FIVE GAMES, two wins, three losses, four goals scored, five goals conceded, and a fourth place standing. That’s an Ateneo goal scored every 112.5 minutes, and a goal conceded every 90 minutes.
Slide. The Blue Booters slide down the rankings after several hard losses. | Photo by Mark G. Tiu
At this rate, things are looking pretty bleak for the Blue Booters; but, in football, statistics don’t determine anything.
They don’t reflect the Booters’ significant improvement from last season, or the string of poor refereeing decisions that have drastically changed the momentum of their games—ignored penalty claims, a controversial handball call, and a questionable red card.
It has been that kind of round for the boys in blue. Maybe lady luck—or the referees—just hasn’t been on their side.
Penalty?
With the exception of one defeat, where they were clearly outplayed by defending champions UP Maroons, the Blue Booters have succumbed to poor refereeing decisions in their defeats to La Salle and UST.
Against arch rivals La Salle, where they lost 1-0, Blue Booters’ coach Ompong Merida says, “The game was decided by a penalty kick.”
When the referee blew his whistle signaling what most people thought had been a corner, or even a foul on the La Salle forward, fans, players and coaches were shocked when the referee changed his decision just seconds after glancing at his linesman, who signaled a spot kick.
While pictures, and firsthand witnesses of the incident justify that Ateneo defender Luigi Meer committed a clear handball, the referee failed to consider the push from behind that forced Meer to touch the ball as it was going out of bounds.
It was a decision that determined the remainder of the match, and a decision that should have warranted more thought; but instead the referee—who originally signaled for a corner—made a blind split-second decision without even deliberating with his linesman.
Red card?
Falling apart. They have played with a strong defense, with determination, and have kept their games close; but they have failed to convert their chances on one too many occasions. | Photo by Mawi T. Dagdag
In their last game of the first round against UST, the Booters again fell to poor refereeing with a questionable red card given to Ateneo defender Carl Llado.
With 20 minutes left in the game, speedy UST forward Palacios slipped through Ateneo’s defense forcing a foul from Llado. What resulted was a free kick to UST, a yellow card for Llado, and then in a shocking turn of events, a successive red card was given to the Ateneo defender.
In counter-attack situations like this, however, football referring guidelines indicate that a red card is only given when a defender—who is the last defender—erroneously denies the attacking player with a scoring chance. But, Palacio, who had defenders Llado and Fred Ozaeta in front of him, was not in the act of shooting; he was merely dribbling.
What followed was unfortunate for the Blue Booters. A distraught ten-man Ateneo clinging on to their clean sheet fell to the unmarked UST forward, Mungcal, as he blasted a shot from outside the box. The goal that was unreachable to Ateneo goalie RS Mantos, now made the game unreachable for the Blue Booters.
Missed opportunities
Amidst the bad refereeing decisions, however, the Blue Booters can only blame themselves for their losses. They have played with a strong defense, with determination, and have kept their games close; but they have failed to convert their chances on one too many occasions.
Against La Salle they lacked the finishing touch to tap in the ball into an open net. Then against UST, in one of their best attacking halves of the season, they still did not capitalize on their multitude of scoring opportunities.
