28/02/2008 8:03 AM
Exclusive to Sportal/Vodafone
Well, as the saying goes: "Football reflects life".
There was never a truer word spoken on the weekend.
There were winners, losers, commitment, anger, violence, vision and craftsmanship to name just a few ingredients.
Two incidents stand out for me and both are football-related.
Let's start close to home in the A-League Grand Final.
It started with a melee and finished the same way.
Unfortunately for the 36,000 fans, the bit in the middle didn't live up to the billing it deserved.
The manufactured rivalry between these two teams is now officially bedded down. This clash should now become the date fans plan their weekend by.
It's been fuelled by the last 20 minutes of the game. There was a penalty claim by John Aloisi which was refused by referee Mark Shield. John was bordering on a heart attack he demonstrated that much.
Jets defender James Holland had blatantly allowed the ball to strike his forearm. Twenty thousand Newcastle fans stopped breathing and stood like statues awaiting the referee to blow for a penalty. They saw it from 30 metres away while 16,000 Marinators (Central Coast fans) saw it from 130 metres away.
Mark Shield didn't see a thing and he was 10 metres away. Central Coast goalkeeper Danny Vukovic also saw it from 10 metres and might have ended his career in the few seconds afterwards.
He was that far out from his own goal because he'd come up for the corner kick as all desperate keepers do. In the ensuing emotional boilover, the incensed Aloisi lost all control again, leading the charge to the referee. I was watching Mark Shield when Vukovic eventually got close enough to slap the hand of the referee.
I was gob smacked!
He didn't continue demonstrating, he almost didn't even wait for the red card.
In the AFL they suspend players for unavoidably running into umpires. Growing up in Melbourne I'll never forget the late 1970s when 'Fabulous' Phil Carmen head-butted an umpire while playing for Essendon. He got 20 weeks.
The comparable football memory I have was the Socceroos against Argentina in the 1988 Gold Cup. We beat the reigning world champions 4-1, also at the SFS. As you can imagine the Aussie referee was under so much pressure having given a controversial offside goal to yours truly and a dubious penalty to Frank Farina.
The following melee was frightening: 11 blue and white shirts versus one referee. There were no laying-on of hands but I'll tell you what there were - a shoulder or two dropped.
The offence amazingly went unpunished. I guess the old Soccer Australia was happy to brag about the win.
I'd hate to think of what will happen to Vukovic but I'm guessing the consequences will be closer to Phil Carmen's.
A life ban is the worst scenario and a one-year suspension is the best. He's young enough to bounce back if it's the latter but …
Violence against referees no matter the degree and bringing the game into disrepute might mean Vukovic will have to get a real job because he won't get one in football.