Fifa u20 World Cup: disciplinary statistics

The Fifa u20 World Cup will start tomorrow. Here are some disciplinary stats about last tournaments with some amazing matches with four red cards.

The referees for this tournament are published here. Fifa says this tournament is a good springboard for young referees. “Five of them even directed a World Cup final: Arnaldo Coelho (BRA, 1982), Edgardo Codesal Mendez (MEX, 1990), Sandor Puhl (HUN, 1994), Horacio Elizondo (ARG, 2006) and Howard Webb (ENG, 2010)”, according to the Fifa press realease.

All stats below are from Fifa’s databases and provide info of previous u20 World Cups.

Most red cards in a match
4 Italy – Hungary 2009
4 Netherlands – Honduras 1995
3 Argentina – Netherlands 1983
3 Portugal – Argentina 1991
3 Spain – Uruguay 1991
3 Burundi – Spain 1995
3 Qatar – Brazil 1995
3 Mali – Cameroon 1999
3 Chile – Portugal 2007

Italy versus Hungary with four red cards.

Most yellow cards in a match
13 Morocco – Italy 2005
12 Austria – USA 2007
11 Spain – Argentina 1995
11 Brazil – Argentina 1995
11 Mali – Cameroon 1999
11 Spain – Ghana 1999
11 Uzbekistan – Argentina 2003
10 Brazil – Costa Rica 2009
10 Ghana – South Africa 2009
10 Czech Republic – Argentina 2007
10 Mexico – Congo 2007
10 Costa Rica – Germany 1999
10 Australia – Colombia 1993

Fastest cautions
1’ Lukas Kuban, CZE v. ARG 2007
1’ Grygoriy Yarmash, UKR v. NGA 2005
1’ Anthony Grbac, AUS v. CHI 1987
1’ Osaro Obobaifo, NGA v. BRA 1985
2’ Sameehg Doutie, RSA v. HON 2009
2’ Fabio Sciacca, ITA v. TRI 2009
2‘ Semih Aydilek, GER v. KOR 2009
2’ Mohamed Cisse, CIV v. IRL 2003
2’ Youssef Safri, MAR v. URU 1997
2’ Rashid Al Muhazaa, QAT v. RUS 1995
2’ Ransford Banini, GHA v. BRA 1993

Fastest expulsions
2’ Carlos Felipe, POR v. HON 1995
4’ Melli, ESP v. BRA 2003
6’ Tariq Al Jumah, JOR v. ZAM 2007
15’ Gary Medel, CHI v.ARG 2007
17’ Nery Turcios, HON v. MAR 2005

Gary Medel from Chile got a red card from Wolfang Stark during the 2007 u20 World Championship in Canada.

Schörgenhofer’s red card leads to referee career

A red card made Robert Schörgenhofer from Austria a referee. That was about twenty years ago, now he’s on the international refereeing list and going to the u20 World Cup in Colombia.

“I was a football player and received a wrong red card”, says the Austrian referee to Dutch Referee Blog and World of Football Refereeing. “The referee had a very bad day and I thought, it can’t be so difficult and I can do it better. That is the reason why I start refereeing.”

Robert Schörgenhofer. Photo provided by referee.

Schörgenhofer is ready for the youth world cup. On the 12th of July he already got his first match of the 2011/2012 season. “The match in Linz served simultaneously as preparation for the u20 World Cup.”

Country: Austria AUT
Date of Birth: 21.02.1973
Height: 188 cm
Mother tongue: German
Reached highest national level: 2004
International since: 2007
(sources: Fifa.com and the website of Robert Schörgenhofer)

How do you prepare for the matches in Colombia at u20 World Cup? Did you do some special preparation as many officials failed in Mexico due to the high altitude?
“There is no special preparation for Colombia. We’ve arrived eight days before the tournament starts and it should be enough time to acclimate. The test for the UEFA referees was on 8th of July in Nyon without any problems. So there is no more test in Columbia.”

Austrian World Cup team. Photo provided by referee.

You are working with Mario Strudl and Alain Hoxha for some time now, in Champions League, Euro League and now in Colombia, too. How important are they for you?
“Very important! We have a very good friendship and this is prerequisite to work together. So I can trust them without any doubt. And they are excellent assistants and support me any time.”

What do you expect from the tournament?
“It’s a great opportunity to do the next step in my career. There are many different teams and also different style of football. It is also interesting to be together with referees from other continents and make new friends.”

How do you enjoy a foreign country when you are abroad for a match?
“There is not plenty of time for sightseeing. Maybe one or two hours on match day, to see some interesting spots in the centre. Only to get a feeling from the country. But I hope to get a lot of good impressions from Colombia during this tournament.

Did you expect to get promoted to the Elite group? Are you sorry you didn’t move up?
“I expect nothing. It´s a goal to reach the Elite group, but on the top the air is getting thinner. I was promoted this year, and very happy about that. I’m happy to be in the Elite development group.”

Imagine you could be in a match taking part in a football stadium of your choice. In which football stadium would you like to referee one time?
“There are a lot of beautiful stadiums but I prefer not a special one. If a stadium is full with a great atmosphere, it’s always nice. Not only for players, but also for the referees.”

Robert Schörgenhofer. Photo provided by referee.