People love to talk about the growth of soccer in this country— the growth of MLS, player development, visibility, etc… but there is often one very important aspect of US soccer’s growth that is often overlooked—officiating.
On June 14th, 2014, just 3 days into a World Cup, Colombia took on Greece, and Mark Geiger, a former high school math teacher, became the first US referee to officiate a World Cup match in 12 years.
According to Steve Davidson, a former MLS and FIFA assistant referee, and Soccer Referee USA contributor, American referees have historically had a tough time being selected from the CONCACAF region.“For a very long time, American referees were assumed to be less knowledgeable and inexperienced… and therefore not qualified to perform in the World Cup.” This should sound familiar to US soccer fans as it is exactly the prevailing perception of US Soccer as a whole which the team worked so hard to shed throughout the 90’s.
It was a perception that US Soccer was able to break, first by slowly chipping away at it throughout the 90’s and eventually by achieving that breakthrough moment in 2002 when the US announced itself to the world by nearly besting Germany in the World Cup quarter-finals.
According to Steve Davidson, the perception of US refereeing followed a similar trajectory. “That freeze started to thaw in 1990 with Vincent Mauro and in 1998 with Esse Baharmast. In 2002, Brian Hall broke the glass ceiling by performing extremely well in South Korea/Japan — that was probably the biggest break-through moment for American officials.”
Of course, in the eyes of the world, the USMNT’s success in 2002 did little more than elevate US Soccer from being viewed as a minnow, to being viewed as a slightly bigger fish in a tank of sharks. US players still have a tough time breaking into mid to lower table European sides. US coaches are only now breaking into Europe, albeit in small second tier European leagues, and American referees have been absent from the World Cup for 12 years.
This brings us back to the June 14th matchup between Colombia and Greece during which American referee Mark Geiger put this streak to an end. When Mark stepped onto that field, there was a lot of pressure on his shoulders, as his performance would reflect on both MLS and US Soccer. To make matters worse, the first two days of the tournament had seen some truly poor refereeing, putting all match officials under extra scrutiny. It was a lot of pressure, but Mark Geiger did not disappoint.
According to World Soccer Talk , “Geiger and his AR’s put on a masterclass of officiating. There were no controversies to speak of… He issued 3 cautions in a manner that was prompt and effective. When the players were falling to the ground and asking for a foul to be given, Geiger had none of it and told them to get back up.”
His crew’s performance impressed FIFA so much that they were awarded a second assignment before many of the world’s most respected refs had received their first. The second assignment was also much larger in scale— a winner take all game between Chile and Spain, and once again, Mark did not disappoint.
“Our North American hybrid team of Mark Geiger, Sean Hurd and Joe Fletcher has had two very strong performances,” Steve tells me. As a contributor at Soccer Referee USA, Steve regularly reviews referee performances and gave glowing praise to Geiger and his team. “In addition to making consistently accurate decisions, they have displayed tremendous self-confidence, and when the situation demanded it, grace under pressure. They have earned very high marks for their work on both games.”
For a complete and more technical assessment of Geiger’s performance, you can read Steve Davidson’s assessment here— but needless to say, his performance led many to speculate that he had earned a spot in the final 16, and on Saturday, FIFA made it official by awarding him the round of 16 match between France and Nigeria.
For Mark, this is an outstanding achievement, and one that is well deserved, as he has consistently been one of the best refs in CONCACAF for quite some time. “Mark has an excellent feel for the game,” Steve tells me. “I think he expresses his feelings (empathy, concern, disappointment, even anger) effectively to players — his whistle tone, his body language and mechanics and his selective and timely verbal communication (transcending language barriers) have all been excellent.”
And for Steve, the performance of Mark Geiger is about more than Mark Geiger. It’s a matter of pride— a new benchmark to show the rest of the world just how far referee development has come in this country. “There’s no question that, through the first two games, Mark has elevated the stature and perception of our officials to an even higher level.”
Of course, fans will never cheer on Mark Geiger with the same zeal they have embraced our national team this World Cup, but in many ways, his performance reflects equally as much on US soccer. “It speaks volumes about soccer’s development here in the United States,” Steve points out, “and about the rapid growth of Major League Soccer where our referees are tested week in and week out.”
I believe Steve is spot on with this assessment. When we talk about the growth of US soccer over the years, we are not talking about a single entity. We are talking about a giant machine composed of many parts, and in order for this machine to succeed, these parts must succeed in tandem. It is no mere coincidence that Brian Hall was successful enough to be given a second game in the very tournament that the US team made it to the quarter-finals in 2002. The USMNT that year was anchored by MLS players, and Brian Hall was proof that the growth of the league had provided a springboard for both players and referees.
Every aspect of soccer development in this country, from the players, to the coaches, to the referees, is intertwined, and it is also not a coincidence that Mark Geiger, an MLS referee, has had so much success in a tournament that an MLS heavy USMNT fought their way out of the hardest World Cup group we have ever been drawn into. And now we find our self in a situation where Mark Geiger will make history on Monday when he takes the field to officiate the round of 16 match between France and Nigeria, becoming the first US ref to ever receive a 3rd assignment (4th if you count his assignment as the fourth official in the now infamous Uruguay v Italy game) in a World Cup. If Mark Geiger and crew continue their stellar form, there is no telling how far they can go in this tournament.
The very next day, the USMNT will also to attempt to make history when they face off against a very beatable team in Belgium in the round of 16. If they manage to pull off a win, they will advance to the quarter-finals for only the third time in our nation’s history. Here they would face off against either Argentina or Switzerland— tough opponents, but also very beatable. If they survive this round, the US will make the semi-finals for the first time since 1930. Could US Soccer be on the precipice of another watershed moment? Who knows? Regardless of the outcome, US Soccer is definitely making a statement to the world—US Soccer is on the rise.
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