Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Abal Appointed To Referee El Clasico Rosarino

It's been announced that Diego Hernán Abal will be the man with the whistle during the Clasico Rosarino. His name isn't ringing any alarm bells, he isn't Pablo "Lunitic" Lunita, or Javier Collado at the very least. In fact, Abal has been a good enough as referee that Conmebol sent him to work during the 2009 U-17 South American Championships.

Looking at the referee records I was keeping during the Apertura, Abal worked three matches, and Newell's came away with two wins and a tie. Fouls were called fairly evenly, with Newell's drawing 31 while their opponents drew 35. During the three matches, Abal gave out 17 yellow cards, 9 going to Newell's players, and there was no need for any red.

I've been lax in following how the referees have been calling Newell's matches during the Clausura, but, based on all the above, hopefully, there will be no problems with the officiating.

One worry, though... it's noted that Abal made his debut as a referee in Argentina's top division in a match that Central won 4-0 over Lanús. It probably means nothing, but it just gives me a bit of a creepy feeling.

There's also some concern over security in the stands. Where Newell's at home games can, and has, implement bans on troublesome members of their Barras Bravas, the SINAS will probably encourage them to show up and make trouble.

Again, hoping I'm wrong on that... but we'll see what Sunday brings. In any case, there are 3500 general admission, and 400 seats that will be available for Newell's fans. Considering that El Gigante de Arroyito can hold up to 41654, Lepra will certainly be out numbered by SINAS. With any luck we'll see something similar to the following video that I must give create to the Socios e Hinchas Autoconvocados de Newell's Old Boys group on Facebook for locating it:

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