CL Special: There Is No Barcelona-Chelsea Conspiracy - Guus Hiddink's Korea 2002 Hypocrisy
The referee for Chelsea's Barcelona tie might have been stupid, but he certainly wasn’t shady - and it belies belief that Hiddink, considering his past at the 2002 World Cup, should perpetuate the idea of a campaign against his side, writes Goal.com's Carlo Garganese,
7 May 2009 18:00:57


“When people say it's all very suspicious then I get rather angry,” roared Guus Hiddink on June 23, 2002.

“Italy and Spain should look at themselves and their shortcomings rather than the referee’s.

“It's easy to go on blaming referees or linesmen. Of course they make mistakes, but coaches make mistakes, players make mistakes, and the press make mistakes. They go for you and against you.”

If you haven’t already worked it out, this was then South Korea coach Hiddink’s angry response following widespread claims that there had been a conspiracy at the 2002 World Cup to send his co-hosts through at the expense of Italy, Spain and, to a lesser extent, Portugal.

The 2002 World Cup has gone down in footballing infamy, and indeed the majority of supporters in Italy and Spain refuse to even acknowledge that tournament’s legality. The Azzurri had five perfectly good goals disallowed in three games for non-existent offsides, while they were eliminated by Hiddink’s Korea in the second round after an extra time Golden Goal. During that clash, Ecuadorian referee Byron Moreno awarded Korea a questionable penalty, harshly sent off Francesco Totti for diving, and disallowed a good Damiano Tommasi Golden Goal. Spain were the next victims of Korea in the quarter final, losing on penalties after they had had two legitimate strikes chalked off.

Fast forward seven years to May 6, 2009. Hiddink, now interim manager of Chelsea, had just been denied a place in the Champions League final following a dramatic injury time equaliser by Barcelona’s Andres Iniesta in West London.

In the post-match interview, Hiddink, referring to five penalty claims that were turned down by referee Tom Henning Ovrebo, clearly implied on both English and Italian television that there may have been a sinister plot by those in positions of power.

“I won't say what we really feel, but it's an injustice. It's not just one doubtful call. Ask the people who put the referee in charge of this game,” the Dutchman moaned to Sky Sports.

“When all these things happen, then you start thinking,” he added to Sky Italia.

I know what I'm thinking Guus, and it is not conspiracy, but hypocrisy. The regularity and enormity of the events at the 2002 World Cup were more than enough to form a conspiracy theory, yet Hiddink shrugged them off as Italian and Spanish sour grapes. What took place last night at Stamford Bridge was just plain bad officiating that penalised both sides in equal measure.

Of the five incidents that Chelsea have complained about, only one was a penalty – the clear handball by Gerard Pique. Dani Alves’ obstruction on Florent Malouda may have been inside the area, but obstruction is only a penalty offence when it is really serious, and this was not. The same can be said for Eric Abidal’s slight pull of Didier Drogba’s shirt before half time, which preceded a one second delay before the Ivorian catapulted himself onto the floor like he’d caught the plague.

In the episode involving Drogba and Yaya Toure on 56 minutes, both players were wrestling each other, and even if Kolo’s younger brother did draw back the Chelsea hitman, it was well outside the area. When the two players entered the box, Toure won the ball with a fair tackle. Finally, regarding Michael Ballack’s last-gasp appeal against Samuel Eto’o, the Cameroonian may have had his arm higher than usual, but it was clearly ball-to-hand (the very top of his arm and back), while he also had his back turned. FIFA’s ‘Laws of the Game’ are crystal clear on this.

It is amusing that Chelsea have conveniently overlooked the fact that Abidal was wrongly red carded on 65 minutes for a ‘professional foul’ when Anelka had tripped over his own feet. This forced Barcelona to chase the last 25 minutes of the game with just 10 men. As a result the space opened up for Chelsea on the counter-attack, and it was only after this dismissal that the stonewall Pique penalty incident occurred. It is also peculiar how Chelsea have discarded the performance of referee Wolfgang Stark in the first leg at Camp Nou. During that game, Stark waved away an excellent Thierry Henry penalty shout, failed to send off Michael Ballack, and also harshly booked Carles Puyol, forcing Barcelona to start a left back at centre back, and a centre midfielder at left back last night.

Over the course of the two ties, the appalling refereeing decisions evened themselves out. Had Iniesta not scored that late goal, it would have been Barcelona doing the complaining, just like they did after the first leg when coach Pep Guardiola sniped that “referees need to take a look at themselves”, and Eto’o sarcastically shrugged that “you’d have to ask the referee about his controversial performance.”

The red card of Abidal would have killed many lesser sides, but not Barcelona, who actually continued to dominate possession despite being a man short. Hiddink may have chosen the right tactics against Barcelona over two legs, and Chelsea are undoubtedly unlucky to go out (just as they were last year when they deserved to win the title), but it must also be recognised just how negative the Blues were in both legs. It was Catenaccio stuff that would have had Helenio Herrera dancing around in his grave.

When Hiddink’s Australia were defeated by Italy in the second round of the 2006 World Cup, the Dutchman remarked after the game, “We tried to play another style, a style that is more attractive for the spectators to see. The Italians wanted to play defensively, they love to play with a wall - they don’t think about attractive football, they just think about the result.”

Like your Chelsea side in both legs against Barca, you mean? There was no conspiracy Guus last night, but there sure was an absurd amount of hypocrisy.

What are your views on this topic? Was there a conspiracy last night, or is Guus Hiddink just being hypocritical? Goal.com wants to know what YOU think.

Carlo Garganese, Goal.com

There is no conspiracy. Those calls could have gone either way. The referee has to decide if they were deliberate and besides the Pique incident which is debatable, the others were clearly not deliberate.

Blaming referees is something only losers do.

Hey guys, let's do this here.

Thanks.