrieved 26 June 2006.
  11. ^ "Blatter blast for Ivanov". Eurosport. 25 June 2006. Retrieved 14 June 2021.
  12. ^ "Blatter regrets criticism of referee Ivanov". OneIndia News. 4 July 2006. Archived from the original on 8 April 2022. Retrieved 26 December 2012.
  13. ^ "Under-fire refs get World Cup boot". CNN. 29 June 2006. Retrieved 14 June 2021.
  14. ^ Culf, Andrew (27 June 2006). "Red cards and recriminations: have refs gone too far this time?". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 June 2021.
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