The derby passed peacefully like a spring afternoon in a Valencian orchard where only oranges can be picked and suddenly Mateu Lahoz, from the Valencian school, began to squeeze cards. But in a mechanical and noisy way. Like a possessed The hand took vitamins and as soon as it started, like he couldn’t stop. There was a particularly frantic margin, of six minutes, in which he gave him time to get seven yellow cards and two red ones. “For protesting one of my decisions”, was the tag line he used the most when drafting the arbitration act.
In general, it is blamed Mateu Lahoz a supposed desire to become a groom at the wedding, the baby at the baptism and the dead at the funeral. And he certainly managed to establish himself as the protagonist in the final stretch of the match and in the subsequent treatment given to him by the media and fans of the game. derby. It is not a situation that comes to him again. His particular style of refereeing has always given us something to talk about, especially for being talkative with the players during the match, for addressing them on first names, calling them by his name. Eccentricities of a collegiate type, he always thought. A style with followers, like his own Xavi Hernandez, who presciently said before the game that he liked Mateu because of what he lets talk about. On the other hand, in view of the minutes, he could not bear being spoken to on Saturday. If he didn’t lose his temper, he seemed so.
He showed a total of 16 yellows (including Xavi) and two red cards for double bookings, a record in a Spanish League match. But it is that Mateu Lahoz had already established an identical record in the World Cup in Qatar. In the heart-pounding match between Argentina-Netherlands, the Spanish referee unhinged each other with 17 yellow cards and one red card (the result of a double warning). Such frenzy had never been seen in a World Cup match. Leo Messi he charged hard against him, as will be remembered. «You cannot put a referee who is not up to the task. We were very afraid before the game because we knew how it was », he threw furiously, ignoring that that day he harmed the Dutch above all, despite the fact that the Argentines were the ones who protested the most angrily.
Xavi: “Mateu has told me that he is glad to see me”. #SportPlus https://t.co/DPJCsTqpCE pic.twitter.com/trtjUjpXme
— #Vamos for Movistar Plus+ (@vamos) December 31, 2022
Frenkie de Jong has suffered it, then, in his last two games. He could have been very harsh. He wasn’t. “I think he lost the course of the game,” the midfielder limited himself to saying in an act of containment that must be valued. He was one of the few who did not receive cardboard.
praise and blame
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Who was pleased with the arbitration of the Camp Nou went to Diego Martínez, Espanyol coach: “He is one of the best referees in the world,” he said after the draw. Exactly what Xavi came to say before the initial whistle. He later said that he believed the contest had gotten out of hand. “It doesn’t usually happen to him,” he said halfway between praise and reproach.
Mateu Lahoz, 45, has been giving interviews here and there and a few years ago he was asked in the newspaper Las Provincias about this supposed desire for prominence on the pitch. In this particular one he was surprised and passionate. “I have no role. I am in love with football, I live it in the first person. I can smell it, hear it, feel it. I am not going to change anything about how I live my profession », he asserted. No one disputes this passion, but at the same time it is hard not to think of him as a future contestant on a reality show, island version or kitchen version.